What Is A Good Dairy Free Butter Substitute For Cooking And Toast?

[mommyto2kids]

I need to find a new butter type fat that wont give me the runs like cheese does. I tested cheese last night and ranch. I was up all night on the toilet. So I know I need to get rid of dairy. Please give me some ideas. Thanks so much.

[Ginsou]

I use Earth Balance buttery spread as a substitute. I'm lactose intolerant and also soy intolerant and use the Earth Balance in the Red container. Our local Walmart has recently started selling this product, and the cost is less than at the natural food store.

[kwylee]

Another alternative is clarified butter (ghee), which is butter with the milk proteins removed. I am very sensitive and find I can tolerate that just fine and I like the taste even better than regular butter. Excellent for baking too, as my gluten-free/DF/SF choclate torte will attest. Purity Farms is certified casein free ghee and happens to be the one I can get my hands on most easily.

[mommyto2kids]

  On 11/12/2012 at 6:53 PM, kwylee said:

Another alternative is clarified butter (ghee), which is butter with the milk proteins removed. I am very sensitive and find I can tolerate that just fine and I like the taste even better than regular butter. Excellent for baking too, as my gluten-free/DF/SF choclate torte will attest. Purity Farms is certified casein free ghee and happens to be the one I can get my hands on most easily.

Thanks. I'll check them out. I love butter and need something to use in baking. It is bad enough to give up ranch dressing and cheese.

[JNBunnie1]

Coconut oil, a lot of people use it on toast and such and also for baking and cooking.

[Kelleybean]

Can you do soy? I really like Tofutti's Better than Cream Cheese. I actually like it better than regular cream cheese, so it lives up to its name

[Adalaide]

Because there are two separate issues you can have with dairy, I'll throw this out there too in case it is something you'd be interested in. And because you said you love butter so much! There are the lactose issues, and the casein issues. If it is a lactose issue, some people can consume raw, unpasteurized milk because the lactase is destroyed during the pasteurization process. That is the enzyme that naturally breaks down the lactose when we drink milk or consume dairy. For the first time in my life, I am drinking milk without gas and bloating. It doesn't work for everyone with a lactose problem, and obviously for no one with a casein problem. Making your own butter is fun and easy, and not particularly time consuming either.

I do like to use coconut butter sometimes when I cook or bake, it has a great unique flavor and just adds something special. Obviously this won't work for every recipe, but where the hint of coconut is appropriate it is oh so amazing. I've never tried coconut oil, like miss buns suggested but I've heard wonderful things about it. Personally, I skip the "tries to be butter" spreads on things because they don't taste like butter. I've never been a margarine person. If raw milk is legal where you are, I suspect that either raw milk butter or ghee will help you out a lot. There is only so much a person can sacrifice before we draw lines in the sand. Mine was dairy.

[GottaSki]

Earth Balance is the best tasting of the butter like substances - my daughter uses it so I always have some on hand for her and her kids. Unfortunately I can no longer use even the soy free version.

I use coconut oil for everything that I used to use butter on/in and I always used butter. I even had coconut oil on my last piece of gluten-free bread - before I gave up all grains.

Is it butter - no.

Am I grateful that I can eat it - absolutely

[mommida]

Well sometimes I just use LARD for baking. (please don't start hating on me now) Ghee is the best suggestion.

For a spread on sandwiches and such I love hummus! YUM mashed avocado or guacomale. They both have a creamy texture and add some moisture to sandwiches.

[Adalaide]

I always keep lard in my house! Mostly I use it for pie crusts, but sometimes for other things to. I generally use it as a shortening substitute, never thought of using it as a butter sub.

MMmmmmmmm..... LARD!!!!! Good stuff!

[Ginsou]

  On 11/12/2012 at 6:53 PM, kwylee said:

Another alternative is clarified butter (ghee), which is butter with the milk proteins removed. I am very sensitive and find I can tolerate that just fine and I like the taste even better than regular butter. Excellent for baking too, as my gluten-free/DF/SF choclate torte will attest. Purity Farms is certified casein free ghee and happens to be the one I can get my hands on most easily.

I'll have to give Purity Farms ghee a try again.....I once tried it and it bothered me......perhaps it was something else that bothered me that day...I've recently added acid reflux and hiatal hernia to my list of health "issues". I also discovered the lactaze enzyme tablets that I took for 15 years contained soy and wheat, never realizing I had a soy and wheat problem till 4 years ago.

It's always something!

[Ginsou]

  On 11/12/2012 at 7:29 PM, mommyto2kids said:

Thanks. I'll check them out. I love butter and need something to use in baking. It is bad enough to give up ranch dressing and cheese.

You don't have to give up cheese...Daiya makes an excellent product...in addition to several flavors of dairy-soy-gluten-lactose and casein free cheese, they have several flavors of wedge cheese.....cheddar is my favorite for grilled cheese sandwiches. It melts like real cheese and tastes like real cheese.

There are other brands of cheese substitutes available, mostly made with soy which I cannot tolerate, but Daiya is the best in my opinion.

Of course, you have to live near a natural food store that sells such products...I'm lucky that I have 3 natural food stores and 3 supermarkets in my town....don't have to order on-line and pay shipping charges anymore.

I also purchase products from that "unnamed" company that starts with A and take advantage of free shipping when the price is right.