What do you use in your baking?
I get this question ALOT. Since I’m lactose intolerant I can’t have butter. People are always asking me how I bake so much without butter! I try to keep my baking dairy free, but sometimes I can’t avoid it. I do tag all my dairy free recipes in the blog, so you will know.
As you may already know, the easiest way to bake dairy-free is Vegan baking. I’ve had success in most of my vegan baking adventures and also with just subbing dairy-free products in place of dairy products.
I did take a great Vegan cupcake class at the Boston Center for Adult Education. It was a lot of fun and the cupcakes turned out amazing! I was glad to hear that our instructor (a vegan who works in a bakery) uses a lot of the same products I do.
I’ve been using these products interchangeably in my baking since I found out I was lactose intolerant about 9 months ago. I’ve never had anyone say that anything tasted funny. I even convinced my family over the holidays that eating dairy free doesn’t affect the taste of Spinach and Artichoke dip!
Butter: Anyone who is lactose intolerant likely knows about Earth Balance. It’s delicious and tastes just like butter. It can also be used in baking!
Milk: I use soymilk instead of milk. I was having problems with my vegan cupcakes always turning out gummy, like they weren’t done. I found out it was because I was using the lowfat soy milk. It has a higher water content than the regular version. So I use the lowfat soy milk for my cereal and these little guys for my baking. I like them because they can be stored in the pantry and are in 1 cup boxes.
Cream cheese: Hubby absolutely loves cream cheese frosting. He’d eat it with a spoon if I let him. Thank goodness for Tofutti!! (I love their ice cream too!) This stuff really is better than cream cheese. I can’t taste a difference.
Yogurt: You can use soy yogurt in place of regular yogurt, but I like to use silken tofu. Just throw it in the food processor and process away to give it the right texture.
Parmesan or Shredded Cheese: There are quite a few lactose free cheese substitutes available at the grocery store. The Veggie brand cheeses are really good. They also make cheese slices that melt just like real cheese. They also make a sour cream substitute. I don’t eat much sour cream, so I haven’t tried it.
Oil: This isn’t a lactose intolerance thing, but I like to sub applesauce for oil. It cuts the fat in baked goods but still gives the moisture. Don’t try this for brownies though! I like to get the Natural (no sugar added) applesauce in the small individual servings. Since I make homemade applesauce, if I bought a jar, it would go bad. The individual serving packages stay mold-free longer than an open jar. And each package is a 1/2 cup of applesauce.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Yum that looks delicious and welcome back to my hometown! Cincinnati’s actually a great town that grows on you and has been evolving quite a bit in the time that you’ve been away. I suspect given your profession and work location history that we probably work for the same company as our day jobs ;).
beantownbaker — January 23rd, 2013 @ 8:30 am
Yes, Cincinnati has changed a LOT since we moved away in 2007.
I would suspect you’re right. There’s enough info to know where I work, especially if you work here too 😉 Going to go check out your blog now. I would love to meet some other Cincinnati area bloggers!
beantownbaker — January 23rd, 2013 @ 8:31 am
Ok I work for the *other* big company in town (just checked your About page).
Isn’t the KA ice cream attachment the best thing ever? I am always making ice cream, even in the wintertime, but I never thought of using canned coconut milk as the base. I’ll have to try this out soon!
beantownbaker — January 23rd, 2013 @ 11:37 am
Absolutely. I didn’t think I could love my KAM any more than I already did. The ice cream attachment proved that I can.
I have lots of cans of coconut milk laying around and I know they make a good ice cream! Adding this one to my list 🙂
I bought myself KA ice creamer maker for my birthday this summer and I adore it! I’ve been thinking about making non-dairy ice creams, but the recipes all sounded strange. It’s great to see a recipe from a trusted source. Can’t wait to try.
beantownbaker — January 23rd, 2013 @ 10:28 pm
Let me know what you think if you try it. I am going to be experimenting with different milks since I can’t have cow’s milk…
love coconut milk based ice creams!! this one looks fabulous, and good call throwing in those oreos 😉
beantownbaker — January 24th, 2013 @ 12:05 pm
It’s ALWAYS a good idea to throw oreos in 🙂
My brother’s favorite thing to get at Coldstone is chocolate oreo ice cream. Too bad I don’t have an ice cream maker, or I would definitely try this!
beantownbaker — January 29th, 2013 @ 7:51 am
I’ve been told you can make ice cream without an ice cream maker. I never tried it before I got mine though…
I just made your recipe and luckily I tasted it before I cooled it. The ratio of sugar to cocoa powder is off. You should use at least twice the amount of sugar to cocoa powder in order for it not to have a horribly bitter taste. After adding more sugar it had a nice sweet to chocolately balance. Thanks for the recipe, my daughter is lactose intolerant and she will enjoy it.
beantownbaker — January 31st, 2013 @ 2:03 pm
I am glad you were able to adjust this recipe to suit your needs. Hubby and I both enjoyed the sweetness level of this recipe. I’m sure different cocoa powders have different levels of sweetness. I plan to try this recipe without the cocoa powder to make vanilla ice cream too. We loved the creaminess of it!
This look yummy and chocolate ice cream is one of my favorite. Thanks for sharing the directions and ingredients.
I just opened a can of coconut milk and it looked extremely curdled. I shook it a lot but it was still completely curdled. Is that how coconut milk is supposed to be out of the can? Are there any brands that you specifically like to use?
beantownbaker — April 24th, 2013 @ 1:44 pm
Hm. It doesn’t usually look curdled, more just separated. Did you try shaking it up? I use Native Forest since that’s what they sell in my grocery store. It looks like this: http://www.amazon.com/Native-Forest-Organic-Classic-13-5-Ounce/dp/B001HTJ2BQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366829034&sr=8-1&keywords=coconut+milk
Oh how I wish I could try this.. I am currently gluten and dairy free.. However this being dairy free is is not gluten free with the oreo’s… Bummer!!
beantownbaker — October 23rd, 2013 @ 12:28 am
I’ve made this recipe again without the Oreos and it’s really good. Not quite as good as with the Oreos, but if you wanted to make it gluten free, just leave them out.
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