Vegan Viands #10: Vegan Strawberry Shortcake

We're in Philly this week for an unplanned visit. When we come, we stay with my in-laws (Shana's brother and his family). In addition, we've got Shana's older sister in from California and tonight also had her mom and step-dad over for dinner. Given that we've had a lot going on, we needed to plan a simple dinner that would feed a crowd, taste good to omnivores and veg*ans and kids, and come together quickly. We decided that such a meal was my vegan spaghettios and grilled foil packets full of broccoli. I think dinner was a hit because my osum* niece made me a card about how much she loved it.

More importantly, nearly everyone in attendance has a sweet tooth, so we also needed a quick and easy dessert. Since it's getting to be close to summer berry season, the best, easiest, and tastiest dessert would be strawberry shortcake. The recipe below fit the bill and is super delicious, too!

With sweetened Mimiccreme - my favorite!

With a whipped topping

Vegan Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
1 quart strawberries, cut
1/4 c. sugar
2 1/3 c. Bisquick
3 T. sugar
1/2 c. soymilk (I used vanilla this time)
3 T. vegan butter, melted
creamy topping of choice (see Helpful Hints)

Directions
1. At least 3 hours before you plan to serve dessert, mix the cut strawberries and 1/4 c. sugar in a bowl and set aside, stirring occasionally.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
3. Mix together Bisquick, sugar, soymilk, and melted butter in a bowl, stirring until just combined - do NOT overmix.
4. Divide into 6-8 piles and place on a non-stick (or lightly greased) cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Let cool slightly, then top with some of the strawberries and your creamy topping of choice.

Helpful Hints

• This is a sticky and soft dough, but that's what makes it so good. You will want to keep stirring, but just walk away. 

• I have successfully made the biscuits with a gluten-free baking mix, so that's a possibility! Also, heart-healthy Bisquick is soy-free, so if you use another non-dairy milk and soy-free "butter," you've got a soy-free dessert.
• Letting the strawberries sit in the sugar is called maceration, which basically means you let food get soft. Since strawberries (and most other berries) have a high water concentration already, the sugar allows them to release their own juice and creates an awesome strawberry liquid that you can also drizzle over the shortcakes. The longer you let them sit, the more they will give up water. 

• You've got a number of options for creamy toppings for this dessert. Whipped cream is traditional, but there's no reason you have to stick with that! 
• If you do want a vegan whipped cream, you can going with something commercial, like Soyatoo Rice Whip (it's decent, for sure), or you can make your own with a recipe from the web or with Healthy Top from Mimiccreme. 
• If you want something else, why not vanilla ice cream? 
• My personal favorite is sweetened Mimiccreme, which would be equivalent to a sweet cream, I think. I like it because it will soak in to the shortcake along with the strawberry syrup. So good. 

* My niece is learning to read and write and is sounding out words. She sounded out awesome and spelled it osum, which has now become an inside joke in the family. We all agreed that something osum is even better than something awesome.

The post "Vegan Viands #10: Vegan Strawberry Shortcake" originally appeared on Maggie's LesVegan Kitchen.