Healthy Strawberry Shortcake
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This healthier take on Strawberry Shortcake uses 100% whole wheat and real food ingredients but turns out moist and delicious! Top with our Homemade Whipped Cream or Maple Whipped Cream.
3 Tips for Making This Recipe Amazing
The key to this making this Healthy Strawberry Shortcake absolutely delicious is three-fold:
- Use ripe strawberries macerated with just a little sugar. That means you’ll just toss your sliced strawberries in a bowl with 1-2 tablespoons of sugar and let them sit for at least 30 minutes or longer. This helps to soften and sweeten them a little bit. Feel free to use coconut sugar or turbinado sugar, which are less refined.
2. Make your own homemade whipped cream. Trust me, it’s really not hard and it makes a huge taste difference. (Please don’t ruin this dessert with whatever it is that Cool Whip is…ick!)
3. Use the white whole wheat variety of flour (this is also now labeled as “gold” whole wheat), if you can find it. This variety makes for a much less dense cake, yet is still 100% whole grain.
I must warn you, if you’re accustomed to the classic biscuit or sponge cake versions, this was neither. Instead, this Strawberry Shortcake was a moist, sweet, and yet denser cake. It has a pretty strong honey flavor which is tasty but probably not the traditional shortcake you are used to. Not traditional but awesome nonetheless.
Why Is This Strawberry Shortcake Healthier?
Glad you asked! Two big reasons:
1 – Everything is made with whole food ingredients instead of processed foods, like store-bought cake and Cool Whip that are filled with icky ingredients. Instead, whole wheat flour, honey (and not too much really), fresh strawberries, coconut oil, eggs, and organic milk and cream make for a healthier, whole-food approach to this delicious dessert.
2 – Made with 100% whole wheat flour, which means more fiber and protein. I recommend using white or golden whole wheat for best texture.
3 – Honey is the main sweetener, so this dessert has far less refined sugars.
Now that blueberries are everywhere around these parts, I’m thinking this cake could be great with those, too. Enjoy!
Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!
Healthy Strawberry Shortcake
Filled with all real food ingredients, this healthier Strawberry Shortcake with homemade whipped cream is a wholesome dessert your whole family will LOVE.
Ingredients
- 4–5 cups of fresh, sliced strawberries (sub: frozen and thawed sliced strawberries)
- 1–2 tablespoons sugar (you can use coconut sugar or another unrefined sugar)
- 1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour (I highly recommend using the white whole wheat variety!)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- A pinch of sea salt
- 1/2 cup milk (your choice)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/3 cup melted, slightly cooled coconut oil (sub: avocado oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- Maple Whipped Cream or Homemade Whipped Cream (or store-bought whipped cream)
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×8-inch square baking pan.
- Toss the sliced strawberries in a bowl with 1-2 tablespoons of sugar. Set them aside to macerate while you make the cake. (I usually store mine in the fridge.)
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and sea salt.
- In another mixing bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together the milk, honey, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Add this wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir with a spoon just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan. Bake for 18-23 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean).
- Allow the cake to cool. While it cools, whip up a batch of Homemade Whipped Cream or Maple Whipped Cream. Top each serving with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Notes/Tips
- If your cake doesn’t rise when baking, your baking powder may not be good anymore. How can you tell? Place 1/2 teaspoon powder in a bowl and cover with 1/4 cup boiling water. If it bubbles vigorously, then it’s still good. If there’s no or little bubbling, then it’s time to toss it.
- Note: This cake will have a distinct honey aroma and flavor to it, but it’s surprisingly not super sweet. Once paired with the strawberries and whipped cream, the sweetness is perfect!
- This is different than traditional shortcake but still delicious.
Followed recipe, shortcake came out flat. Disappointed.
Hi Alberto. Our pastry chef team member retested this recently and it turned out just as written and as the pictures show. I’m wondering if your baking powder could have been expired and not working anymore? To test it, add a little bit of baking powder to a bowl and add in some vinegar. It should have a reaction if it’s still good. I hope that helps next time.
If you try it again with better results or find out that your baking powder isn’t activating, we’d appreciate you updating your review and star rating. Thank you!
Very good, but I do have a question, mine came out about an inch thick. I was expecting it to rise more. I baked it in an 8×8 metal pan, and followed the directions exactly. Was it expected to be thin? My hubby and I still loved it! I did go with 1/3 cup honey, we like things on the less sweet side.
Hi Mel. Thank you for the review. I haven’t measured it when I made it, but I would guess it to be more like two inches thick. Perhaps your baking powder is older and kept it from rising? I don’t really have any other guesses as to why it came out thinner. PS – I go with less sugar in just about every recipe on our site. 🙂
Great and healthier cake. Bonus is how easy it is to make. I used spelt flour and doubled the recipe to make 2 8X8 cakes. Leftover cake is good even without the berries. Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Joyce. Glad you found this recipe easy and delicious. Thanks for leaving details on your changes in case others are thinking of doing the same things.
I made very little variations to this shortbread, I used 1 cup WWW flour and 1/3 plus an addition 1/3 unbleached bread flour also added 1/2 tsp of baking soda. I wanted a more dense version because I soak my shortcake in milk and like to have chunks of it in my bowl. I tried the basalmic vinegar and agave nectar to sweeten the strawberries with a 2tsp of tequila so the alcohol can break down some of the berries this made an amazing sauce. If I had instagram I would send a pick. I cooked the shortbread in a moderate amount of light olive oil in my cast iron skillet in the oven at 375. First pre heat the skillet then bake in center rack 20min.
YUM! Thanks for sharing your tweaks. Sounds delicious.
So easy and delicious!
Thanks Lynn! I love how easy and healthier this recipe is too!
I made this on the 4th of July with your maple whipped cream. It was delicious! I used a combo of 1tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar for the strawberries. My choice of milk was full fat coconut and I cut the honey down to 1/3 cup. It was perfection – thank you for the recipe!
Hi Amber. Thank you for taking the time to write out your substitutions… I’m sure it will benefit someone else. So glad you enjoyed it!
I just made your shortcake as we’ve been working hard to eat better and much healthier. I’m always looking for yummy things to cook/bake for my family but with healthy ingredient options. This cake came out beautiful! I sent pics of it to hubby and son at work as well as the strawberries that are soaking up that sweetness in the fridge! I’ll be making your maple whipped cream as well with one exception forgive me( fat free cool whip with the pure syrup and vanilla. The boys are salivating lol!!! I’ve put your recipes and blog into my notes!!!! Thank you! Can’t wait to dive into all of it tonight👏👏👏👏Num num num!!!!
Hi Audrey! So glad to hear you found us and are enjoying our recipes! Oh and of course you are forgiven for your shortcut! 🙂
I tried a different healthy shortcake recipe and wasn’t a fan. This is my new go-to! 🙂 I made it for our Bible Study tonight and everyone loved it! Instead of adding sugar to the strawberries I did a few dashes of balsamic vinegar which brings out the juices too. Thank you!
Oooh, thanks for that tip Sarah! I’m going to have to try the balsamic… I reduce sugar in recipes wherever possible and hadn’t ever thought about this.
I have made this recipe for several years, mainly because it doesn’t have refined sugars. I use unbleached all-purpose flour and butter instead and reduce the amount of honey to 1/3 cup to make the consistency a little less dense. It is a family fave!
Hi Guin! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review and let us and others know what change work for you. This is one of my family’s favorites too!
How much butter did you add? I’m using the same flour
Hi Lindsey. You can replace butter 1-to-1 in a recipe with coconut oil. Hope that helps!
Do you use refined or virgin coconut oil?
Either will work fine. I prefer the unrefined just because it retains more nutritional value.
How would you store this? The bread part? Thanks!
I’d probably wrap it up and store it in the fridge so it lasts longer.
Can regular organic soy milk be used in place of milk?
Absolutely!
I made the cake recipe but not the whipped cream, used almond milk Reddi-whip topping. My family loved the shortcake, so much healthier, yet so delicious. Even my son-in-law who is not a fan of anything without sugar, butter, fat loved it!
Fantastic! Glad to hear it was a hit.
can almond milk be used in place of milk?
Yep, it sure can!
I just popped the shortcake into the oven… Cannot wait to see how it comes out. I recently started eating healthier (my children and I very picky eaters), but I absolutely love your recipes. Thank you so much!!!!
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it!
This looks delish! Is there a make ahead or freezer option for this dessert and how would you store it after making it? Leave out or in the fridge? Thanks! Can’t wait to try it!
Lindsay, you can certainly make this cake ahead of time, cool, tightly wrap, and freeze for a few weeks. To thaw, let it sit in the fridge or even on the counter for 24 hours. After I made it, I left it on the counter like any other cake. But, of course, I refrigerated the strawberries and whipped cream separately.