Creamy Strawberry Shortcake Cups

A fruity and creamy treat for a variety of occasions! These no-bake pudding cups also make a stunning presentation. 

Table of Contents

1. The History of Strawberry Shortcake
2. Strawberry Shortcake Pudding Cups Ingredients and Shopping List
3. How to Make Strawberry Shortcake Pudding Cups Recipe Tips & FAQs
4. Strawberry Shortcake Cups Recipe Variations
5. Other Cups, Trifles, and No-Bake Recipes
6. Creamy Strawberry Shortcake Cups

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Hi cousins—I’m back with another no-bake dessert! Also, another parfait-style layered dessert that looks almost as good as it tastes. Instead of using shortcake or angel food cake in these creamy cups, I use vanilla Oreo cookies for texture and crunch. The Cool Whip and pudding create stunning layers. Freeze-dried strawberries provide a sweet-tart contrast, but there are fresh strawberries too! 

The History of Strawberry Shortcake

It all began with the invention of shortcake in the 15^th century. This was a crumbly biscuit-type cake that originated in Britain. However, they were sweeter and softer than standard biscuits. 

Shortcake was served in a variety of ways, with the first published Strawberry Shortcake recipe dating back to the late 1800s. It was a simple recipe that called for shortcake, fresh strawberries, and sweetened cream. 

Over the years, the recipe evolved, including the US version with sugar-sweetened strawberries and whipped cream became a go-to summer dessert popularized in the 1950s and 1960s. 

Today you can find strawberry shortcake made with traditional biscuits, poundcake, and angel food cake. You can also find elevated and inventive versions, including cupcakes, ice cream, and meringue-topped variations.

These strawberry shortcake pudding cups are individual servings, and the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. 

Strawberry Shortcake Pudding Cups Ingredients and Shopping List

• Double Stuffed Golden Vanilla Oreos—20 cookies provide crunch, while the double stuffed filling adds to the sweetness and creaminess. 
• Freeze-dried strawberries—they provide a tangy strawberry flavor for a bit of contrast. You’ll need a 1/2 cup. 
• Instant Jell-o Cheesecake Pudding—2 standard-sized 3.4-ounce packets for the creamy layers. 
• Cold half & half—half & half is best, but you can use your milk of choice.
  Fresh strawberries—it wouldn’t be a strawberry shortcake without 1 1/2 cups of diced strawberries. 
• Cool Whip—to top to perfection.  

Supplies Needed

• Food processor
• Measuring cups
• Large bowl
• Whisk
• Mixing spoons 
• Medium piping bag with star tip
• 4 6-ounce dessert cups

How to Make Strawberry Shortcake Pudding Cups: Recipe Tips & FAQs

How to Crush the Oreo Cookies Without a Food Processor? 

Don’t stress if you don’t have a food processor, as you can crush your vanilla Oreos and freeze-dried strawberries with a blender or oversized zip-top bag.

• Blender—every blender is different, so you may only be able to put 5 or 6 cookies in at a time. If you have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix you can put all 20 cookies in at the same time. Pulse on high until you have crumbs. 
• Freezer bag—a freezer bag works best because it has a larger surface area. If you only have sandwich or liter-sized bags, you will have to crumb your Oreos in batches. Pop your cookies in the bag, squeeze out the air, seal, and roll with a rolling pin. If you don’t have a rolling pin, use the back side of a measuring cup or large spoon.  

Why Use Freeze-Dried Strawberries?

In this recipe, freeze-dried strawberries add a bit of a crunch. While each brand of freeze-dried strawberries varies, most have a tangy sweet-tart flavor. However, some brands are more sweet than tangy. Choose whichever you prefer! 

How to Select The Perfect Fresh Strawberries

There’s nothing worse than hoping for a sweet and juicy strawberry and ending up with a sour or flavorless strawberry instead. Sometimes it’s simply the luck of the draw, but these tips will help you pick the perfect strawberries.

• Color—choose strawberries that are bright red, as dull or white strawberries have less flavor.
• Firm—strawberries should look and feel firm. If they are soft or bruised, they will spoil quickly. 
• Stems—most of the stems should be bright green in color as they fade the longer they are off the vine.  
• Shiny—shiny strawberries are perfectly ripe. They lose their shine the longer they are off the vine. 

Pro Tip—don’t forget to look at all 4 sides of the strawberry pint, as the strawberries on the bottom may be bruised. 

What is The Fastest Way to Dice Strawberries?

This recipe is fast and easy, but to make it even faster and easier, dice your strawberries with a Multi-Purpose Chopper.  

I use this chopper almost every day to slice, dice, shred, and grate cheese, fruits, and vegetables. It delivers even slices or cubes, and when it comes to dicing your strawberries—it dices 3 or 4 at a time in seconds! Just be sure to remove the stems first. 

Your perfectly diced strawberries fall directly into the attached plastic container. Just swap out the slicing attachment for other cutting techniques. 

How Far in Advance Can I Prepare This Recipe?

While these strawberry shortcake cups are safe to eat for up to 3 days when stored in the fridge, I suggest making it within 3 hours or so of serving it. It will still taste great if you make it earlier in the day, or eat it a day or two later, but you will lose some of the cookie crunch.

If you make it sooner or have leftovers, cover the cups with plastic wrap. 

Strawberry Shortcake Cups Recipe Variations

Feel free to make this recipe your own with the variations below:

• Oreos—if you are a chocolate lover, consider using chocolate double-stuffed Oreos instead.
• Pudding—feel free to use a different pudding flavor, such as coconut cream, chocolate, or banana. 
• Fruit—feel free to use different fruit or a combination of fruits, including blueberries, raspberries, defrosted cherries, or bananas.
• Extra layer—consider adding a layer of diced pound cake or angel food cake in the center. You’ll just need a larger dessert cup.
• Trifle—double or triple this recipe to make it in a trifle bowl instead of as individual servings. 

Other Cups, Trifles, and No-Bake Recipes

If baking isn’t your thing or you are looking for other fast and easy no-bake desserts, consider the options below. A few require the stovetop, but none require an oven. 

• Strawberry Banana Pudding Trifle
• Vanilla Wafer Banana Pudding
• No Bake Pina Colada Cheesecake 
• No Bake Lemon Cheesecake
• No Bake Butterfinger Pie
• No Bake Oreo Cheesecake
• No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Lasagna

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Creamy Strawberry Shortcake Cups

These creamy strawberry shortcake cups are made with layers of shortcake cookie crumbles, cheesecake pudding, and light whipped cream, all with sweet and summery strawberry flavor.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword pudding cups, strawberry shortcake, strawberry shortcake cups

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 0 minutes minutes

Chilling Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

• 25 double stuffed Golden Vanilla Oreos
• ½ cup freeze-dried strawberries
• 2 3.4 oz packets Instant Jell-o Cheesecake Pudding
• 4 cups half & half
• 1 ½ cups strawberries diced
• 1 cup Cool Whip

Instructions

• Using a food processor or blender, grind the Oreos and dehydrated strawberries into fine crumbs, then set them to the side.
• Whisk the cheesecake pudding and half & half together in a large bowl until it’s nice and smooth.
• Next, fold in diced strawberries and place the mixture in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
• Sprinkle about ½ cup of the strawberry shortcake crumbs into the bottom of each glass, and, using a flat bottom glass smaller than the dessert cups, gently press the crumbs down to make a smooth flat layer.
• Now spoon about ½ cup of the pudding mixture on top of the crumbly mixture.
• Sprinkle another ¼ cup of crumbly mixture on top of the first pudding layer, then spoon another layer of the pudding mixture (set the leftover crumbs aside to use for garnish).
• Place into the fridge until ready to serve.
• Spoon the cool whip into the piping bag and pipe dollops of cool whip on top of the pudding.
• Garnish with the strawberry cookie crumb mixture and a sliced strawberry.

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