Name: Strawberry Shortcakes (Reduced Sugar)
Total time: 1 h
Ingredients: 30 ounces (850 grams) strawberries , hulled and quartered (6 cups); 6 tablespoons (2 ounces/57 grams) Sucanat; 2 cups (10 ounces/283 grams) all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; 8 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled, plus 2 tablespoons melted; ½ cup sour cream; ¼ cup whole milk; 1 large egg

Why This Recipe Works

Strawberry shortcakes can easily go astray, with overly sweet, gloppy fillings and tough biscuits. To make the strawberries shine, we replaced the typical granulated sugar with a small amount of Sucanat. To find the balance between a juicy, jammy filling and dry berries that wouldn't stay on the biscuits, we crushed a portion of the berries and preserved the shape of the rest by quartering them. As for the shortcakes, we included an egg in the dough, as well as some milk and sour cream, which produced moist and buttery biscuits with a delicate, slightly cakey crumb—the perfect complement to the sweet berries and cream. Although our traditional shortcake recipe called for sprinkling the tops of the biscuits with sugar before baking, we found that brushing them with butter offered plenty of rich flavor and eliminated the need for extra sugar.

Before You Begin

You can learn more about Sucanat in this article. We prefer whole milk in this recipe, but 1 or 2 percent low-fat milk may be substituted. Do not skip grinding the Sucanat in step 2 or the biscuits will be dry, crumbly, and speckled.

Instructions

Using potato masher, crush 2 cups strawberries in large bowl until coarsely mashed and juicy. Fold in remaining 4 cups strawberries and ¼ cup Sucanat, cover, and let sit, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Grind remaining 2 tablespoons Sucanat in spice grinder until fine and powdery, about 1 minute. Process ground Sucanat, flour, baking powder, and salt in food processor until combined, about 5 seconds. Scatter chilled butter pieces over top and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 7 pulses. Transfer to large bowl.

Whisk sour cream, milk, and egg together in bowl, then stir into flour mixture with rubber spatula until large clumps form. Using your hands, knead lightly until dough comes together and no dry flecks of flour remain.

Using ½-cup dry measuring cup, scoop 6 dough rounds onto baking sheet. Brush tops evenly with melted butter. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Transfer to wire rack and let cool on sheet for 10 minutes. (Baked and cooled biscuits can be stored at room temperature for up to 24 hours.)

Split each biscuit in half and place bottoms on individual serving plates. Spoon portion of fruit over each bottom, then top with dollop of whipped cream. Cap with biscuit tops and serve immediately.