Gluten Free Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

When life hands you strawberries… make CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE!

A few weeks ago my local farmers market was over run with luscious ruby red strawberries and I just couldn't resist bringing those babies home with me. Strawberries are a funny thing, well in all fairness I guess it's not strawberries that are funny but more our current food system that is “funny.” You see, here in the NorthEastern part of the United States strawberries have a very short season, a few weeks at best, but strawberries are sold 365 days a year. So of course when locally we can't access them they are flown in from all over the globe.

Jet lagged berries, as I like to call them, are truly a completely different food product than the local sweet, juicy, tart perfection that make a grand entrance and speedy departure but once a year.

I grew up across the street from a wild strawberry patch, during those abundant weeks of summer when wild strawberries were ripe I as had perpetual ruby stained lips, and a full berry belly. I'm not quite sure a berry will ever live up to those wild little buggers from my childhood.

I know the jet-lagged berries that most Americans, sadly, now know as strawberries taste nothing like what I know as a strawberry.

So today an ‘ode to the berries of my childhood… When life hands you strawberries make Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake![include-recipe recipe=”chocolate-strawberry-shortcake”]

Notes on this recipe

There may be some unfamiliar ingredients in this recipe, I offered a few alternatives but I encourage you to purchase some of these nutritional geniuses and add them to your pantry. I will be using all of them consistently in recipes on this blog.

Coconut Flour is gluten free and full of fiber. This is a great starter recipe to get yourself acquainted with this nutritional powerhouse.

Although I certainly would categorize this as a dessert, this recipe is actually full of amazing nutrients like omega 3′s from the flax, tons of fiber from the coconut flour, and lauric acid from the coconut oil to name a few.

Gluten Free Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

Servings: 4

Calories: 257 kcal

Author: Abra Pappa

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Ingredients

Toppings

• 3 cups of strawberries, sliced
• a sprinkle of sweetener of your choice, stevia, agave nectar or coconut palm sugar
• 1/2 cup of full-fat plain greek yogurt, or for a more traditional treat, use homemade whipped cream

Shortcake

• 1/4 cup of coconut flour
• 2 tablespoons of organic cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed
• 2 tablespoons of coconut palm sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk, this also works well with almond milk or regular milk

Instructions

Shortcake

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Place small cast iron pan in oven while preheating (if you are using a cookie sheet, line w/ parchment paper and set aside)
3. Whisk all dry ingredients together
4. Whisk all wet ingredients together
5. Combine wet ingredients into dry ingredients mix well, allow batter to sit for 2-3 minutes.
6. Take cast iron pan out of oven, brush w/ a bit of coconut oil, scoop batter in to pan in 4 sections. Or, if using a cookie sheet scoop 4 mounds of batter onto parchment lined cookie sheet (makes 4 large shortcake)
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes
8. Cool completely and set aside

Strawberry Topping

1. Toss strawberries w/ a bit of stevia or NATURAL sweetener of your choice (please do not kill this nourishing treat w/ a packet of yellow, blue, or pink) allow strawberries to sit for a few minutes w/ sweetener, this will release the juices from the strawberries and make a yummy little sauce.
2. Arrange as you choose. (see Recipe Notes for suggestions)

Recipe Notes

Ingredient Notes
There may be some unfamiliar ingredients in this recipe, I offered a few alternatives but I encourage you to purchase some of these nutritional geniuses and add them to your pantry. I will be using all of them consistently in recipes on this blog.

Coconut Flour is gluten free and full of fiber. This is a great starter recipe to get yourself acquainted with this nutritional powerhouse.

Although I certainly would categorize this as a dessert, this recipe is actually full of amazing nutrients like omega 3′s from the flax, tons of fiber from the coconut flour, and lauric acid from the coconut oil to name a few.

Recipe Notes
Typically strawberry shortcake is paired with sweet luscious whipped cream, but I use plain Greek yogurt instead. I happen to love something a little tart and creamy w/ my sweets. My great Aunt Mamie, my first real teacher in the kitchen, would always put a little dollop of sour cream on her oatmeal raisin cookies. Maybe it was a Hungarian thing, I don’t know, but it reminds me of her, so serves as both an emotional loving food memory and just a delicious tradition.

If you prefer fresh whipped cream, go for it. But DO NOT use any of that “whipped topping/fat free/ really just a bucket of plastic fat that will leave you wholly unsatisfied and your body begging for more” stuff

Arrange however you choose. I like a tall tower of delicious goodness, if you are like me layer away as such… Put half of the shortcake/biscuit on the bottom top w/ strawberries and Greek yogurt, place the other half of the shortcake on top of berries, add more strawberries, finish w/ a dollop of Greek yogurt and a mint sprig.

Nutrition Facts

Gluten Free Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 257 Calories from Fat 153

% Daily Value*

Fat 17g26%

Saturated Fat 13g81%

Cholesterol 42mg14%

Sodium 341mg15%

Potassium 344mg10%

Carbohydrates 22g7%

Fiber 6g25%

Sugar 10g11%

Protein 7g14%

Vitamin A 70IU1%

Vitamin C 63.8mg77%

Calcium 68mg7%

Iron 2.3mg13%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.