Undetectably Paleo and vegan strawberry shortcakes are the ultimate summer time healthy dessert recipe! Layered with coconut cream and fresh strawberries, this grain free biscuit is a light and refreshing treat!

layered vegan strawberry shortcake

Last year, I made these Paleo vegan strawberry shortcakes for my brother and his friends…except I didn’t tell them it was Paleo nor vegan.

I know, I know, that sounds so mean because it could have turned out horribly wrong, but I needed to know for sure, from several third party opinions, that these strawberry shortcakes…vegan and Paleo…could stand up to (and hopefully surpass) the classic.

plate of strawberry shortcake

Well guess what?! They passed with flying colors! My younger brother and his college friends had no idea that what I made them was grain free, gluten free, dairy free, vegan, nut free and low in sugar. They were shocked!

Because naturally, I had to let them know that they just consumed an entirely allergy friendly dessert with absolutely no detection ha! These healthier strawberry shortcakes are made with an entire grain free vegan biscuit recipe and layered with coconut cream and fresh strawberries in between. An absolute dream of a healthy vegan dessert!

plates of strawberry shortcake

My brother and his friends even went back for seconds…and thirds…my entire family too! Sooooo the only issue you’ll be having is making sure that there’s enough for everybody, because everybody is going to want a bite of these!!

layered healthy strawberry shortcake on plate

Healthy strawberry shortcake ingredients

You’ll absolutely freak over how simple the ingredients for these healthy strawberry shortcakes is. Essentially you’ll just need the ingredients for the grain free vegan biscuit, the coconut whipped cream, and the strawberries:

bitten strawberry shortcake

Cassava Flour: one of my favorite Paleo flours to use, cassava is a great addition that makes this recipe basically a classic strawberry shortcake that also is completely nut free.

Coconut oil: this acts as the “butter” found in normal biscuits and gives that really flaky and crisp texture to these Paleo ones. You can also sub in an equal amount of vegan butter here!

Ground flaxseed with water: this essentially acts as the egg. I talk about how to use a flaxseed “egg” in my Vegan Baking 101 guide, so definitely check that out. For this recipe, just make sure to mix the two together and allow it to sit for 5-7 minutes to coagulate.

Maple Syrup: my favorite sweetener 🙂 You can also use coconut sugar, or heck even regular sugar if you’re not concerned with it being strictly Paleo strawberry shortcake!

bowl of strawberries

Strawberries: there is no sweetener on the strawberries- I like to keep the natural ingredients as close to their true form as possible because I feel the flavors come out more!

Coconut Cream + Coconut Milk: a little bit of both! For the vegan coconut whipped cream, we’ll use a full fat coconut cream, but you can use any version of coconut milk for the biscuit part.

Vanilla Extract: because a classic strawberry shortcake isn’t anything without a little vanilla! This is ultimately what makes the biscuits taste so much like a regular biscuit.

bowl of strawberries sliced

How to make Paleo strawberry shortcake from scratch

It’s actually way easier than you think. Just because the word, “Paleo,” is in front of the strawberry shortcake does not mean that this recipe is going to be complicated by any means.

paleo strawberry shortcakes on plate

We’ll start first with the biscuits. In fact, as you saw above, we’re just using one flour, that basically acts like a regular flour (except for in recipes that call for yeast- that’s because there isn’t any gluten in cassava flour!).

sliced vegan biscuits

To start, preheat your oven to 450F and grease a baking sheet with ghee or coconut oil. The 450F is very important, as any lower will cause your biscuits to spread. We don’t want cookie biscuits here!

While the oven is preheating, whisk together your cassava flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt in a large bowl. Add in your coconut oil to the bowl. Using your hands, a pastry cutter, or a fork, cut (or with hands, mush) the coconut oil into the flour.

Add in the remaining ingredients and mix everything together until it forms a thick dough, like below.

dough for vegan biscuit

Scoop about 1/2 cup of the dough and roll it into a ball. Place the Paleo vegan biscuit dough onto the baking sheet, and repeat for the remaining dough. Bake for 12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown, and voilà! You have beautifully flaky, buttery, and sweet Paleo biscuits that will deceive anyone into thinking they’re the real deal! 😉

How to assemble vegan strawberry shortcake

Now that we’ve covered how to make the Paleo biscuits (which are just so incredibly easy by the way, and take no time!), let’s move onto the strawberry shortcake filling, which is equally as easy.

  1. When your biscuits are cooling, scoop the coconut fat from the coconut cream can into a large bowl and save the water on the side (you might need to add in a spoonful or two as you whip it for consistency!). Begin to whip the coconut cream using a hand mixer until it starts to fluff.
  2. Then add in the maple syrup and vanilla extract and continue whipping. Add in a spoonful at a time of the water if you would like a fluffier coconut whipped cream.
  3. Set that aside in the fridge to stay cool while you slice your strawberries.
sliced vegan biscuits on baking sheet

Once the strawberries are sliced, slice each biscuit in half. Take a big spoonful of your coconut whipped cream and top with some sliced strawberries.

Place the second half of the Paleo biscuit on top of the sliced strawberries (ideally, they’ll be evenly flat so that your biscuit can sit nicely on top). Add another scoop of coconut whipped cream and more sliced strawberries.

close up of layers of strawberry shortcake

And you’re done! How easy was that layered strawberry shortcake look? It looks absolutely stunning and presentable to a crowd but really doesn’t take long!

eaten vegan strawberry shortcake

Can you make strawberry shortcake in advance?

Absolutely. You can prep the biscuits up to a day in advance. Just make sure to store the vegan biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature.

Then you can prepare the coconut whipped cream right before you’re about to serve your vegan and Paleo strawberry shortcakes!

strawberry shortcakes on plate

I hope you love this Paleo strawberry shortcake as much as I do (and all of my family and their friends did ha!). Let me know in the comments below if you tried it- I know it will be a hit at your next get together!

As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there.

Happy Baking!

bitten strawberry shortcake

More healthy vegan dessert recipes:

Gluten free vegan peanut butter cookie skillet

Easy vegan meringue cookies

Vegan chocolate chip cookies

Double chocolate chip cookies

Flourless chickpea brownies

Paleo vegan flourless chocolate cake

Flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

pinterest image for strawberry shortcake

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layered vegan strawberry shortcake

Paleo Strawberry Shortcake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 3 reviews
  • Author: thebananadiaries
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 12
  • Total Time: 22 minutes
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: dessert
  • Method: baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

Undetectably Paleo and vegan strawberry shortcakes are the ultimate summer time healthy dessert recipe! Layered with coconut cream and fresh strawberries, this grain free biscuit is a light and refreshing treat!


Ingredients

Scale

Biscuits:

  • 2 cups cassava flour
  • 3/4 cup coconut oil, softened
  • 2 tbsp ground flaxseed, mixed with 1/2 cup water
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened dairy free milk, cold
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt

Strawberries:

  • 2 lbs fresh strawberries, sliced

Coconut Whipped Cream:

  • 2 cans full fat coconut milk or coconut cream
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

*Make sure to refrigerate the coconut cream overnight*

Biscuits:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Combine unsweetened coconut milk with apple cider vinegar to create a vegan buttermilk in one bowl, and the ground flaxseed with water in a separate bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together cassava flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt.
  4. Add the coconut oil to the bowl, and cut the coconut oil into the flour with a fork until you get a sandy texture.
  5. Once all of the coconut oil is cut into the flour, add in the vegan buttermilk mixture, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and ground flaxseed mixture. Begin to mix the mixture with a spoon until most of the liquid is absorbed. If needed, you can use your hands to fully form the mixture into a consistent dough.
  6. Roll about 1/2 cup of the dough into a large ball and place onto the baking sheet. Repeat for the remaining dough.
  7. Place baking sheet into the oven and bake for 12 minutes, or until lightly golden.
  8. Remove and let cool before serving.

Whipped Cream:

  1. Make sure to place the cans of coconut cream in the fridge the night before to ensure that the coconut fat has separated from the liquid.
  2. While the biscuits are cooling, scrape out the coconut fat into a large bowl, saving the coconut water in the can.
  3. Using a hand mixer, beat the coconut fat on medium speed until it starts to whip.
  4. Add in vanilla, maple syrup, and a spoonful at a time of the coconut water if needed for consistency.
  5. Whip for 2-3 minutes, until fluffy. If not ready to spoon onto the biscuits, place the coconut whipped cream back into the fridge.

Assembly of Strawberry Shortcakes:

  1. Slice each biscuit in half.
  2. Layer with one spoonful of whipped cream and several sliced strawberries onto first half of the biscuit.
  3. Place second half of the biscuit on top and finish with another layer of whipped cream and strawberries.
  4. Repeat for remaining biscuits.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 shortcake with coconut whipped cream and strawberries
  • Calories: 457
  • Sugar: 17 g
  • Sodium: 67.8 mg
  • Fat: 29.9 g
  • Saturated Fat: 23.9 g
  • Carbohydrates: 45.9 g
  • Fiber: 3.3 g
  • Protein: 2.4 g
  • Cholesterol: 0.3 mg
pinterest image for strawberry shortcake