If you love homemade biscuits topped with juicy fresh strawberries and whipped cream, this gluten free strawberry shortcakes recipe is a must-make! The flakiness of the sweet biscuits makes this recipe a winner! Make it in under 30 minutes!
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If you are looking for a simple dessert, I can’t say enough about this simple gluten free strawberry shortcake recipe. I slightly modified my popular gluten free biscuit recipe to be a little sweeter so that the flavor of the strawberries and cream could stand out.
While you are visiting, I have many delicious gluten free strawberry recipes to make. Strawberries are available all year round at both our farmer’s market and local grocery store, but strawberry season is when they are at their best flavor. It is the best summer dessert!
Why This Gluten Free Shortcake Recipe Is Great:
- These shortcakes are a quick and easy recipe to make. All you need is 30 minutes to make this classic dessert recipe.
- It is delicious with juicy, ripe strawberries, but other berries also work beautifully alone or combined with strawberries. The strawberry flavor is what makes these shortcakes so special.
- I tested multiple gluten-free flour blends, so you know what works, so your biscuits are totally flaky and delicious.
- You can make the biscuits drop style or with a biscuit cutter.
- The biscuits are light and fluffy, and I have tested my flaky biscuit recipe with multiple gluten free flour blends, so you know this is a tried and true recipe! If you love a homemade strawberry shortcake, this is the recipe you need to make next.
You may also have fun making these Strawberry Shortbread Cookies. While you are here, check out my incredible gluten free dessert recipes.
Made these shortcake biscuits and they came out perfect! I used Cup4Cup gf flour like suggested. They came out soft & fluffy and we ate them with our berries & cream while
Caroline, blog comment
still slightly warm. So so good!!”
Allergen Information:
These homemade strawberry shortcakes are gluten-free, soy-free, egg-free, oat-free, and nut-free. Make them dairy-free using vegan butter.
Ingredient Notes:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Gluten Free Flour Blend – For this recipe, I used Cup4Cup because it was my favorite yielding big fluffy biscuits. I tested 8 different brands, and quite a few were excellent as well. I also liked King Arthur Measure for Measure, Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1, Better Batter Artisan Blend Gum Free, Pillsbury Gluten Free Blend, and Gluten Free Bisquick Baking Mix.
- Xanthan Gum – If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- Strawberries – Although fresh strawberries are best, you can use frozen strawberries too. Just thaw them and drain some of the juice.
- Pure Vanilla Extract – When you make a recipe with few ingredients like these strawberry shortcakes, you want to use pure vanilla extract, not imitation.
- Whipped Cream – You can use any brand or make it from scratch. Check out to be sure Cool Whip and Other Brands Are Gluten Free.
Step-By-Step Photos and Directions:
Step 1: Add your gluten free flour blend, baking soda, sugar, and salt to a large
I recommend using either the spoon or the leveling method to measure your gluten-free flour.
Spoon Method: You can also use a spoon to fill the measuring cup. Use a knife to level along the top to remove the extra flour. Leveling Method: Fill the measuring scoop with flour, but do not pack it. Use a knife to scrape along the top to remove the extra flour.
Step 2: Add cold butter chunks to the dry ingredients and use a pastry blender (aka pastry cutter) to cut in the butter. You can also use two knives to cut the butter into crumb-sized pieces, but it takes longer.
Please do not use a food processor because it tends to overmix the butter. If this happens, you will not get the delicious flaky layers!
HINT: Freeze the butter chunks for 15 minutes to get them colder. This will really make delicious flaky pockets in your biscuits.
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Step 3: Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to form a nice biscuit dough.
Step 4: This is what the biscuit dough will look like. It will vary slightly depending on the gluten-free flour blend used. If you need to dust flour on the biscuit dough to roll the dough, that is fine.
📢 Sandi says: Every gluten-free flour blend has a different starch-to-grain ratio. The brand of gluten-free flour you use will affect the moisture of the batter. If your cake batter is too runny, add more flour, and if it is too thick, add more liquids.
Read Why Gluten-Free Flour Blends Vary to learn more about this.
Step 5: Use a rolling pin or your hand to press the biscuit dough to 1 1/2 to 2 inches in thickness. (This will depend on how tall you want your biscuits.)
You can use a biscuit cutter or a glass or cookie cutter to cut out the biscuit shapes.
👀 Sandi Says: Do NOT twist the biscuit cutter when you cut out the biscuits. It will seal the edges and prevent the biscuits from rising.
Step 6: Preheat your oven to 425º F. Place the biscuits on a parchment paper-lined or prepared baking sheet. Be sure to space them out so they are not touching. Brush milk over each biscuit. This will help them brown on top to a nice golden color.
Step 7: Bake the biscuits for 15-18 minutes. The baking time will vary by the size of the biscuits.
Step 8: Remove the biscuits from the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack. When they are cool, slice the shortcake biscuits in half.
Step 9: Wash your strawberries. Slice the strawberry tops off and then slice the strawberries into pieces. Place the cut strawberries into a bowl and add the orange juice.
Optional: If your strawberries are sweet, you do not need to add sugar. If your strawberries were purchased in the off-season (winter),, add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar to sweeten them.
Step 10: Top a biscuit half with the strawberry mixture. Top with whipped cream. I like to use Truvia brand dairy-free whipped cream because it doesn’t have corn syrup. Cool whip is another option.
How To Make Whipped Cream:
You can also make homemade whipped cream by adding heavy cream to a standing mixer with the whisk attachment or a large bowl with an electric handheld mixer. Whip the cream for 5 minutes until it forms stiff peaks. If you like sweet whipped cream, add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar to the heavy cream.
This whipped cream would also taste amazing on my Gluten Free Strawberry Crumble Bars!
Storage:
For best results, store these gluten free shortcakes separately from their toppings. The biscuits can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 3 days or frozen in a zipper bag for up to 4 months.
The strawberries can also be made ahead and stored in an air-tight container. I recommend whipping the cream the day you plan to serve these gluten free strawberry shortcakes.
Frequently Asked Questions:
My best tip for making the best shortcakes is to use good unsalted butter and be sure it is really cold when you are cutting it into the flour.
I love to use blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries in shortcakes. You can also use a combination of several types of berries. Peaches are also delicious in the summer.
You can easily make this recipe sugar-free by omitting the sugar in the biscuits.
More Gluten Free Dessert Recipes:
- Gluten Free Whoopie Pies
- Easy Gluten Free Blueberry Crumble Bars
- Gluten Free Strawberry Pies
- Gluten Free Cake Mix Cobbler
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. Please include which flour blend you used. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Easy Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
Ingredients
Biscuits:
- 2 cups gluten free flour blend
- 2 tablespoons baking powder *It must be aluminum free!
- 2 tablespoons cane sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter *Cold butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk or non-dairy milk * see note
Strawberry Topping
- 2 pints strawberries * see note
- ¼ cup orange juice * see note
- Optional 1 tsp sugar
Whipped Cream
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream * see note
- optional 1 TBSP sugar
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425º F.
- Add your 2 cups gluten free flour blend, 2 tablespoons baking powder, 2 tablespoons cane sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt to a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk to blend together.
- Add cold 5 tablespoons unsalted butter chunks to the dry ingredients and use a pastry blender to cut in the cold butter. You can also use two knives to cut the butter into crumb-sized pieces, but it takes longer.
- In a small bowl, combine the 1 cup milk or non-dairy milk and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to form the dough.
- Use a rolling pin or your hand to press the biscuit dough to 1 1/2 to 2 inches in thickness. (This will depend on how tall you want your biscuits.)
- Use a biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuit shapes. You can also use a glass or cookie cutter.
- Place the biscuits on a parchment paper-lined or prepared baking sheet. Be sure to space them out so they are not touching. Brush milk over each biscuit. This will help them brown on top.
- Remove the biscuits after baking for 15-18 minutes. The baking time will vary by size of the biscuits.
- Wash 2 pints strawberries. Slice the strawberry tops off and then slice the strawberries into pieces. Place the cut strawberries into a bowl and add the ¼ cup orange juice and Optional 1 tsp sugar.
- Top a biscuit half with the strawberry mixture. Top with 1 pint heavy whipping cream.
- To make homemade whipped cream, add the heavy whipping cream to a standing mixer with the whisk attachment or to a large bowl with an electric handheld mixer. Whip the cream for 5 minutes until it forms stiff peaks. If you like sweet whipped cream, you can add optional 1 TBSP sugar to the heavy cream.
Notes
- I used Cup4Cup for this recipe because it makes biscuits fluffy. I also tested this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend and King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Gluten Free Blend. That doesn’t mean others will not work, I just have not tested other flours and I can not guarantee the recipe will work if you use other mixes.
- Xanthan Gum – If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- This bears repeating, you must use aluminum-free baking powder. Regular baking powder will leave a horrible bitter taste.
- You can make this biscuits recipe with vegan butter and non-dairy milk but the biscuits will not turn out as flaky and soft.
- It is fine to use frozen strawberries, but you will need to thaw them and drain the extra juice.
- These biscuits will keep fresh in an air-tight container for up to 3 days. You will need to warm them in the microwave if they get dense from being in the refrigerator.
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
This is my go-to shortcake recipe. I make it a bit easier on myself by just dropping the dough onto the parchment paper instead of cutting out with cutters. It makes it a bit more rustic looking, but we don’t mind. They always come out so delicious! Thanks for another great recipe!
Thank you so much, Elle, for coming back to share your drop biscuit method. This is a great tip for anyone who doesn’t have a biscuit cutter!
What size biscuit cutter did you use to get the 6 biscuit yield? I’d like to make these for my coworkers birthday, she never gets to enjoy the treats others bring. I bought Bobs Red Mill 1:1 GF flour so hope that works well. Thanks for your help.
I just looked at my cutter and it doesn’t have a size. It looks to be 3 inches wide.
On the recipe it calls for vanilla in the whipped topping but not the biscuit portion of it. But in the directions is says to add the vanilla to the milk so that’s what I did. Could be confusing to someone who never has baked before or just learning. I don’t mean to sound picky. They look delicious!! They tasted delicious also!
Hi Pam, thank you so much. I clarified in the recipe better. Thank you!
I used dairy free margarine and milk, and they seemed to still work well. I do question the amount of salt, 1 1/2 T seems high, I used less and it still seems plenty salty. Perhaps it should be 1/2 tsp! It also says add vanilla to milk but vanilla is not listed on the ingredients, Glad I read ahead.
Over it worked, but will use 1/2 tsp salt next time.
It should be 1/2 teaspoon, not 1/2 T.
You do not list the amount of vanilla extract to use in this recipe. I am experienced enough that I can “wing it,” but others might not be able to.
Hi Vicky, I am not sure what you mean. The vanilla extract is part of the whipped cream recipe and it lists 1 teaspoon.
She’s talking about step #4. Combine milk and vanilla. But vanilla is not listed in the ingredients for the biscuits, only the whipped cream.
how much vanilla to be mixed with milk?
Hi Sharon, one teaspoon of vanilla.
Made these shortcake biscuits and they came out perfect! I used Cup4Cup gf flour like suggested. They came out soft & fluffy and we ate them with our berries & cream while still slightly warm. So so good!!
I am so glad you loved the recipe. I really appreciate your coming back to let everyone know.
Sounds yummy! Should step #8 be cooking time rather than “remove?” How long should biscuits cool before slicing and topping?
Hi Leslie, they can cool 10 minutes or longer. I added clarification about removing the biscuits too. Thank you!