I Know How To Bake Gluten Free, But Dairy Free?

[BethM55]

I hope this is on-topic, because I know that many celiacs are also dairy intolerant. I will be baking a banana cake for a friend soon. I've adapted it to gluten free nicely for myself, but it calls for buttermilk and my friend can't have dairy. What can I substitute for buttermilk? I've tried using rice milk in the past instead of cow's milk. Rice milk lacks the proteins and fats in milk that affect the chemistry of the recipe.

My friend told me she can have sheep's milk, but I have no idea where to find it. There must be an easier-to-find sub for buttermilk!

Thank you!

[AVR1962]

I substituted a god quality cultured yogurt for milk in my baed goods and I used either shortening or a dairy free margarine and both worked fine for me.

[freeatlast]

I use coconut milk in place of milk and it always works just fine.

[MJ-S]

The book Go Dairy Free, and its website, are good resources.

(oops - did't read closely enough to realize this is for a friend and not you).

[RiceGuy]

I'll also suggest coconut milk. However, since buttermilk is acidic (apparently somewhat more acidic than regular milk), your recipe may include baking soda (often included to neutralize the acidity of dairy ingredients) in addition to baking powder. You can add some vinegar to the milk to approximate the acidity of buttermilk, or leave out the baking soda. Otherwise the baking soda will tend to reduce the leavening potential of the baking powder. If no baking powder is included, then adding the acid may be the closest match, as the baking soda would then be the only leavening agent. Lemon juice can also work, depending on the desired taste. Yet another option is cream of tartar.

Sheep's milk is often available at health food stores, though there is likely to be some taste and acidity differences compared to buttermilk.

[Takala]

You can also use coconut flour, but you may have to add a bit more liquid to it and let it sit a minute or two to absorb it. Might take an extra egg in the cake recipe, may want to go with a test cake of a half batch first.

[irish daveyboy]

  On 12/14/2011 at 6:35 AM, BethM55 said:

I hope this is on-topic, because I know that many celiacs are also dairy intolerant. I will be baking a banana cake for a friend soon. I've adapted it to gluten free nicely for myself, but it calls for buttermilk and my friend can't have dairy. What can I substitute for buttermilk? I've tried using rice milk in the past instead of cow's milk. Rice milk lacks the proteins and fats in milk that affect the chemistry of the recipe.

My friend told me she can have sheep's milk, but I have no idea where to find it. There must be an easier-to-find sub for buttermilk!

Thank you!

When I make my Banana bread it's Gluten and Dairy Free, I use 4 tbls of Vegetable oil in mine instead of dairy fats and add 2 tsp of Gluten Free Baking Powder, but my ingredients would be totally different to any standard recipe for gluten free banana bread.

[BethM55]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'll have to experiment and see what happens. Coconut milk might be the best choice, with lemon juice added for the acidity. Adventures in baking!

[Skylark]

  On 12/14/2011 at 8:59 AM, AVR1962 said:

I substituted a god quality cultured yogurt for milk in my baed goods and I used either shortening or a dairy free margarine and both worked fine for me.

Yogurt will still make a dairy intolerant person ill.

I haven't really found a satisfactory substitute for buttermilk. You can use coconut milk and a tablespoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to activate the baking soda, but you don't get the flavor or moisture the buttermilk adds. Adding a little applesauce or an extra egg and cutting back the liquid helps with the texture.

Sub coconut oil for butter. Unrefined has a coconut taste, and you can get refined with a neutral taste. Avoid eating vegetable shortening or margarine. You can get trans-fat free margarine now, but it still has unnatural fats and a lot of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids.

[mommida]

I have used recipes that use rice milk and vinegar for a buttermilk substitute. ration is 1 cup of rice milk to 1 tespoon vinegar.