Air Fryer Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake | Egg & Dairy Free
Introducing Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake made in the air fryer with no eggs, no dairy and homemade whipped cream. This fun twist on the classic strawberry shortcake features rich, chocolatey shortcakes layered with juicy strawberries and fluffy non-dairy whipped cream. A delightful treat that leaves you longing for more.
Hello chocolate lovers! Raise your hand if you knew you could make chocolate strawberry shortcake in the air fryer. It was definitely a surprise to me when I came upon the traditional recipe and decided to veganize it. It may look intimidating, but the best part is that it’s super easy to make and just as good as the real thing. Yay for strawberry season and easy summer dessert!
🍓Ingredients (With Substitutions)
- All Purpose Flour – you can use white, white whole wheat or whole wheat flour for this recipe.
- Organic Sugar – I always buy organic sugar as many sugars in the USA are not vegan. You can substitute with coconut sugar, brown sugar or any sugar you have on hand.
- Strawberries – for best results, choose organic fresh strawberries for this recipe. Frozen strawberries won’t do well here. If you love strawberry recipes, try my Vegan Strawberry Muffins.
- Vegan Cocoa Powder – essential for the recipe so there is no substitution.
- Baking Powder – an important leavening agent needed for these little chocolate pillows to rise.
- Baking Soda – another leavening agent. If you don’t have baking soda, just increase your baking powder by 3/4 teaspoon.
- Vegan Butter – you can substitute with equal amounts of melted coconut oil or vegetable oil.
- Vegan Chocolate – I use non-dairy semisweet chocolate chips in this recipe but you can also use a vegan chocolate bar and break into chunks.
- JUST Egg – if unavailable in your area, you can use any egg replacer available or you can make flax eggs by combining 1 tbsp ground flax seed with 3 tbsp of water per egg and refrigerating for 15 minutes.
- Vegan Heavy Cream – until recently, this item was hard to find in US markets, at least in my area. But looks like Amazon has it so I’m happy about that as it adds to the richness of the whipped cream. If you don’t want to make whipped cream, you can purchase non-dairy whipped cream at the grocery store, instead.
- Lemon Juice – you’ll mix this with vegan heavy cream to make non-dairy whipped cream. I always opt for fresh lemons but bottled works fine, as well.
Exact ingredient measurements can be found in the recipe card below!
🥣How to Make Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake
Step 1: Add dry ingredients, including flour, coarse sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt to a medium bowl.
Step 2: Mix with a fork or whisk until well-incorporated.
Step 3: Using a hand or stand mixer or pastry blender, add diced vegan butter and mix until your mixture forms coarse crumbs like moist sand.
Step 4: Add in vegan chocolate, JUST Egg, and vegan heavy cream.
Step 5: Mix until a nice chocolate dough has formed.
Step 6: Divide dough into 8 equal-sized portions or chocolate dough balls. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough balls into a 2 inch circle.
Step 7: Add 1/2 cup sugar to a shallow bowl and dip each sides of the chocolate biscuit into the sugar.
Step 8: Place the chocolate shortcakes into an air fryer basket lined with parchment paper. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may only be able to cook two at a time. Set to air fryer setting for 8-10 minutes or until they are fully cooked.
Gently remove and place on a cooling rack until fully cool. In the meantime, toss the strawberries with a couple tablespoons of vegan sugar to make a sweet strawberry sauce and make the vegan whipped cream by beating 1 cup vegan heavy cream with 1 tbsp lemon juice.
Step 9: In a large mixing bowl, add vegan heavy cream and lemon juice.
Step 10: Whip until your mixture forms stiff peaks. Put in refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble the biscuits.
Step 11: Once biscuits are completely cool, assemble the shortcakes. Place one shortcake on the bottom, add your ready-made vegan whipped cream on top of the bottom biscuit.
Step 12: Add strawberries on top of the whipping cream, then another shortcake. Finish with another layer of whipped cream, strawberries with a drizzle of juice and a mint leave. Serve immediately and enjoy this delicious dessert!
👩🏻🍳Expert Tips
- Be Gentle – when removing chocolate shortcake from the air fryer, be very gentle lifting with your spatula. Like a cookie that just comes out of the oven, the dough balls will be fragile until they’ve cooled off. If you mess around with them while they are cooling, they will break apart.
- Use a Fork to Mix – you don’t necessarily need a stand or hand mixer to make this recipe. You can use a fork and still get great results.
- Wait to Assemble – until the shortcakes are completely cooled to room temperature. If you assemble too soon, the whipped cream will melt and your biscuit will become soggy.
- Keep Whipped Cream Refrigerated – keep your whipped cream in the fridge until just before assembly. Here’s another recipe where I make Coconut Whipped Cream which would also work for this recipe: Sweet Potato Oatmeal.
- Serve Immediately – for best results, serve chocolate strawberry shortcake immediately after assembly. If there’s a delay in serving, be sure to stick your assembled shortcakes back in the refrigerator.
🌡️Storage and Freezing
- Store in an airtight container in your refrigerator up to 5 days. Be sure vegan strawberry shortcakes are completely cool before attempting to store.
- These biscuits freeze well in an airtight container up to 3 months. HINT: place a piece of parchment paper or wax paper between each biscuit if storing stacked.
- For best results, thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
🍰More Dessert Recipes
- Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- Lavender Shortbread Cookies
- Blueberry Chia Seed Pudding
- Lemon Blueberry Loaf
🍪More Vegan Sweets
This Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake recipe was inspired by a non-vegan recipe found at Fork to Spoon.
Have you tried this? Why not leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback. You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and sign up for my newsletter!
Air Fryer Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
Equipment
- Hand mixer or
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Shortcakes
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup vegan cane sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter cold and diced into slices
- 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips or vegan chocolate of any kind
- 1/2 cup JUST Egg
- 3/4 cup vegan heavy cream
For the Filling
- 5 cups strawberries hulled and diced
- 1/4 cup vegan cane sugar
For the Whipped Cream
- 1 cup vegan heavy cream
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Add flour, 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt to a large bowl. Mix until well-incorporated.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, add diced vegan butter and mix until your mixture is crumbly, resembling moist sand. Add in vegan chocolate, JUST Egg, and vegan heavy cream. Mix until a nice chocolate dough has formed.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal-sized portions or chocolate dough balls. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough balls into a 2 inch circle.
- Add 1/2 cup sugar to a shallow bowl and dip each sides of the chocolate biscuit into the sugar.
- Place the chocolate shortcakes in the air fryer lined with parchment paper. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may only be able to cook two at a time. Set to air fryer setting for 8-10 minutes or until they are fully cooked. Gently remove and place on a cooling rack until fully cool. In the meantime, toss the strawberries with a couple tablespoons of vegan sugar.
- While the biscuits are cooling, make vegan whipped cream. In a large mixing bowl, add vegan heavy cream and lemon juice. For best results, whip with a beater until stiff peaks form. Set aside until you're ready to assemble the shortcakes.
- Once biscuits are completely cool, assemble the shortcakes. Place one shortcake on the bottom, add your ready-made vegan whipped cream on top of the first biscuit with a few strawberries and some juice. Add another shortcake. Finish with more whipped cream, strawberries and a drizzle of juice. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
-
- Be Gentle – when removing shortcakes from the air fryer, be very gentle. Like a cookie that just comes out of the oven, the dough balls will be fragile until they’ve cooled off. If you mess around with them while they are cooling, they will break apart.
-
- Wait to Assemble – until the shortcakes are completely cooled to room temperature. If you assemble too soon, the whipped cream will melt and your biscuit will become soggy.
-
- Refrigerate Dough Overnight – although this step is not necessary and the recipe will be just as good if you omit this step, the recipe works better when you refrigerate the dough overnight before air frying the next day.
-
- Keep Whipped Cream Refrigerated – keep your whipped cream in the fridge until just before assembly.
-
- Serve Immediately – for best results, serve immediately. If there’s a delay in serving, be sure to stick your assembled shortcakes back in the refrigerator.
- Nutrition information is only an estimate.
I love the flavor combination of strawberries with chocolate shortcakes, and it’s so quick and easy to make in the air fryer!
I know what you mean. Thanks Jeri.
This chocolate shortcake was so fluffy and tasty! I added some extra cane sugar cause I like it sweet!
Good deal, thank you DK.
Thank you DK.
This air fryer Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake is a must-try. The combination of rich chocolate shortcakes, fresh strawberries, and fluffy non-dairy whipped cream is irresistible.
Yes, that’s for sure. Thanks Oscar.
Thanks Oscar.
Such a fun twist on strawberry shortcake! I love that I can use my air fryer for it too!
I know that’s the best part. Thanks Nicole.
Me too, thank you Nicole.
We love strawberry shortcake but this was our first chocolate version! It was a hit with my chocoholic family!!
Thanks Liz, great news.
The presentation of these is beautiful, and they really do taste as good as they look. Love the combination of chocolate and strawberry. Delicious 🙂
Thanks for the lovely compliment Alexandra.
Absolutely delicious! Tried this Air Fryer Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake recipe and it’s a game-changer. Perfectly crisp on the outside, with warm chocolate and juicy strawberries inside. A must-try dessert!
Woo hoo, thank you Claudia, happy you liked it.
I was so intrigued by the ‘air fryer’ cooking method. It turned out just as explained.
Festive and indulgent. Thanks for the great recipe!
I know I am amazed at the things you can make in an air fryer. Thanks Juyali.
Just made Air Fryer Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake, and it’s a hit! The air fryer makes it so easy, and the combo of chocolate and strawberries is perfect. A quick and delicious dessert!
Glad to hear it was a hit. Thanks Claudia.
I confess I was unsure about making the shortcakes in the air fryer but wow they came out so good. I served the shortcakes with strawberries from my garden which made them extra special!
OOooooooh fresh strawberries from your garden sound divine. Thanks much, Jacqueline.
You can make strawberry short cakes in an air fryer? Amazing! These turned out so good that I had to make them again!
I have even made pavlova in an air fryer and Boston cream pie. Thanks for trying!
You had me at chocolate shortcake and the vegan option made this a must try recipe for me, since I’m lactose intolerant. They turned out so perfectly crumbly and buttery, with the creamy filling and fresh strawberries creating the perfect early summer treat for tea time.
Ahhh so happy! Thank you Sonja.