Strawberry shortcake is the quintessential summer dessert. It’s fresh, full of fruit flavor, but sweet and rich at the same time. Today I’m making a light yet rich vegan brown sugar strawberry shortcake for all your summer dessert needs!
the main ingredients
To make this easy dairy-free strawberry shortcake, you only need 8 main ingredients! This shortcake uses plant butter (I use either Earth Balance or Country Crock Plant Butter) and is topped with a sweet crunchy streusel topping.
- All-purpose flour
- Brown Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Vegan Butter
- Almond Milk
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Vanilla Extract
prep the strawberries
Before you make the shortcake, the first step is to prep the strawberries. You’ll want to mix them together with light brown sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Prepping the strawberries a few hours prior to when you plan on enjoying your shortcake allows the strawberries and sugar to marinate together. The sugar will help create a flavorful syrup that you can pour over the shortcake. I recommend covering the bowl and placing it in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
how to make the shortcake
Making this vegan strawberry shortcake is actually really easy. Similar to shortbread, shortcake is made with cold vegan butter so make sure you pop your butter into the freezer or fridge prior to using it.
The first step is to mix together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Then, using a pastry cutter, cut in all the cold vegan butter. You may need to use your hands to incorporate the butter so the dough is a coarse crumbly texture. You’ll want to make a well in the center and add in the almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla.
Using a spoon or spatula, stir the wet into the dry ingredients until it forms a very thick batter. The texture should be a combination between a thick muffin batter and biscuit dough.
streusel topping
To make the topping, mix together the streusel ingredients- the flour, brown sugar, and butter- until they form a crumble.
This shortcake uses as a 9” or 8″ round cake pan. You’ll want to make sure that you grease the bottom and sides so it releases easily. Then, spread the shortbread dough into the bottom of the pan. Top it off with a sprinkle of the streusel mixture. You can also sprinkle on some coarse granulated sugar onto the top.
Next up is baking! Bake the shortcake for 30 minutes at 375F until golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.
If you’re serving with whipped cream, you’ll want to let the cake cool a bit before serving. Obviously, strawberry shortcake is great served with the refrigerated, marinated strawberries and coconut whipped cream! If you’d like to make it a bit healthier or even eat it for breakfast, you can serve the vegan brown sugar strawberry shortcake with plain unsweetened soy yogurt!
tips & tricks
Strawberry shortcake is a summer dessert that consists of a sweet cake or biscuit that is usually topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. This recipe recommends topping the shortcake with coconut whipped cream!
Traditional shortcakes are not vegan because they use dairy based butter. However, plant butter bakes up almost identically to dairy butter! I promise you won’t even know this strawberry shortcake recipe is completely vegan.
Cold butter helps create the flakey texture of shortcake! If the butter is room temperature or melted, the cake will be less biscuit like.
Looking for more vegan desserts? Check out these recipes!
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Almond Blueberry Biscotti
Vegan Monkey Bread
Classic Vegan Apple Pie
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to know! Leave a rating and comment below!
Vegan Brown Sugar Strawberry Shortcake
A scrumptious classic summer treat: vegan strawberry shortcake! This shortcake is made with brown sugar and topped with a streusel crumble to give it some deep unique flavor.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 ½ packages strawberries, sliced thinly
- 1 tsp lemon zest, optional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Vegan Coconut Whip
Shortcake:
- 3 cups all purpose flour, (360g)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 12 tbsp very cold salted vegan butter, diced
- 1 cup almond milk, unsweetened
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp cold vegan butter
- Coarse granulated sugar
Instructions
- Prep the strawberries by mixing them together with the light brown sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Cover and place in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
The Shortcake:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Using a pastry cutter, cut in the cold vegan butter. You may need to use your hands to incorporate the butter so the dough is a coarse crumbly texture.
- Make a well in the center and add in the almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla.
- Stir the wet into the dry until it forms a very thick batter.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together the streusel topping ingredients (the flour, brown sugar, and butter) until they form a crumble.
- Grease a 8” or 9” round cake pan. Spread the shortbread dough into the pan.
- Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top. If using, sprinkle on some coarse granulated sugar.
- Bake for 30 minutes until golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.
- Let cool before serving with the refrigerated strawberries and coconut whipped cream.
Notes
- This shortcake is best served the first day.
- Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for 2 days.
- You can also freeze the shortcake by wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 341Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 37mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gProtein: 1g
Nutritional info is an estimate.
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