Buttery almond flour biscuits meet billows of whipped cream and ripe berries in this easy gluten-free strawberry shortcake recipe.
The biscuits are adapted from my tender gluten-free almond flour scones, which take about 1 hour to make with 10 main ingredients. With dairy-free, vegan, and naturally sweetened options included.
When berries are in season, it's hard to go wrong with shortcake. Tender biscuits sop up rich berry juices all wrapped up in a blanket of velvety whipped cream or whipped mascarpone. I have a favorite recipe for gluten-free strawberry shortcake in my cookbook made with ricotta biscuits, honey, and tarragon. But I'm excited to share this more classic version today!
I adapted this biscuit recipe from my gluten-free almond flour scones. The same buttery dough gets formed into round biscuits, baked until golden and craggy, and smothered with berries and whipped cream, whipped mascarpone, or whipped crème fraiche.
Play around with different fruit, different types of dairy (non-dairy options below!), or add your favorite scone mix-ins such as chopped candied ginger or citrus zest. More flavor suggestions below!
P.S. If you're looking for a more savory biscuit, try these gluten-free buttermilk biscuits which I adapted from this recipe with the help of one of my readers.
Key Ingredients and Substitution Suggestions
The biscuits for this shortcake use 10 main ingredients.
- Butter makes these biscuits rich and tender. Use plant butter for dairy-free.
- Sugar adds subtle sweetness. For refined sugar-free, sub maple sugar, coconut sugar, or another granulated sweetener of your choice.
- Egg adds additional structure. Wheat biscuit recipes typically don't contain egg, but here it enhances the texture and makes up for the lack of gluten. For egg-free, make a flax egg (see recipe notes, below!)
- Cream brings the dough together and adds richness. Chilled full-fat coconut milk will work for a dairy-free option.
- Strawberries combined with the sweetener of your choice (sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc.) form a juicy melange. Use any ripe fruit you like: other berries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, or plums are all lovely choices. Or try my strawberry rhubarb chia jam for a twist.
Flours for GF Shortcake
A trio of flours, plus some tapioca starch, creates a dreamy texture that's crisp on top and tender in the middle. I've given lots of substitution suggestions, so feel free to experiment with what you have on hand. You can also use a good GF all-purpose blend in place of any or all of the flours listed here. I'd recommend Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF all-purpose flour.
- Blanched almond flour provides structure and richness. Sub almond meal or another nut or seed meal. For nut-free, sub tiger nut flour or millet flour.
- GF oat flour makes the dough tender and delicate. Sub sorghum, chestnut, teff, or buckwheat flour.
- Sweet rice flour helps stick the dough together. Sub cassava flour or GF AP flour.
- Tapioca starch makes these biscuits light and pillowy. Sub arrowroot starch.
How to Make Gluten-Free Shortcake
This recipe makes 6 biscuits. It takes about 1 hour to make the biscuits. You can prep the berries and cream while the biscuits do their thing.
Variations
Any-Fruit GF Shortcakes
Use blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, nectarines, plums, or strawberry rhubarb compote instead of (or in addition to) strawberries.
Dairy-Free
Use a good vegan butter such as Miyoko's in place of the butter and use chilled full-fat coconut milk in place of the cream in the biscuits. Use coconut yogurt or coconut whipped cream in place of the whipped cream.
Egg-Free
Use a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons hot water, left to thicken and cool 20 minutes) in place of the egg.
Plant-Based / Vegan
Combine the dairy-free and egg-free variations above!
Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest, purchase my award-winning gluten-free baking cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this gluten-free strawberry shortcake recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.
Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake with Almond Flour Biscuits
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Biscuits (Dry Ingredients)
- ⅔ cup (110 g) sweet rice flour*
- ⅔ cup (75 g) blanched almond flour**
- ⅔ cup (69 g) GF oat flour***
- 3 tablespoons (22 g) tapioca flour****
- ¼ cup (50 g) organic granulated sugar*****
- 2 ½ teaspoons (7 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Biscuits (Wet Ingredients)
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) cold unsalted butter, sliced ⅛-inch thick
- 6 tablespoons (90 ml) heavy cream, more as needed
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon GF vanilla extract
Strawberries
- 1 pound ripe strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 2 tablespoons sugar or other sweetener (to your taste)
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup (235 ml) cold heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons sugar or other sweetener (more to your taste)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Biscuit Dough
- In a large bowl, combine the sweet rice, almond, oat, and tapioca flours with the ¼ cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Add the butter slices. Blend with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the butter is broken down into the size of small peas. Chill until needed.
- Whisk together the 6 tablespoons cream, egg, and vanilla (if using) in a measuring pitcher. Chill until needed.
- Remove the flour mixture from the refrigerator. Gradually add the cream mixture, working with a flexible silicone spatula until the dough holds together when you give it a squeeze. If the dough is too dry, add a few drops of cold cream directly to the floury bits.
- Gently but firmly press the dough together with your hands and shape it into a rough ball. Place on a piece of beeswax wrap or plastic wrap and form it into a disk that measures 6 ½ inches across and ⅞ inch high. Don't worry about overworking the dough since there isn't any gluten to toughen here!
- Wrap and chill the dough disk until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
Shape
- When ready to bake, position a rack in the upper third of your oven and preheat to 425ºF. Stack a rimmed baking sheet atop a second rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment paper. This will all keep the bottoms from over-browning.
- Remove the dough round from the refrigerator, unwrap and place on a cutting board dusted lightly with oat flour. Use a 2½-inch biscuit cutter to cut the dough into 4 biscuits. Press the scraps together, form into ⅞-inch high oval, and cut out two more biscuits (or more if you have more dough leftover).
- Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with a little cream and sprinkle with a little sugar.
Bake
- Bake the biscuits until golden on top and cooked through, 20–25 minutes, rotating the pan after 15 minutes to brown them evenly.
- Remove from the oven and transfer the scones to a wire rack. Let cool until warm, 10-20 minutes.
Berries
- Meanwhile, toss the berries with the 2 tablespoons sugar and let sit until juicy, tossing occasionally, 15-30 minutes.
Cream
- Place the cream in the chilled bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl if you're using a whisk or electric beater). Add the 2 teaspoons sugar and whip on high until the cream holds soft peaks. Beat in the vanilla. (If you accidentally overwhip the cream and it starts to look curdled, don't fret. Gently fold in a big splash of unwhipped cream and it should smooth back out again.)
Aseemble
- Carefully cut the biscuits in half crosswise (I like using a small serrated knife.) Place the bottom half of a biscuit on a plate and top with a big dollop of cream. Spoon the berries and their juices over the cream and top with the biscuit top. Serve right away.
Diane says
I’m excited to try this! When you sub 6 TB of full fat coconut milk into the batter for the cream, do I use only the cream part or shake the can and use the coconut milk? Thanks!
Diane
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
That's a great question! I would shake up the can really well, open the can to make sure it's well-combined and smooth, and then chill it until cold. Then use the well-combined, chilled coconut milk. I think the liquid will help hold the scones hold together, where just the creamy part might be too dry and make the scones more crumbly. Please let me know if you try it! I haven't tested it this way myself yet. :)
Ashley says
I wasn’t sure when the initial flour mixture is supposed to go in the fridge and for how long because it only says remove from fridge but not when to put it in.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Thanks for catching that - updated!
Alexander says
Should these be cut and baked while the dough is still cold from being refrigerated? Although scrumptious, mine all cracked and fell apart.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that! Did they crack and fall apart before baking or after? Happy to help troubleshoot!
If the dough was dry when you were working with it, you may need to add more cream to help it stick together. When baked, they're delicate when warm but they should firm up after cooling.
I'm glad you loved them regardless!
Alexander says
I reduced a bit of the sugar in the recipe and perhaps that contributed to it…? They cracked while baking and then did turn out a bit dry and crumbly once fully cooled, although beautiful and enjoyed thoroughly. Thank you for any suggestions! King Arthur baking hotline shared that I could reduce the sugar by half for any scone recipe but perhaps not here…?
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Alexander, ah that makes sense! The sugar melts in the oven and acts like a liquid ingredient. Next time, try adding extra cream to make up for lowering the sugar. You could also try adding a little ground flax seed to help the biscuits hold together betteer. I'm not sure whether the sugar adds stickiness or not. They are a bit on the delicate side!
Solange says
Could I use this recipe for dairy-free ‘buttermilk’ biscuits as well? I loved how this turned out for shortcakes and am wondering if plant milk/cream plus apple cider vinegar would make for a component to have it happen. Any suggestions? Also, I would love to do a spinach galette using your gluten-free galette dough and am wondering if you have a spinach filling for referencing or any ideas for creating the perfect one. Your gluten-free spinach quiche was so, so delicious and the crust was so incredible- I made it three times in a row and devoured it completely. Simply divine!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Solange!
Yes I love the idea of making this into a buttermilk biscuit recipe! I've had good luck in other recipes using plant milk to thin plant yogurt to a heavy cream-like consistency (rich coconut yogurt such as Culina or Cocojune would be my pick here). Please let me know if you experiment!
Aw I'm glad you enjoyed the quiche recipe! Love the idea of a spinach galette with that pie crust recipe. I made these spinach calzones a long time ago. You could use leek in place of the spring onion and green garlic that I called for, and use any herbs you like in place of marjoram which is a little obscure. If you don't do goat dairy, you could try using Kite Hill ricotta in the filling instead of goat cheese and some kind of melty plant-based cheese in place of the goat gouda/mozz. I wonder if adding a beaten egg would be nice too? I'm totally craving that now. Please let me know if you experiment!
Bella says
Would I omit both the sugar and vanilla if using this recipe to try buttermilk biscuits?
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Oh great question, I'd like to try that myself! I would reduce the sugar to maybe 1 tablespoon – it will add flavor! And yes you can omit the vanilla. Please let me know how it goes!
Maya says
These are great! They are less flaky and a little more moist than some other GF biscuit recipes with grated butter, and I think these are better for shortcake. The recipe is pretty flexible, the second time I subbed millet and tapioca for the sweet white rice and half and half for the cream and it worked well too. I added a little more milk to make them a drop biscuit which worked fine!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
I'm so glad you like the biscuits and shortcake and that those subs worked well - brilliant! Thanks so much for trying the recipe and for the kind note and rating :)
Solange says
Obsessed with Cappellos new almond flour buttermilk biscuits and want to make my own- could I use half olive oil for the fat here? Also wondering if I could work potato starch in and sub out the oat flour….and organic buttermilk in lieu of heavy cream…? (Just looking at their ingredient label). Would love any tips!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Solange,
Oooh those sound so good - I need to try them! Are they sold frozen along with their other products?
I think all of those subs sound good. I bet the potato starch will give them a lovely, floofy texture! You could try subbing it in by weight in place of the oat flour. Buttermilk should be great in place of heavy cream; you may need less of it than the cream. I would add the olive oil along with the buttermilk.
Please report back if you try it!
-A
Solange says
First try and delicious! Perfect crunch plus pillowy texture. I used 1-1, almond flour, and potato starch, 1 tsp coconut sugar, half unsalted butter/half coconut oil, organic low-fat buttermilk. I worked just a touch of olive oil by rubbing a bit on the parchment & biscuit before baking. They were SO good! Only thing I’m thinking of playing with is getting them to have a little more tartness in bite, using honey instead of the touch of sugar, and also wondering how to incorporate more olive oil or if you feel it’s necessary at all. Perhaps needs a touch more salt- all factors I’d enjoy experimenting with to have them taste like a ‘processed’ one with chemicals and preservatives lol. P.S. please make these instead of Capello’s! In a mad dash, I was seduced having seen them on an IG reel but I have since read the label and they have not only ingredients that cannot be pronounced in them but the term ‘natural flavors’ twice, which we all know what that means…I’d appreciate any more suggestions but if my variation is a final one, my taste buds still feel that I’ve hit the mark thanks to you! Cheers!! Gigi, Bella, and I adore you!!!!!!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Oh wow, these sound so amazing! I definitely want to try your version. Did you use Bob's 1 to 1? Using honey sounds delicious and it may even improve the texture too since it's a sticky and acidic ingredient.
When you're happy with the recipe, would you send it to me via email so I can be sure I'm getting all the measurements right? I'm so excited for these! Thank you for sharing with me and for all your kindness and support (from Gigi and Bella too!) Appreciate you all! <3
Scarlett Rodriguez says
Hi Alanna Taylor
I have question
Do you have to chill the dough for 30min and overnight
Or You can chill it for 30 or overnight?
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Scarlett,
30 minutes is all you need! If you *want* to chill them longer, you can chill them as long as overnight, but it's not necessary.
Please let me know if you try these!
-Alanna
Scarlett Rodriguez says
Okay Thank you so much 😊
Karen Dana says
Hi Alanna, my favorite shortcake recipe uses a sweetened cream biscuit like batter that's baked in an 8x8 pan and cut into squares for serving. Do you think I could bake this batter in an 8x8 baking pan instead of rolling out and using a biscuit cutter?
Many thanks for any guidance.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
What a fun idea, and so much faster than chilling the dough and cutting out biscuits! Yes I think this would be about the right amount of dough for an 8x8-inch pan. Please let me know if you try it, I'm very curious now!
xo,
A
Karen Dana says
I tried it - I’d be comfortable serving to guests but I think I can tweak it for some small improvements. I followed the recipe except I added more cream since I wanted a stiff batter rather than dough; I added cream to the egg for a total of 1 cup - next time, I’ll weigh this. Since I was making a batter, there was no resting involved so everything went faster. I baked at 400° for 26 minutes (like my old recipe). I got a decent lift but I’d like to see a little more so next time, I’ll try baking at 425°. Thanks for another great recipe!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Oh good, I'm glad it worked well enough! Please let me know what other tweaks you make and I can add in this variation to the recipe notes. Such a clever idea and time-saver!
Mona says
Do these spread when baked or stay the same size?
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Great question! They spread a little as they bake, so leave some room between them when you place them on the baking sheet. Please let me know how they turn out!
Ari Rinehart says
I grew up in the South and had a hankering for some old-fashioned biscuits. I can't have your buttermilk recipe (no potatoes for me unfortunately), I gave a shot at adapting these shortcakes. To fit my dietary needs I used a flax egg and 8.5 tbsp of coconut milk (increased as I cut the sugar to 1tbsp). I added fresh thyme, black pepper, and a lil more salt to the dough and served them with roasted garlic. As always these recipes are KILLER and my peanut-egg-hite-potato-tomato-sesame-and-wheat-free life would be so much worse off without this website and your cookbook. So delighted by my biscuits!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Ari,
Ok those biscuits sound DELICIOUS! I'm so glad you were able to make them work for your needs. I know how tough it is to have food sensitivities - no fun! Thank you for sharing your variation here - I bet it will be helpful for other readers too. Bojon appétit, friend!
-Alanna
Heidy says
Light and delicate - my gluten-eating family really enjoyed this shortcake recipe, as did I. My only substitution was King Arthur GF flour for the sweet rice flour as I was out. I was feeling lazy and cut the dough into squares with a pizza cutter instead of using a round cutter. It was a little crumbly, but in a good way because it was so delicate. Thank you for the recipe, it was delicious and now I am enjoying the extra shortcakes with my morning coffee.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Yay, so glad this recipe was a hit with you and the fam - especially the gluten-eaters! Thanks so much for the great feedback!