Vegan Strawberry Shortcakes

I have no doubt you will love these vegan strawberry shortcakes! Layered strawberries, fluffy coconut cream, and spongy shortcakes can make your dessert dreams come true.

These sweet strawberry shortcakes from The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook are so pretty and delicious that they are worthy of a London tea party. Served in a flowery fancy dish on a spotless white embroidered tablecloth. Can you see it?

Delightful!

But honestly, wouldn’t these be perfect for a dinner party with friends? Or even better, a beautiful sunny summer picnic. Just bring along the cream, strawberries, and shortcakes separately and assemble just before serving. Whether you’re planning a dinner party, vegan tea party, or a Mother’s Day brunch, these vegan strawberry shortcakes are a crowd-pleaser!

Are you a bit scared of how much work these beauties require? Are you imagining you’ll spend hours in the kitchen and end up regretting it? Don’t you worry. I promise this recipe is easy-peasy to make, and your friends will be blown away. Guaranteed!

Why You’ll Love This Eggless Strawberry Shortcake

• Completely Plant-Based: This vegan strawberry shortcake allows you to indulge guilt-free, making it easily without eggs or dairy!
• Simple Preparation: Despite its impressive presentation, this dessert is surprisingly easy to make. With just 20 minutes of active prep time, you can whip up a delightful treat that wows your guests and brings a touch of elegance to any occasion.
• Summertime Delight: Bursting with fresh and vibrant strawberries, this vegan strawberry shortcake captures the essence of summer. Whether it’s a Mother’s Day brunch or a sunny picnic, this dessert is the perfect celebration of the glorious berry season.

Antioxidant Superstars

Have you heard the rumors? Berries are full of antioxidants and have many other super powerful cool features. These fruits are not only delicious but also low in sugar which makes them ideal to avoid sugar spikes in the blood. But if you want to read more about the superpowers of berries, check out this article from Dr. Michael Greger.

Do I Need a Standing Mixer?

Nope! Not at all. While a stand mixer (like this one) is handy to have when you bake often, we know they are crazy expensive. For the rest of us, we can just as easily use a hand mixer (like this one). You can even go old-school and whisk it by hand—but to get the whipped cream supper whipped and frothy and airy, you’ll ideally want an electric mixer of some sort.

I used to mix all my baked good by hand with a whisk, but let me tell you—getting an electric hand mixer was a total game changer. They are relatively inexpensive, can last decades, and you can even find them at thrift stores if you want to save more money (and do something nice for the planet).

Key Ingredients And Substitutions

• Strawberries – The star of the show! While strawberries are the classic choice, you can use other berries like raspberries, blackberries, or a combination. While fresh berries are preferred, frozen berries will also be delicious! See the below section title “How to use Frozen Berries in Shortcake” for directions.
• All-purpose flour – Serves as the foundation of these vegan strawberry shortcakes, giving them their classic texture and allowing them to rise beautifully when baked. For a gluten-free version, you can use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.
• Sugar – Contributes a beautiful golden-brown color to the shortcakes once baked and complements the richness of the coconut cream. We used granulated table sugar but coconut sugar can work as well.
• Unsweetened non-dairy milk – Any unsweetened plant-based milk such as almond, soy, oat, or rice milk can be used interchangeably.
• Coconut oil – Coconut oil adds richness and moisture to the shortcakes, creating a tender crumb. If you prefer a different oil, you can use melted vegan butter.
• Full-Fat coconut milk – For a thick and fluffy coconut whipped cream, make sure to chill your can of coconut milk beforehand.

Mini Strawberry Shortcakes Option

Can you imagine cute little strawberry shortcakes?! I would totally make these for a birthday party and set them up in a tray on small paper dishes for people to serve themselves. This recipe makes 6 cakes, but if you venture into doing the miniature version, it will make many more. Just reduce the bake time for mini vegan strawberry shortcakes by 5-10 minutes to prevent over baking.

You can even change the strawberries for plump little raspberries, so they fit better in the miniature sizes. Or if you want to give them a bit more texture, you could add some grated coconut to the cream after fluffing it. So many possible variations of the same recipe and all so yummy and pretty!

How To Use Frozen Berries In Shortcake

Summer is my favorite season. The sun and warmth play a massive part in this, but another reason why I crave summer is fruit! Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and all the other lesser-known berries out there are all in full bloom and, the best part, on sale. Heaven! But don’t think you have to wait for the fresh ones to arrive to enjoy their deliciousness, we are so spoiled with countless frozen berries year round and at super convenient prices. So take your pick and enjoy these beautiful fruits.

If you have a hard time finding any fresh berries to prepare this recipe or they are slightly out of your budget, then thaw some frozen ones, add the sugar and let them sit a bit until they get glossy (a bit like syrup). I promise the cake will turn out delicious!

Make Ahead And Storage Tips

You can prepare the shortcakes and coconut whipped cream ahead of time. Store the shortcakes in an airtight container at room temperature and chill the whipped cream in the refrigerator. Assemble the dessert just before serving to keep the shortcakes fresh and the coconut whipped cream fluffy.

More Delicious Vegan Desserts

• If you’re looking for more easy desserts, this Silken Chocolate Pudding only requires 5 ingredients and tastes divine!
• Fall into banana bliss with these Caramelized Bananas! They look fancy but only take 10 minutes to make!
• Tastes the tropical delights of this Tapioca Rice Pudding made with coconut milk, sweet raisins, and a hint of rum!
• Swap your regular ice cream bowl for these DIY Chocolate Bowls! They feel decadent enough for a dinner party served with berries and mint for garnish.
• If you have an abundance of strawberries this Fresh Strawberry Juice is the answer! It’s refreshing and sweet plus you can make a big pitcher of it in a matter of minutes!

The Best Vegan Strawberry Shortcake

Author: Emily von Euw, Kathy Hester, Amber St. Peter, Marie Reginato, Celine Steen, Linda Meyer & Alex Meyer

5 from 8 votes

These strawberry shortcake stacks are such a great way to impress dinner guests. They look like they’re so complicated to put together, but we’ll let you in on our little secret: they’re super easy to make! Just pile the cake high with strawberries and some vegan cream.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 tablespoons sugar, divided
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 cup unsweetened plant-based milk
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided
• 1 pound strawberries, sliced
• 1 14-ounce can chilled full-fat coconut milk

Instructions

• To prepare, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease the pan (with vegan butter or vegetable oil). Put your stand mixer bowl in the freezer. 
• In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, 2 tablespoons of sugar, sea salt and cardamom until combined. Add the almond milk, coconut oil, and vanilla, and stir until well combined. The dough will be thick and sticky. 
• Divide the dough into 6 pieces and drop them onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown remove them from the oven and let them cool. 
• In a medium bowl, stir the strawberries and 1 tablespoon of sugar together until combined. Let it stand for 30 minutes so the strawberries can macerate. 
• Take your mixing bowl out of the freezer and add the solid part of the coconut milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar and the vanilla, and mix with the whisk attachment on the highest speed until the coconut milk becomes thick like whipped cream. This could take several minutes depending on your mixer. Be patient. 
• Slice the shortcake in half and spread some of the coconut cream on the bottom. Add a layer of strawberries, a dollop of cream on the strawberries, the top of the shortbread over the berries and cream, and add one more dollop of coconut cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 249kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 427mg | Potassium: 220mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 164IU | Vitamin C: 47mg | Calcium: 192mg | Iron: 3mg

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword strawberry shortcake, vegan dessert, vegan strawberry shortcake

About the Cookbook

If you are always on the hunt for the most awesome vegan cookbooks out there, you will love this one! It’s full of mouth-watering recipes and gorgeous photos to drool over. The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook might end up in your collection of all-time favorites.

The creator of this book is a collective of virtuous cooks who share their passion for experimenting with vegan foods. Emily von Euw, Kathy Hester, Amber St. Peter, Marie Reginato, Celine Steen, Linda Meyer, and Alex Meyer all made this lengthy cookbook one to remember. A little hint: if you’re sweet treat-obsessed like me you’ll keep some of these recipes on rotation.

Reprinted with permission from The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Linda Meyer & Alex Meyer, Page Street Publishing Co. 2018. Photo credit: Linda Meyer & Alex Meyer.