I grew up on a hobby farm. If you are not familiar with a hobby farm, it’s basically a farm that is not your job and livelihood. We had horses and beef steer as well as a huge vegetable garden. We even had a small orchard with all types of fruit trees. While the chores sucked (to be fair, to a kid, what chores don’t suck), the fresh produce was amazing. No need for farmer’s markets. Our farmer’s market was our back yard. One of the things my mom made in the summer was strawberry shortcake. Fresh organic strawberries with a homemade biscuit and fresh whipped cream. You just can’t beat it. Well, maybe I can. These days while we are working so hard to eat healthy, I want certain things that are nostalgic. Strawberry shortcake is another nostalgic treat for me.

The original recipe comes from Pure Wow for Sheet-Pan Strawberry Shortcake with Black Pepper, Whipped Honey Ricotta and Togarashi. I chose this recipe because I liked the idea of creating the biscuits on a sheet pan in a big slab. That will make it easier to portion. I also like some of the savory spices in the biscuit and the cream. I think I can make a low sugar and dairy free version that will taste great!

Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed:

• I replaced the all purpose flour with almond meal and coconut flour to reduce the carbs.
• I replaced all of the sugar with granulated sweetener to reduce the sugar.
• I deleted the ricotta, honey and yogurt with a dairy-free whipped cream to remove the dairy.
• I replaced the butter with applesauce to reduce the calories and fat.
• I replaced the buttermilk with coconut milk to make these dairy-free.
• I increased the servings from 10 to 28 to lower the calories.

Here are the final stats:

Here is the final recipe:

Low Carb Sheet Pan Strawberry Shortcake

Serves 28

Strawberries

• 1 tbsp, Lemon Juice
• 1/4 tsp, Ground Black Pepper
• 2.50 tbsp, Thyme Leaves
• 2 lb, Strawberries
• 5 tbsp, Granulated Sweetener

Shortcake

• 2 egg (50g), Eggs
• 4 tsp, Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp, Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp, Fennel Seed
• 2 1/4 cup, Almond Flour
• 3/4 cup, Coconut Flour
• 1 cup, Unsweetened Applesauce
• 9 tbsp, Granulated Sweetener
• 6 1/2 tbsp, Unsweetened Coconut Milk

Whipped Cream

• 1 15oz can, Coconut Cream
• Granulated Sweetener to taste

1. PREPARE THE STRAWBERRIES: Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries, lemon juice, sweetener, pepper and thyme leaves. Set aside.

2. MAKE THE SHORTCAKE: In a large bowl, add the flours, ½ cup of the sweetener, the baking powder, salt, pepper and fennel seed and whisk to combine. 

3. In a small bowl, whisk together ½ cup of the coconut milk, applesauce and the eggs to combine. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and mix to combine. The mixture should be uniform with no dry patches, but don’t overmix.

4. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and pat it into a 1-inch-tall rectangle (it will not reach the edge of the pan). Brush with the remaining 2 teaspoons coconut milk and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake on the middle rack for until the top is lightly golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes.

5. MAKE THE WHIPPED CREAM:

1. Chill a small mixing bowl and beaters or a whisk in the freezer for 30 minutes or more.
2. Do not shake the coconut cream. Open it, and if there isn’t a thick, spoonable cream, cover and refrigerate it for several hours or overnight.
3. Scoop ¾ cup of the solid coconut cream from the top of the can and put it in the chilled small mixing bowl. Whisk or beat the coconut cream with your hand mixer (with chilled beaters) until it is smooth and slightly fluffy, about 1 minute.
4. Sift in the sweetener and whisk or beat with a hand mixer on low speed to incorporate the ingredients.
5. If your coconut cream was too soft, or you need a thicker whip, you can add a thickener (like cornstarch) and whisk or beat until combined.

6. To serve, spoon dollops of the whipped cream on top of the shortcake, followed by strawberries and their juices. Serve immediately.