America's Birthday comes right at our favorite time of year when not only are the temperatures at their height, but so are the bounties of berries coming in from farms across the country. The abundance of fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries (just to name a few) are a sweet reminder of our Independence, and have become a staple way to celebrate fourth of July. And for as long as our country has been around, so has some version of the quintessential strawberry shortcake, featured in cookout spreads in multiple iterations from coast to coast.
Whether you prefer a more spongecake-like foundation, such as many traditional Southern strawberry shortcake recipes involve, or the tender biscuits commonly seen throughout classic North-eastern recipes, our take creates the best of both worlds, sans the butter.
Enter: our sinfully delicious, unbelievably easy and adaptable olive oil shortcake recipe. Our new shortcake recipe resembles classic and flaky, butter-based biscuits, while taking on the delightfully fluffy and light texture of a sponge cake. No advance preparation is needed to assemble a beautiful, build-your-own shortcake bar at the family's barbecue this year, as these shortcakes can be mixed, folded, baked, and cooled all in the span of 30 minutes. Even better, no special trips to the grocery will be needed, as the simple, staple ingredient list matches the recipe's name to-a-t.
Filled with lightly-sweetened freshly whipped cream (or coconut cream for our plant-based friends) and topped with whatever fresh fruits you have on hand from the market, this updated classic is sure to steal the show.
Olive Oil Shortcakes with Berries and Cream (Vegan friendly)
Vegan-friendly, crowd-pleasing, unbelievably simple: just a few ways you could describe our Olive Oil Shortcake recipe. Our shortcake recipe resembles classic and flaky, butter-based biscuits, while taking on the delightfully fluffy and light texture of a sponge cake. No advance preparation is needed to assemble a beautiful, build-your-own shortcake bar at the family's barbecue this year, as these shortcakes can be mixed, folded, baked, and cooled all in the span of 30 minutes.
Author:
Hallie
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon zest (optional)
1/2 cup Kyoord High-phenolic Olive Oil
3/4 cup of milk (dairy or non-dairy are both great!)
1 egg, whisked with 1 tbsp of water for egg wash (optional)
1 tbsp of sugar to sprinkle overtop (optional)
Macerated Berries and Freshly Whipped Cream
2 cups of fresh strawberries, washed and sliced into quarters
1 cup of freshly washed blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries
3 tbsp of sugar
1 cup chilled heavy cream
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Directions
Olive Oil shortcake Biscuits
Prepare the berries first to macerate while the shortcakes bake: Place a large metal mixing bowl in the fridge. Combine the berries in a large bowl. Stir in the 3 tbsp of sugar. Taste the berries, adding more sugar if necessary. Let the berries sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Whisk in the zest if using.
In a measuring cup, beat together the milk and the olive oil together with a fork till fully combined.
Pour the olive oil and milk mixture over the dry ingredients. Fold them together with a spatula until no dry patches remain and the dough comes together without sticking to the bowl. The dough will be oily but not sticky.
From here, you can either scoop out 3 tbsp sized pieces of dough to make drop biscuits, or continue following the directions below to create folded biscuits that result in the tall, square, flaky biscuits as seen in our photo.
If scooping the biscuits, simply scoop and drop them, spaced about an inch and a half apart on the lined baking sheet.
Very lightly dust the counter with flour and roll the dough into a long rectangle. Fold one short-end into the middle, then the other end overtop, to create a square envelope fold. Rotate the dough and roll it out once more into a long rectangle. Repeat the envelope fold.
Pat the folded square into an 8' x 8' square, the using an oiled knife, slice off the edges to reveal to layers, then cut the square into 9 individual biscuits. Place the squares 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheet.
If using, lightly brush the tops of the biscuits with the egg wash, then liberally sprinkle the extra sugar over top.
Bake the biscuits for 12-15 minutes, until the top and edges turn slightly golden, crisp, and the biscuits have risen.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Whip the cream + Assemble the shortcakes
In the large, chilled metal bowl, whip the heavy cream and sugar to soft peaks with an electric hand or stand-mixer. (Use immediately or refrigerate, covered until ready to serve).
Carefully split the shortcakes in half by slightly inserting a paring knife into the side of each cake, then gently pull the two halves apart. Dollop each bottom-half with 2 tbsp (or however much you want) of whipped cream, and spoon over the berries. Top with the other half, and serve immediately.
Recipe Note
To make VEGAN:
-Use dairy free milk in the shortcakes
-use two cans of chilled coconut milk in place of the heavy cream for making the whipped cream
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