Strawberry Shortcake

I could eat this strawberry shortcake recipe every day in summer! Bright, lemony cornmeal biscuits surround layers of fresh berries and cream.

strawberry shortcake recipe

If I were to give you one piece of advice this week, it would be to make this strawberry shortcake recipe. Rustic, decadent, and completely delicious, it’s the kind of dessert that’s destined to make you smile. Summer is here, and strawberry shortcake is the perfect way to celebrate.

The shortcakes here are bright, lemony cornmeal biscuits. I’ve always been a fan of lemon and cornmeal together (check out these lemon cookies or the Lemon Cornmeal Pancakes on page 37 of Love and Lemons Every Day!), and they make this recipe really exceptional. The cornmeal adds texture to the moist, tender biscuits, while the tart lemon cuts the richness of the cream filling. Add fresh strawberries to the mix, and there’s almost nothing better.

Biscuit recipe ingredients

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe Ingredients

Speaking of strawberries, I don’t sweeten them in this recipe. If you wanted to, you could toss them with pinches of sugar like I do here, but at this time of year, I don’t think it’s necessary. Strawberries are delicate, juicy, and sweet all on their own! Use the best ones you can find, and you won’t miss the extra sugar.

Here’s what else you’ll need to make this recipe:

  • All-purpose flour – Jack and I have experimented with all sorts of flours over the last few months, and King Arthur Flour yields the best results every time. To accurately measure the flour for this recipe, be sure to use the spoon-and-level method.
  • Cornmeal – I love to make this recipe with medium-grind cornmeal. It adds a nice texture to the dough, but it’s not too coarse or crunchy. My go-to brands are Arrowhead Mills and Bob’s Red Mill.
  • Granulated sugar – For sweetness.
  • Baking powder – It makes the biscuits nice and puffy.
  • Sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
  • Coconut oil – It makes the dough rich and layered without any butter or heavy cream.
  • Lemon juice and zest – They give the dough a super bright, fresh flavor! You need two tablespoons of each, so make sure you have at least 2 lemons on hand.
  • Eggs – They add richness to the biscuits and help them rise.
  • Almond milk – It adds moisture to the biscuit dough. I also brush almond milk on top of the biscuits to give them a nice crisp crust!
  • Whipped cream or coconut cream – My go-to is coconut cream, as it makes this recipe totally dairy-free. Of course, traditional whipped cream would be delicious too.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Cutting out biscuit dough

How to Make Strawberry Shortcake

Ready to learn how to make strawberry shortcake? Luckily for us, it’s easy! Here’s what you need to do:

First, make the biscuit dough. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Then, add the coconut oil and use your hands to work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Finally, add the lemon zest, juice, almond milk, and eggs and mix until just combined.

Next, shape the dough. Turn it out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, pat it into a rectangle, and fold it into thirds. Pat or roll the folded dough to about 1 inch thick, and freeze it for 20 minutes.

How to make strawberry shortcake

After the dough chills, cut out the biscuits. Use a 2-1/2 inch round biscuit cutter to punch them out, gathering the scraps and re-rolling the dough as necessary. You should end up with 8 1-inch thick biscuits (even though just 6 are pictured here!).

Biscuits on a baking sheet

Then, bake! If you want to, brush the biscuits with a little almond milk and sprinkle them with coarse sugar. Pop them in a 400-degree oven for about 17 minutes, or until they’re lightly golden brown around the edges.

Strawberry shortcake from scratch

As the biscuits bake, your kitchen will fill with a buttery, lemony aroma. Trust me, it’s pretty incredible!

Pull the biscuits out of the oven and (this is the hard part!) allow them to cool slightly before you assemble the shortcakes.

Best strawberry shortcake recipe

Finally, eat! Slice the biscuits in half horizontally and layer them with the strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream. I like to add a few mint leaves for an extra-fresh touch. Enjoy!

Strawberry shortcake on a plate

Helpful Tips

  • Make sure your coconut oil is cold. Like the butter in this scone recipe, the coconut oil needs to be cold when you work it into the flour. The cold, solid oil is key for creating layered biscuits that will puff up in the oven. I like to measure my coconut oil in advance and pop it in the fridge for an hour before I start cooking. I don’t recommend freezing coconut oil, as it quickly becomes too hard to work with.
  • Cut the coconut oil into little pieces. This is key! Once your coconut oil is cold, you want to keep it that way. Cutting it into small pieces means that you’ll be able to integrate it with the dry ingredients more quickly. That way, the heat from your hands won’t melt the oil as you work.
  • Don’t cut the chilling time short. Colder dough yields puffier biscuits with better layering, so make sure to freeze the dough for a full 20 minutes before you cut out and bake the biscuits.
  • Top them with sugar. I list this step as optional, but I highly recommend brushing the biscuits with almond milk and sprinkling them with sugar before you bake them. It makes them nice and crisp on top!
  • Assemble the shortcakes right before you eat. Strawberry shortcake is best right after it’s assembled, so just assemble the cakes you plan to eat right away. Any leftover biscuits will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days. They also freeze well for up to a month!

Biscuits with strawberries and cream

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe Variations

  • Switch the fruit. Strawberry shortcake is a classic dessert, but this lemon biscuit recipe would taste just as good with raspberries or blueberries. Use them in place of the strawberries, or, for a festive variation, fill the biscuits with a mix of strawberries and blueberries!
  • Use your favorite kind of cream. I most often fill my strawberry shortcake with coconut cream, but any cool, creamy filling is delightful here. Make traditional whipped cream with heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract, or serve your shortcake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. For a lighter variation, replace the cream with a dollop of Greek yogurt.
  • Keep it simple. These lemon cornmeal biscuits make fantastic strawberry shortcake, but they’re also wonderful on their own! Feel free to skip the fruity filling altogether and enjoy the biscuits plain, or slather them with your favorite jam for a light breakfast or afternoon snack.

strawberry shortcake

More Favorite Summer Desserts

If you love this strawberry shortcake recipe, try one of these delicious summer desserts next:

Get This Recipe In Your Inbox
Share your email, and we'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus, enjoy daily doses of recipe inspiration as a bonus!

Strawberry Shortcake

rate this recipe:
4.94 from 15 votes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 17 minutes
Chilling Time: 20 minutes
Serves 8
This easy strawberry shortcake recipe is the perfect summer dessert. Tender, lemony cornmeal biscuits surround layers of strawberries and cream. To make this recipe dairy-free, replace the traditional whipped cream with coconut cream.

Ingredients

Lemon Cornmeal Biscuits

for assembly

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  • Using your hands, work the coconut oil in until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, eggs, and milk and mix until just combined. The dough will be more moist and pliable than traditional biscuit dough.
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper and pat into a ½-inch-thick rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds and pat or roll again until 1-inch thick. Freeze for 20 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Remove the dough from the freezer and use a 2½-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out 3 to 4 biscuits. Re-roll the scraps as necessary to cut out 8 1-inch thick biscuits. Place the biscuits on the baking sheet.
  • If desired, brush the tops of the biscuits with a little almond milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
  • Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
  • Assemble the strawberry shortcakes with the biscuits, strawberries, cream, and mint, if desired.

Biscuit recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour.

26 comments

Leave a comment:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Terri
    07.09.2023

    4 stars
    Would it be acceptable to use corn flour instead of medium grind corn meal?

  2. Corrine Lawrence
    04.29.2023

    I was wondering if I could substitute egg substitute or flax seed for the eggs in this recipe. Thank you! Love all of your recipes and books.

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      05.01.2023

      Hi Corrine, 2 tablespoons flaxseed plus 5 tablespoons water should be a good substitute for the eggs here. I would also increase the baking powder to 1 tablespoon to help the biscuits rise.

  3. Diane
    06.26.2022

    I’m also wondering if you can sub butter for the coconut oil. If not, should you use refined oil so as not to add a coconut flavor to the biscuit (i don’t like the taste of coconut). Thanks!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      06.27.2022

      Hi Diane, I think butter would work, but I haven’t tried. Yes, use refined coconut oil for a less coconutty taste.

  4. Jenna
    02.04.2022

    Can you make the dough ahead of time and bake later? If so how should they be stored until ready to bake. Thanks!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      02.04.2022

      Hi Jenna, we haven’t tried making the dough ahead, but they freeze really well if you wanted to bake and reheat them when you’re ready to eat.

      Otherwise, I would try storing the cut-out uncooked biscuit dough in the fridge overnight and then you might have to bake them a minute or two longer.

  5. Christina Gibson
    08.06.2021

    Just made these for the second time. Just came out of the oven and they look fantastic. This is one of those recipes that I will never forget and has been added to my permanent recipe file. I also made this batch gluten free with some flour I order from the midwest. My adult daughter loves these with lemon curd, strawberries and whipped cream. This time I will add a little drizzle of chocolate sauce. Thanks so much.

  6. Laura
    07.28.2021

    5 stars
    I like the form you explain the recipes are so delicious, and also the ingredients are so easy to find, most of the time when I look recipes on Internet they don´t explain step to step or they don’t show the complete ingredients, but you show the photo so we can get more the information and understnad the things you say.I like all you recipe because their healthy instead of the normal recipe that is unhealthy.
    Also I like the variety of recipes you put sweet and salty foods.

  7. Aku
    06.22.2021

    Hi! This looks delicious and I can’t wait to make them for our housewarming party. I just had a few questions. Can I substitute butter for coconut oil and if so, how much butter. Also can i substitute oat milk for the almond milk, if so what amount? Can i make the dough ahead and freeze for another day?

  8. Jen M
    08.01.2020

    This looks delicious! Could I make the biscuits ahead of time? How would you suggest storing them?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.01.2020

      yep! Store them, covered, at room temp for a couple of days. After that, I freeze them.

  9. Olivia
    07.18.2020

    5 stars
    OMG, this was so good! It was super easy to make. Lemon cornmeal biscuit was the best biscuit for strawberry shortcake! We went to the farmers market earlier today and got a ton of summer berries. I loaded the shortcake with tons of berries (and whipped cream of course) and it was delicious! Your recipes are always incredible! Definity one of my go-to recipes now!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.19.2020

      Hi Olivia, I’m so glad you loved the biscuits as much as we do!

      • I tried making them with strawberries and blueberries. I will try to attempt a new rating for them. Six stars!

  10. Mr.Baker Guy
    07.16.2020

    5 stars
    Wow loved this one

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.18.2020

      so happy to hear!

  11. Triz Tan Barreno
    07.15.2020

    Thank you for sharing this! It looks very delicious and I will recommend this to my friends.

  12. Adriana
    07.09.2020

    5 stars
    Made a few alterations for dairy-free, but the lemon cornmeal biscuits were superb 🙂 Thanks for a great summer strawberry recipe!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.10.2020

      I’m so glad you loved them!

  13. Katya
    06.29.2020

    5 stars
    This recipe is soo so delicious! Love the lemony biscuits!!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.12.2020

      Hi Katya, I’m so glad you loved them!!

  14. Sabrina from newkitchenlife.com
    06.29.2020

    much better than those vaguely spong-ey store bought cakes, thank you!

  15. Liz
    06.28.2020

    I’m vegan; is there an acceptable substitute for the eggs?

    • amber ripp
      06.28.2020

      In recipes I typically substitute 1 egg with 3 tablespoons of warm water and 1 tablespoon of flax meal ( let it sit for ~15 mins to thicken). Let us know if you try it and it works for this!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      06.28.2020

      Hi Liz, I haven’t tried these with a flax egg or another substitute – I’ll report back when I give it a try!

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.