Vegan Blueberry Maple Pecan Shortcakes
I used to love strawberry shortcake as a kid. Of course it was usually the store bought sponge type cake ones with the strawberries in sugar and Cool Whip at my house. But it was awesome to my 8 year old self. I had never actually tried a strawberry shortcake with biscuits until I was making my own desserts back in college. Man was it heavenly when I got around to making one. I did not use sponge type cake, but a rich biscuit dough instead. Now I use my scone dough because it is amazing with fruit and whipped cream in a shortcake. I was in the mood for a blueberry dessert last weekend, so I decided to make blueberry shortcake. I had never made it before, but why not try it?! I am a huge fan of any kind of berries in the Summer, and blueberries are beautiful in desserts!
For the biscuits, I thought about going plain, but ended up deciding on maple pecan. Because maple, pecans and blueberries are a match made in heaven! The dough for these is extra rich because I used pecan meal along with the gluten free flour in them. It is melt in your mouth tender once baked! I added in chopped pecans as well because why not? For the blueberries I kept it pretty simple because they were pretty flavorful on their own. They needed just a touch of tart lemon juice and maple syrup and they were perfect! Lastly, I made some delicious coconut whipped cream to complete this. It is always welcome on any fruit dessert in my house as far as I am concerned. Sooo good!
Once they were all assembled and I dove in I forgot about all that is wrong in the world. That is why I love really good desserts, while I eat them, I just enjoy them and forget about everything else and everything is good. These are simply heavenly, and I think if I had had one of these when I was little, I would have become a food snob and snubbed that store bought strawberry shortcake. The tender biscuits are the perfect carrier for the sweet jammy berries and rich whipped cream! If you are in the mood for something Summery, give these a try!
Vegan Blueberry Maple Pecan Shortcakes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 3 cups fresh organic blueberries
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp arrowroot starch dissolved in 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten free all purpose baking flour
- 1/2 cup pecan meal*
- 2 Tbsp maple sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp plus 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 2 Tbsp solid coconut oil, cut into chunks
- 1/4 cup cold full fat coconut milk (chilled in the fridge is best), mixed well
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp maple extract (optional)
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Coconut whipped cream:
- 1 1 15 oz can full fat organic coconut milk, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- pinch sea salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp raw coconut butter (NOT OIL), warmed to liquid
Instructions:
- In a medium saucepan, toss together the berries and maple syrup, and cook over medium heat until the berries are starting to burst. Add the arrowroot and lemon juice mixture and vanilla, stirring constantly and cook just until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees with the rack at the center position.
- Meanwhile, to make biscuits, in a large bowl, combine the flour, pecan meal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the oil with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture starts to clump into pea sized pieces. In a small bowl, stir the vanilla extract into the coconut milk. Add the milk to the dough, along with the pecans, and stir a few times, but do not over-mix. The dough should hold together when squeezed, but still be clumpy. Place dough on a floured work surface, and pat into a 1/2 inch tall rectangle. Cut into 4 squares, and place on a parchment lined baking tray.
- Place biscuits in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes until starting to brown and done in the middle (but not over-baked).
- Remove biscuits from the oven and let cool.
- For the whipped cream, combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Pour into a bowl and place in the freezer until it is thick like whipped cream (whisking every so often), about 45 minutes to one hour.
- To assemble, slice a biscuit in half (carefully), spoon some blueberries and coconut cream over that and top with another biscuit and more coconut cream. Repeat with the other 4. Serve!
