Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake

A lightly sweetened biscuit is filled with fresh, ripe strawberries and homemade whipped cream. This Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake is so simple to make and incredibly delicious.

With a bit of a cool spell in the air, I’ve taken advantage of the lower temps and fired up my oven for some summer baking. I know when the temperatures are on the rise the only baking that is going on is me….in the heat (I can’t wait for fall, friends).

Today I had my mind set on making shortcake. Although most people love to fill their shortcake with strawberries, really any summer fruit will do. Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, nectarines….the list can go on. They’re all delicious.

Making Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake

Shortcake is basically a lightly sweetened biscuit. It’s a bit cake-like, but definitely more biscuit-like than anything. And what I love about this recipe is that the mixture does not need to rise, be rolled out, shaped, or fashioned into anything perfect. Shortcake is beautiful in its rustic-ness. Imperfect biscuits, each one unique in shape and texture. There’s just a whole lot of beauty in the simplicity.

While many recipes for shortcake do not opt to add sugar to the biscuits, I do. I prefer to add just a little bit of sugar to the mix to set the shortcake apart from traditional biscuits. A little bit goes a long way here. This recipe is not meant to be overly sweet. The biscuits are lightly sweetened. The strawberries are slivered and simply placed between layers of cream. No sugar stirred into the fruit. No sauce. No syrup. I prefer to let their natural sweetness shine. Lastly, the whipped cream only contains one tablespoon of powdered sugar.

It’s just all so simple, yet so delicious. This really is the perfect summer dessert.

Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake

Lightly sweetened biscuits filled with fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream.

2 cups Gluten free flour blend (with xanthan gum) – I used Bob’s 1 to 1 in this recipe
6 tablespoons salted, cold butter, cubed
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk (or other alternative) – I used unsweetened coconut milk in this recipe.
1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled, sliced

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, and cubed butter into a bowl. Using a pastry blender or a food processor, work the butter into the flour until the crumbs resemble very small peas.
Add in the milk and combine the ingredients with a wooden spoon. I find it best to do this step by hand. Be sure to just combine the ingredients; do not overmix. The dough will appear to be somewhat looser than you think it should. It is fine.
Scoop out roughly 1/3 cup of the dough and place it onto the baking sheet in a mound. No need to shape, just be sure that all of the dough is mounded together. Repeat with the remaining dough, leaving 2 inches between each biscuit.
Bake for 15-18 minutes. Insert a cake tester into the center of the biscuit to ensure doneness.
Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack with a spatula. Cool completely.
Before serving, hull the strawberries and slice each into thin pieces.
Place the cream and powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Begin on low speed and gradually increase to high speed. Whip the cream until it thickens. Be sure not to overmix or you will have butter…no good!
Slice each biscuit in half, spread a bit of cream on the bottom piece, top with strawberries and a bit more cream, and place the top on. Serve immediately.

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