This strawberry shortcake with buttery 3-ingredient cream soda biscuits, juicy strawberries, and vanilla ice cream melting into the whole glorious mess is an easy summer dessert. The biscuits are the surprise here. Tender, buttery, with a faint shortbread flavor that makes regular strawberry shortcake seem like it quit trying halfway through.
Also - I have no desire to wash seventeen dishes and spend all afternoon in the kitchen, how about you?
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🥰 Is this easy strawberry shortcake recipe for you?
- You grew up with strawberry shortcake with biscuits instead of sponge cake.
- You think summer desserts should be easy and not require a sink full of dishes.
- You love old-fashioned strawberry shortcake but wouldn't mind if the biscuit part actually tasted a little more like dessert.
- You have strawberries on the counter and exactly zero interest in making a complicated dessert.
- You believe vanilla ice cream melting into buttery biscuits and juicy berries counts as self-care. (It does.)
Skip this one if you're looking for fluffy sponge cake shortcake. These buttery 3-ingredient cream soda biscuits bring a lightly sweet, buttery shortbread-ish flavor to the party, and frankly? They're showing off a little.
🧾 Ingredients for strawberry shortcake with cream soda biscuits
The ingredient list for this old-fashioned strawberry shortcake is blessedly minimal and refreshingly free of drama. No mystery ingredients. No expensive little bottle that costs twelve dollars and gets used once before living out its days in the back of the pantry. Just easy stuff the instacart guy can actually find despite his history of weird substitutions.
- Self-rising flour - I used White Lily, because it's lower in protein and Southern women know some hills are worth dying on. It gives these biscuits a soft, tender texture that works perfectly with strawberry shortcake.
- Butter - Keep it ice cold. Cold butter equals flaky, buttery layers and we are not negotiating with science today.
- Cream soda - The secret little plot twist. It gives the biscuits a subtle vanilla, buttery flavor that tastes just a little like shortbread.
- Fresh strawberries - Sweet summer strawberries are the star here. If yours are tart, add a little extra sugar and carry on.
- Granulated sugar - Just enough to coax the strawberries into making that syrupy goodness that soaks into the biscuits. If you have some vanilla sugar sprinkle it on the tops before baking.
Be sure to download the free printable cheat sheet with extra tips, storage, and more.
📖 Recipe
Strawberry Shortcake with Cream Soda Biscuits
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For the 3-ingredient cream soda biscuits
- 3 cups self-rising flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter, ice cold
- ¾ cup cream soda, pour slowly and let foam settle before measuring
- 1 tablespoon coarse sugar or vanilla sugar for topping, optional
For the strawberries
- 2 quarts fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced
- ½ cup granulated sugar, use ¾ cup if berries aren't very sweet
For serving
- *Vanilla ice cream
Instructions
Prep the strawberries
- Add the sliced strawberries and sugar to a large bowl. Stir gently to coat. Let sit for 20 to 30 minutes while you make the biscuits. The berries will soften and create a sweet syrup.
Make the biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a baking dish or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the self-rising flour to a large mixing bowl.
- Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the cold butter into the flour. Toss gently with a fork every few additions to coat the butter pieces in flour and keep them from clumping.
- Pour the cream soda slowly down the side of a measuring cup to reduce foam, then measure ¾ cup. Add to the flour mixture.
- Stir gently just until a shaggy dough forms. Do not overmix. If the dough seems too dry, add an extra tablespoon of cream soda or cold water at a time until it comes together.
- Turn the dough onto a generously floured surface. Gently pat into a round about ¾ to 1 inch thick. Avoid overworking the dough.
- Cut biscuits with a biscuit cutter or clean tomato paste can. Cut straight down - no twisting. Place biscuits close together in the pan for softer sides.
- Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar or vanilla sugar.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown and about 195°F in the center.
- Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
Assemble the shortcakes
- Split warm biscuits in half. Spoon strawberries and plenty of syrup over the bottom half. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, then top with the biscuit lid. Add more berries if you're feeling generous, which frankly you should be.
Notes
- If your strawberries are extra juicy, save the syrup for spooning over ice cream.
- You can use frozen strawberries but they are not as good - the texture is mushy.
- These are best served warm while the ice cream starts melting into the berries.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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If you'd like to see the step by step instructional images for making the biscuits check out my classic 3-ingredient biscuits. Same process, slightly different ingredients.
😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
🍓 The cream soda biscuits turn out tough
You probably overmixed the dough or handled it too much. Stir just until everything comes together and pat the dough gently. Don't twist the cutter when cutting. Biscuit dough likes kindness, not aggression.
🍓 The dough seems too dry
Flour can be dramatic depending on humidity and brand. Add extra cream soda or cold water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough just comes together.
🍓 The strawberries aren't making much juice
They may need more time or a little extra sugar. Give them another 10 to 15 minutes and stir again. Summer fruit has moods.
🍓 The strawberries are too tart
Not all strawberries are living their best life. Add another tablespoon or two of sugar and let them sit a bit longer.
🍓 The biscuits spread instead of rising
The butter probably got too warm. Pop the cut biscuits into the refrigerator for 10 minutes before baking to help them hold their shape.
👩🏻🍳 FAQs
Kind of. The biscuits can be baked a day ahead and stored tightly covered. The strawberries can be sliced and sugared a few hours ahead. Wait to assemble everything until serving unless you enjoy soggy disappointment.
Nothing fancy is happening here, I promise. "Macerate" just means tossing sliced strawberries with sugar and letting them sit for 20 to 30 minutes.
The sugar pulls juice out of the berries and turns everything into that sweet, syrupy goodness that soaks into the biscuits. Sounds fancy. Really just means "put sugar on strawberries and ignore them for a bit."
Cream soda gives the biscuits a subtle buttery vanilla flavor that tastes a little like shortbread. It sounds odd right up until the first bite. You can substitute Sprite or even club soda but the flavor and texture will be different. Oh, and I would use plain cream soda, not one of the blue or red ones.
🍽 More strawberry dessert recipes for summer
If your refrigerator currently contains enough strawberries to handle a church picnic, I support you 100%. Strawberry season has a way of making perfectly reasonable adults suddenly believe they need twelve pounds of ripe berries and a tactical dessert plan.
Here are a few more easy strawberry desserts, ranging from cool and creamy to "accidentally ate half the pan while reading my Kindle."
Strawberry Shortcut Cake is an easy vintage dessert that is full of ripe strawberries. Strawberry Pretzel Icebox Pie brings that sweet-salty magic with a buttery pretzel crust that somehow disappears faster than good sense at a family reunion.
Strawberry Punch Bowl Cake looks downright impressive layered up in a trifle dish, even if all you really did was stack delicious things on top of each other and call it talent. And if you're after something light and fluffy, Strawberry Angel Food Cake is practically summer on a plate with sweet berries tucked into soft clouds of cream and then spooned into cake and chilled.
🏡 There are desserts that require planning, patience, and a level of emotional commitment I simply do not possess in the middle of summer. This simple strawberry shortcake is not one of them. Juicy, ripe strawberries, melting vanilla ice cream, and buttery 3-ingredient cream soda biscuits form a task force committed to bringing dessert to the most chaotic of households quickly and easily.
You're welcome.
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