Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake with Almond Flour Biscuits
Buttery biscuits meet billows of whipped cream and ripe berries in this easy gluten-free strawberry shortcake recipe. Or try this with mascarpone whipped cream or whipped crème fraiche. See the recipe notes for dairy-free, vegan, and paleo options!
2tablespoonssugar or other sweetener (to your taste)
1cup(235 ml) cold heavy whipping cream
2teaspoonssugar or other sweetener (more to your taste)
½teaspoonvanilla extract
Instructions
Gluten-Free Biscuits
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.
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 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.
Shortcakes
Meanwhile, toss the berries with the sugar and let sit until juicy, tossing occasionally, 15-30 minutes.
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 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.)
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.
Video
Notes
I use Bob's Red Mill flours for these biscuits. See below for substitution suggestions for the individual flours. If you prefer, you can use any all-purpose gluten-free flour blend in place of some or all of the flours by weight. *Sweet rice: Can sub by weight GF all-purpose flour such as Bob's Red Mill or cassava flour**Blanched almond: Can sub by weight almond meal, hazelnut flour, or millet, sorghum, or tiger nut flour for nut-free***Oat: Can sub by weight buckwheat, teff, or chestnut flour****Tapioca: Can sub by weight arrowroot or corn starch*****Sugar: Can sub ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (50 g) maple sugar or coconut sugarDo-Ahead: The dough can be made up to 1 day ahead and shaped, wrapped, and chilled until needed. Or freeze the cut dough rounds for longer storage and bake from frozen, increasing the bake time as needed. Baked biscuits can also be cut in half and frozen. Rewarm before serving. VariationsDairy-Free Gluten-Free Shortcake: 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 Gluten-Free Shortcake: Use a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons hot water, left to thicken and cool 20 minutes) in place of the egg. Vegan Gluten-Free Shortcake: Combine the dairy-free and egg-free variations above!Paleo Shortcakes: (I haven't tested this yet, so proceed at your own risk!) Omit the sweet rice and oat flours, using 1 cup each cassava and almond flours, plus the tapioca flour. Use coconut sugar or maple sugar in place of granulated. Use chilled full-fat coconut milk or cream instead of heavy cream.Any-Fruit GF Shortcakes: Use blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, nectarines, plums, or strawberry rhubarb compote instead of (or in addition to) strawberries.Herbaceous Shortcake: Add fresh herbs to the fruit such as slivered mint, basil, lemon balm, lemon verbena, tarragon, or a little minced thyme or rosemary for a flavor twist. Boozy Shortcake: My dad used to add a splash of Triple Sec or other orange liqueur to the strawberries for shortcake and it's lovely here! Or use another favorite spirit such as GF whiskey, brandy, or rum. Lemon Ginger Strawberry Shortcake: Add ½ cup / 75g finely chopped candied ginger + zest of 1 large lemon to the dough after cutting in the butter.