How to Bake Dairy-Free: Subs, Swaps, Tips, and Troubleshooting

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When we started our allergen-friendly journey, Spiriteds, we were so far in over our heads. WE DID NOT KNOW WHAT WE DID NOT KNOW. WHO WOULD TELL US? It turns out, other bloggers helped us, just by writing their own stories and sharing their own recipes.

Learning how to master Paleo baking sent me into a tailspin, and I thought for sure we would never again enjoy the creamy goodness that dairy products are known for. Because even once I found promising allergen-friendly recipes, it still took me several tries to master them. 

I’m still mastering allergen-friendly recipes and suspect I always will. But that has become part of the fun. And I hope it becomes or remains fun for you, too. And all without sacrificing taste. Because dairy-free baking can be absolutely, decadently tasty!

You really do not have to compromise on taste to bake dairy-free recipes. In fact, once you learn even a few ins and outs of dairy-free baking, many other strategies begin to fall into place. I said Paleo baking was like learning another language. And dairy-free baking is no different. There is a learning curve. But that curve is evening out more and more. Companies continue to offer dairy-free baking ingredients, and grocery stores continue to stock their shelves with them. I consider dairy-free baking harder than gluten-free baking but easier than Paleo baking, if that helps.

So, Spiriteds, are you ready to dive headfirst into dairy-free baking? Because if it’s tips, tricks, troubleshooting, substitutions, and swaps you want, then you are in the right place!

TL;DR: Dairy-Free Baking Tips

• Even amongst similar dairy-free product types, there are variations. These can include taste, volume, yield, and instructions for use. For example, some dairy-free heavy whipping creams can be prepared within a few minutes while others will take longer to achieve the same results. Some will have a noticeable flavor while others will taste neutral. Some dairy-free butters are soft and meant to be spread on bread and muffins, while others are firmer and are intended more for baking.
• Think before swapping between dairy-free options. If a recipe calls for full-fat coconut milk, then almond milk, which is thinner, will not work as well (or at all). If a recipe calls for dairy-free heavy whipping cream, then even full-fat coconut milk might not be up to the task. But, if you’re deciding between almond milk and rice milk, which have similar consistencies, then you’re probably okay.
• Think about chill times. Ingredients vary wildly in the dairy-free sphere. So, use your intuition to determine chill times for recipes like cookies. To know whether a dough or batter needs to chill (or if it has chilled long enough already), observe its properties. For example,if a dough is still too soft to handle, even after chilling for the suggested time, then more chill time is needed. Follow how the doughs and batters behave rather than a specific, designated timeframe.
• Test out brands to see which ones will work best for you. Across brands that offer dairy-free baking ingredients there are noticeable differences in taste, texture, and consistency. This is common amongst coconut milks, coconut creams, dairy-free chocolate chips, and heavy whipping creams.
• Keep practicing. Repetition facilitates intuition. You’ll begin to sense how a recipe is progressing. If a recipe flops, be kind to yourself. This happens, especially in allergen-friendly baking.

What are the downsides to dairy-free baking?

• Taste. Some dairy-free products are a little too free on taste. This is improving, but I still highly suggest you try out different options, if more than one is available to you. Then determine the ones you like the best.
• Other allergens. When you remove dairy, you have to add something in its place. But, if you have multiple food allergies or dietary concerns, then you don’t want the substitution to solve one problem only to create another. For example, cashews, a common dairy swap, is also one of our household allergies. So, we avoid dairy-free foods and ingredients that contain them.
• Lack of nutrients. It’s important to note not all dairy-free options are nutrient dense. I shop for almond milks that contain vitamin D and calcium since not all automatically do. I cannot provide medical advice here, so let me just say, I encourage you to work with your doctor to get the nutrients you need.
• Melty-ness. Even when you DO find a dairy-free or vegan cheese option, whether it melts in the oven or not is an entirely different issue. Look for packaging that explicitly says it’s full of melty goodness.
• Cost. Dairy-free products are more expensive than traditional dairy products. Dairy-free butter and dairy-free heavy whipping cream are especially expensive. Shop around to check prices. We find dollar amounts vary by as much as 30% or more. Costco has excellent dairy-free milk options, several of which don’t require refrigeration until they are opened.
• Availability. Brands come and go at our local grocery stores. So, if we DO find a variety of dairy-free baking products we like, there isn’t a guarantee they will always be there. For this reason, we like to have 2-3 options for butter, whipping cream, or milk that we can use at any time.

Dairy-free baking substitutions and swaps

One of the biggest pitfalls I find in dairy-free baking is how unpredictable the ingredients are. For example:

• Consistency and yields vary by product brand. Some brand varieties work more like their traditional dairy counterparts than others. You won’t necessarily have to throw your recipe out, but you may need to pivot along the way. This is especially true when you work with heavy whipping cream and coconut cream, which I detail below.
• Dairy-free products behave differently, depending on how they are sourced. You’ll see this when you work with dairy-free butters sourced from different oils. Some are soft while others are firm. It’s often a trial-and-error experience to find the ingredient combinations that suit you and your recipes best.

Which dairy-free milk is best?

Below is a list of dairy-free milk alternatives worth trying. Each one has its own properties, but I find they often swap pretty easily across dairy-free baking recipes. Pay attention to whether recipes call for dairy-free milk that is sweetened or unsweetened and flavored (such as with vanilla) or unflavored and try to follow them as closely as possible.

Almond milk

This is our go-to, dairy-free milk of choice. We love almond milk because of its neutral flavor and added nutrients, like calcium and vitamin D. It also swaps really well in dairy-free baking recipes. We LOVE it in Lemon Olive Oil Cake.

Rice milk

We started with this milk when we changed our diet because it was lightly sweet and the girls liked it.

Cashew milk

Due to a cashew allergy in our household, we no longer center our recipes and dairy-free consumption on cashews. But I suspect it would work well in dairy-free baking. Cashews are frequently used as a substitution in dairy-free baking recipes, savory cooking, and no-bake recipes.

Coconut milk

Canned full-fat coconut milk is an excellent dairy-free baking staple. It is a staple in our house used not only for baking but also oatmeal, smoothies, and savory dishes. Coconut milk consistency varies, however, depending on brands. Some coconut milks are thicker and can be chilled overnight to create coconut cream. Others are thinner and do not firm when chilled. Read recipes closely to see if coconut milk needs to be chilled into a firm consistency or whether a thinner variety is preferred.

Dairy-free butter options

I am a snob about my dairy-free butter options. And you should just know that going into this section. I would willingly write an entire thesis on the subject of dairy-free butters and how they work in dairy-free baking recipes. Alas, I will strive to be succinct here. 🙂

Soft butters

Some dairy-free butters are made with olive oil or avocado oil. These butters are soft and don’t usually firm up during baking. Cookies made with soft butters are prone to spreading, so chilling the cookie dough in the refrigerator for a few hours to overnight is helpful.

Firm butters

These varieties are often made with canola oil. They are firmer and more baking friendly. But sometimes they are too firm, creating dense, non-spreadable cookies that resemble hockey pucks. In this case, letting the butter sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes before beginning the recipe helps.

When selecting a dairy-free butter, read the packaging. If it talks about being “spreadable,” then you are likely working with a soft butter ideal for topping muffins, biscuits, potatoes, and more. If it says it is “plant-based,” then it is more likely a firm butter. Keep in mind, even soft, spreadable butters can be/are plant-based. But the marketing lead is their softness.

What about ghee?

Due to our unique blend of allergies, we do not use ghee in baking. I have tasted it before and loved the flavor, though, if I remember correctly.

How to prepare dairy-free butter for baking

While reading Samin Nosrat’s Salt Fat Acid Heat, I learned that letting butter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes prior to creaming yields the right consistency for cookies and other baked goods.

I now leave my firmer allergen-friendly butter out at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then I cream it on a LOW speed (on my stand mixer this is anywhere from 1/2 speed to Level 2) for about 2 minutes. I add the sugar and continue to cream for about 4 more minutes. After that, I follow the recipe as written. One time I left the stand mixer on for about 7-8 minutes, creaming the dairy-free butter and sugar the whole time. I thought for certain I had ruined the recipe. But, it turns out, I wound up with the fluffiest, creamiest cookie dough that, when chilled overnight, yielded the most wonderful dairy-free, gluten-free cookies ever

What you need to know about dairy-free heavy whipping cream

Before we even get to the issue of how well dairy-free heavy whipping cream works in recipes, we have to address access. Not only is dairy-free heavy whipping cream hard to find, but when you do find it, the ingredient is often quite expensive. I tend to buy a few at a time if I know I’ll be making several recipes that call for heavy cream. This is especially true around the holidays. And I’ll shop around for a price I like.

Dairy-free heavy whipping cream is often made from coconut. Some brands yield a particularly noticeable coconut-y flavor. If that happens, and you want to neutralize it, then add a splash of vanilla. Or add an extra sprinkle of sugar. 

Whether used as a filling or a topping, how long it takes dairy-free heavy whipping cream to achieve the desired consistency will vary by brand. So, rather than follow the clock, it’s important to follow how the heavy whipping cream behaves as you work with it. 

For example, I use a stand mixer and find it usually takes about 1-2 minutes to cream the dairy-free heavy whipping cream into peaks. The first time I switched brands because of availability, it took LONGER than 1-2 minutes. It wasn’t a big deal, but had I followed the clock rather than the process, I would have had a flat, watery mess. 

Your guide to baking with canned coconut cream

Like butter and heavy whipping cream, coconut cream properties vary by brand. Some brands yield firm, almost solid consistencies. Others are runnier and prone to separating. Why this matters:

• Thicker creams are great for adding bulk and creating firm dairy-free baked goods. But sometimes they are too firm. This makes them hard to work with in foods processors and high-seed blenders. Even handheld mixers might struggle. Firmer creams are also more prone to grittiness and may require longer blending times to smooth out.
• Thinner creams are excellent for adding moisture to recipes. But if they are too thin, then they don’t offer the stable bulking power needed to hold a recipe together.
• Creams that are prone to settling and separating often have oils that pool at the bottom of the can. You can try shaking the can to recombine everything, but this doesn’t always work. Sometimes you have to cut your losses. Scrape whatever cream you can get off the top, discard the oils you don’t want, and open a second can to get enough cream for your recipe.

When figuring out how to navigate these issues, read the recipe. Does it specify whether the coconut cream should be thick or thin? Does the recipe author say anything about shaking or not shaking the can first? If you only need a few tablespoons of coconut cream, these issues may not be as relevant. But once you start talking about 1/2 cups to full cups to whole cans of coconut cream, then these issues are more relevant.

How to make a simple, dairy-free buttermilk

When I make my own dairy-free buttermilk, I add two tablespoons lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then I fill the measuring cup to the one-cup mark using almond milk. 

Why your dairy-free cake is dry (and how to fix it)

Sometimes dairy-free options don’t contain the right amount of water to equally substitute for traditional dairy options. My stepmother, Grandma Colorado, reduces the amount of flour used in gluten-free baking to prevent dryness. Even by a few tablespoons, you might see improvement. While I haven’t tried this method in either gluten-free baking or dairy-free baking, it is definitely an option to try, especially if you feel like everything else about the recipe is just right. Other options include:

• Adding a dollop of coconut cream. This is my favorite option because it softens the baked good without watering it down. In such a small amount, your cake won’t taste like coconut. 
• Streaming in olive oil. I don’t use this one often, but if a recipe calls for olive oil, then I’ll add more if needed. 

How to fix gritty or oily dairy-free frosting

Gritty, oily textures are often the result of emulsifying issues. And it’s a challenge when ingredients separate and refuse to blend together. Although you can try adding a small amount of water to your recipe, this doesn’t always work. You may want kitchen appliances that are up to the task of emulsifying dairy-free ingredients.

For example:

• Once I got a standing mixer with a variety of blades, 3 minutes of blending turned into 30 seconds to achieve the same results. Being able to work faster allows me to move to the next step before the ingredients separate again. Having said that, I successfully baked dairy-free for years with a hand mixer that was more than 15 years old.
• When I added a food processor to my arsenal of small kitchen appliances, it was easier to cream ingredients that had previously overheated the blades of my high-speed blender.
• I discovered my high-speed blender could blend and emulsify ingredients for a strawberry frosting better than my other appliances. Go figure!  

Each small appliance has its own strengths. To make the purchases more affordable, I looked for sales and ended up buying all three small appliances at Costco.

Best dairy-free specialty products for baking

Dairy-free chocolate chips – food blogger-tested, kid-approved

I feel like our family has tried ALL the allergen-friendly chocolate chips. And, honestly, there isn’t a bad choice in the bunch. We choose whichever is available. And if more than one option is available, then we follow price. 

Each brand of dairy-free chocolate chips melts fine in a double boiler or a microwave. If you do use a microwave, then keep a close eye on the chips.

Here’s what I do:

1. Microwave the chocolate chips with a dollop of coconut oil in 15-second increments. Then stir after each increment.
2. Just as the chocolate chips are about to be completely melted, STOP.
3. Remove the dish from the microwave and briskly stir the remaining chips. They’ll melt into the rest of the chocolate. 

Why do this? It prevents the chocolate from “cooking” or seizing up during those last few seconds or increments. This is especially relevant if you work with the white chocolate chips, which are prone to solidifying and seizing if they are over-microwaved.

Dairy-free heavy whipping cream

Country Crock is, HANDS DOWN, my favorite dairy-free heavy whipping cream. We use it when we make Cookies ’n Cream Pie and Chocolate Mousse Cake. Neither recipe sounds like it would be dairy-free, but they are. Thanks to Country Crock’s Dairy-Free Heavy Whipping Cream, our tastebuds don’t notice the swap. 

A close second is Silk. Silk’s Dairy-Free Heavy Whipping Cream works well in our recipes. It does require longer mixing times and extra sweetness to offset the coconut-y flavor. But, honestly, if it’s all we can find on the shelf, it comes home with us, and our tastebuds don’t mind.

Honorable mention: Avocado

While I don’t add avocados to baked goods, I DO add them to recipes like Creamy Paleo Fudge and Single-Serving Chocolate Chia Smoothie. And when paired with the right ingredients (chocolate is a good choice), their earthy flavor is barely noticeable. Their creaminess factor is downright decadent.

When I miss dips that are loaded with dairy, I turn to Lemon Avocado Dip. No, it’s not a baked good, nor is it sweet. But when you crave a creamy texture with a piquant undertone, it’s the recipe to turn to.

Honorable mention: Nutritional yeast

Okay, so I don’t typically use nutritional yeast in baked goods any more than I do an avocado. But, I DO add nutritional yeast to several savory recipes for its cheesy flavor, especially Nut-Free Basil Pesto. It is *chef’s kiss* delicious!

Dairy-free baking FAQs

Spiriteds, we’ve covered significant ground in this post, yet I feel like we also just barely scratched the surface. Below are more answers to questions you might have about dairy-free baking techniques.

Is dairy-free the same as vegan?

No. A vegan diet excludes animal products or animal by-products. So, although a vegan diet is dairy-free, a dairy-free diet is not automatically vegan. For example, Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake is dairy-free (using almond milk in place of skim milk), but it does contain eggs, which are derived from chickens. 

Will my kids notice the difference if I swap ingredients?

The honest answer? It depends. But there are ways to make the transition easier. Here are my favorites (keeping in mind, we have a picky eater at our kitchen table)

• Introduce new dairy-free ingredients in recipes where other familiar ingredients are prevalent. For example, instead of drinking a glass of almond milk, add it to a smoothie that includes favorite fruits. Chocolate recipes are great starters, too, because not only is chocolate tasty but it also hides a lot of other flavors. Start with recipes in which the dairy-free ingredient comprises a small portion of the overall recipe.
• Start with new recipes. Sometimes it’s hard to adapt because we are so accustomed to the old flavors and textures. Brand-new-to-you recipes neutralize the fact that you’ve introduced a new dairy-free option because, HEY, the whole recipe is new. As your family gets used to new tastes and textures, then you can try revisiting old recipe favorites with your new dairy-free ingredients.  
• Bake something new and nonchalantly leave it out for the taking. Cookies are an excellent choice. Easy to leave out and even easier to nibble, kids are pretty honest about how they feel about cookies. You might witness unfiltered reactions that tell you what they really think about the recipe.
• Have a taste-testing party. If time and budget allow, purchase more than one brand of dairy-free food and have your kids tell you which ones they like best. This gets their buy-in and diffuses stress if they taste the change in the recipe.

Will people actually like this?

Yes, I think people WILL like your dairy-free baking! I really do. The world of food allergies has come A LONG way from its early days when there was maybe ONE option on the store shelves. This is where taste-testing different brands and noting what you like or don’t like about them is helpful. 

How will I know if I am doing the recipe right?

So, admittedly, trial and error brought me to actual tears at one point. Like, throw away all the allergen-friendly ingredients, finish watching the Thomas Crown Affair, and feed your kids Brussels sprouts for their birthday dessert. Or were we allergic to those, too, back then? My brain cannot remember. But my brain does know that that trial and error was a REALLY GOOD teacher.

As was patience. It took me two years, TWO YEARS, Spiriteds, to learn how to make Chocolate Mousse Cake. I kept trying to follow the original traditional, recipe. All to no avail. Finally, I combed through my own cake recipes, studied how I made them, applied those same strategies to this recipe, and I had a dairy-free, gluten-free chocolate cake within 48 hours. Eventually, your intuition will kick in, from countless attempts in the kitchen, and you’ll come back to yourself as your own expert. I salute you!

Here’s another tip: When you make a dairy-free recipe, whether it’s the first time or the fifth, take notes on what you did and how it turned out. This streamlines your trial and error process so maybe you don’t quit baking for two years like I did. And just know, however many messes you find yourself in, you’re in good company here. I’ve made ALL the messes, too. And it does get easier. Then it gets downright exciting! 

Spiriteds, this was a crash course in learning how to bake dairy-free. It’s A LOT to take in. But I know you’ve got this. Breathe, exhale, and bookmark this page for future reference. In the meantime, stay well and stay wild. Jump into the fun when you can and always remember I’m glad you’re here! ❤️