Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie and Whipped Cream Topping

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This is the first holiday I have been dairy free, and I was determined to enjoy some pumpkin pie. Something like, "you can have your pie and eat it too?" heh Anyway...






Ingredients:

Love Trader Joes!

• Your favorite dairy free crust (Pillsbury roll out crusts and Harris Teeter Brand crusts are my fav and yes, dairy free!)
• 1 can of pumpkin
• 1 can coconut cream
• 1/2 cup dairy-free milk (I used almond)
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 Tbs powdered sugar

Directions:

Separated cream set aside

1. Lay your crust out to come to room temperature
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
3. Do not shake your can of coconut cream!!!
4. Remove thick cream from top of can of coconut cream and set aside in small bowl.
5. Use remainder of coconut milk/water mixture and add in thick separated cream by spoonful until it measures to 1 cup. Keep the rest of cream separated and put in fridge to chill.
6.  Place this cup of coconut cream/milk and add to mixing bowl. Add in can of pumpkin, 1/2 cup milk, eggs, sugar, spice and salt. Mix on high until combined evenly. 
7. While mixing, prepare your crust in a pie pan.
8. Pour mixture into unbaked crust and place in oven.
9. Cover edges of crust to prevent burning.
10. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

 
Whipped Cream:

1. While pie is baking and once cream has chilled, place cream in mixing bowl with whisk attachment. 
2. Whisk coconut cream on highest setting for 2 minutes. 
3. Add in powdered sugar and mix again on highest setting until fluffy.
4. Serve on pie!!!
5. ENJOY :)

 I am reveling in this season of Thanksgiving and the gratitude I have for my family, friends, faith, and blessings. Enjoy the season!

My biggest blessings.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is a guilty pleasure of mine. One of my favorite memories of a cookie cake was back in college during graduation week. My friend and I devoured a cookie cake slathered in Orange and Blue icing. Go HOOS! We were both mortified the next few days when our poo was colored bright green. Finally one of us broke the silence and mentioned it. We were so relieved we weren't dying of some strange green-poo illness.

Now that I compltely grossed you out (I am a nurse after all), lets talk dairy-free cookie cake.

To get the best results, here is my go-to recipe:

 Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Ingredients:
2 1/4 Cup flour
1tsp salt
1tsp baking soda
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Cup Earth's Best Butter Alternative
1tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 package of Chocolate Chips: dairy free. (I recommend Enjoy Life or Trader Joe's Semi Sweet brands)

I was hungry for a cookie :)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Set out butter and eggs.
3. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a separate, small bowl.
4. Combine sugars, butter, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Mix on high for a few minutes.
5. Add eggs and mix to combine.
6. Add in flour mixture and mix only enough to combine.
7. Spread on large, greased pizza tray. Using spatula, make a big blob in center and work your way out to almost the very edge.
8. Bake at 375 for 17 mins.

Once cooled, you can ice it!

 Dairy-Free Cream Cheese Icing Recipe

 Ingredients: 
8oz Dairy-Free Cream Cheese Alternative (Tofutti Brand, is the BEST)
1/4 lb Dairy-Free Butter Alternative (Earth Balance Brand is the BEST)
2 tsp bourbon vanilla paste
1 lb = 4 cups powdered sugar (give or take)

Directions:
Make sure cream cheese and butter are the same temperature. Beat on high speed in mixer until combined. Add vanilla and sugar until desired consistency is reached. Increase speed of mixer to high until combined.Pipe onto cooled cookie using tip of your choice.

**If you have kids or are kid-like at heart, add sprinkles to the icing!**

Jumbo Sugar-Crusted Blueberry Muffins

Necessity breeds invention.

Lets just say I get paid on Thursday and until then, I am eating my fridge and pantry clean.
I needed something for breakfast tomorrow, and I had 1 egg and a cup of blueberries about to go bad.
Enter: blueberry muffins, dairy-free style. Did I mention I have a new, jumbo muffin tin from my dear friends Mike and Robin? Woo!

Nice and fluffy and not too sweet.

They came out amazingly well, and the sanding sugar adds a professional bakery touch.  The 1 egg dilemma forced me to experiment with the flax seeds.  I think I am going to sneak this into everything. Did you know that you can replace an egg with 1 TBS ground flax seed and 3 TBS water? You're welcome.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tbs ground flax seeds
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 3 Tbs water
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup milk (of any variety, I use almond)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups blueberries (AKA whatever's left!)
• Coarse sprinkling sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Oil your jumbo muffin tin.
2. Measure and mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
3. In mixer, on medium speed, mix egg, flax seed, sugar, and coconut oil until well blended.
4. Add water, oil, milk, and vanilla and mix on low until combined. 
5. Add your dry ingredients in 2 parts and ONLY mix enough to combine. Make sure you wipe down sides of bowl with a spatula too.
6. Fold in the blueberries.
7. Fill your jumbo muffin tins almost to the top.
8. The best part: Sprinkle with coarse sanding sugar. 
9. Bake at 425 degrees for 5 min.
10. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 25-27 minutes* until part of the tops get slightly browned and they appear set. Let cool in the tins.
11. Serve warm with dairy-free butter. One will fill you right up. Mmmmmm

*If you only have traditional muffin/cupcake tins this recipe makes 18, bake for 16-17 minutes or until toothpick or knife comes out clean.

p.s. I think I join a multitude of other moms when I say, I blog when my children are sleeping :)

Dairy-Free Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been craving these classics in a major way. Even more so, the delicious cookie dough right out of the bowl. I decided to try out some dairy and soy free chocolate chips from the Enjoy Life brand, and they came out ever so well!

They are husband and friend approved as well. Again, no one noticed a difference. Success. Sorry for the cell-phone photo!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag Enjoy Life Mini Semi Sweet Chips*
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup dairy-free (or dairy-soy free) Earth's Balance Butter Alternative
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 and 1/4 cup flour sifted
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla until creamy in mixing bowl.
3. Meanwhile combine dry ingredients in separate bowl
4. Add eggs and beat
5. Add dry ingredients and mix on low only until combined well.
6. Add chocolate chips and mix on low until combined.
7. Using a small cookie scoop, make balls of dough about an inch apart on greased cookie sheets.
8. Bake for 7-9 min until just slightly browning on edges
9. Let rest for a few mins on cookie trays then transfer to cooling rack.
10. Enjoy!!!

*Trader Joes also makes dairy-free chocolate chips, but they contain soy.

Dairy-Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Yeah, that's right. I said dairy-free cream cheese icing. It can be done and you won't know the difference!

The BEST Carrot Cake Recipe EVER can be found over here at Pinch of Yum. I followed the instructions for the cupcake version. I also mixed the wet and sugar ingredients first, then saved the dry ingredients for last. Tip for success: always sift your flour and after you add the dry ingredients, only mix enough to combine, on low speed.

 Dairy-Free Cream Cheese Icing Recipe

 

 Ingredients: 
8oz Dairy-Free Cream Cheese Alternative (I used Tofutti Brand, but it is soy based)
1/4 lb Dairy-Free Butter Alternative (I use Earth Balance Brand)
2 tsp bourbon vanilla paste
1 lb = 4 cups powdered sugar (give or take)




  Directions:

Make sure cream cheese and butter are the same temperature. Beat on high speed in mixer until combined. Add vanilla and sugar until desired consistency is reached. Increase speed of mixer to high until combined. (I like a thicker icing so that the form holds on cupcakes. If I were icing a cake, would go softer.)







Using pastry bag, pipe onto cupcakes, starting from exterior perimeter moving inward and spiraling up. The key is more squeeze, less movement.

Decorations on top are by Wilton.

I made these for my dear friend Libby's going away party. She is a fellow dairy avoider ;) I will miss you friend!

Vegan Vanilla-Mint Chocolate Whoopie Pies!

I knew I was making progress when my husband tasted one and said, "I can't even tell there is no dairy in these!"

The key to success in dairy-free baking with icing is fake butter. I am currently using Earth Balance products. They do make a soy-free version as well. Found it at Whole Foods, it has red on the label. While I was there, I also found baking sticks, which makes it MUCH easier to measure (but has soy). So far, I have substituted it for butter in some of my favorite icing recipes and no one can tell the difference!

I needed to go to the store the other day, but was craving sweets in a major way. So I browsed my cupboard, and looked up some recipes on Go Dairy Free. I came across these Fudgy Chip Vegan Cookies and made them immediately! I had everything but the chocolate chips and nuts. So, I made a basic chocolate cookie. Scooped them out in a mini scoop, pressed down before baking with a spatula, and baked for 12 min. Key to a successful, moist cookie? Fight every urge inside of you and pull them out before they look done!

From there I decided they were too plain, so why not make them into mini whoopie pies? Lets take it up a notch and make some vanilla mint buttercream icing!

Dairy-Free Vanilla-Mint Whoopie Pie Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup dairy-free butter alternative
1 tsp mint extract
1 tsp bourbon vanilla paste
2 tbs almond milk (or other dairy-free milk substitute)

Mix all ingredients except for the almond milk together and beat until creamy. Add milk until you reach desired consistency.

Add a dollop of icing to cooled cookies and make sandwiches! Remember, it takes 2 cookies for one whoopie pie so don't be disappointed when your numbers are cut in half. Make a double recipe of cookies if needed!

Dairy-Free Banana Bread

That moment when you took too long to eat those bananas, your grocery budget is just too tight, and you feel compelled to make something of those over-ripe browning bananas in your fruit bowl. Enter banana bread! How does one make banana bread without butter? Well, I found out. It came out deliciously moist, not too sweet, and a perfectly crusty crust.

 Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup oil (I used canola)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg (lets be honest, I prefer local farm eggs!)
• 1 and 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 mashed bananas

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. In mixer, add oils, sugar, and egg. Blend until mixed.
3. Meanwhile, mix dry ingredients in small bowl and mash bananas.
4. Add dry ingredients to mixer bowl and blend until mixed.
5. Add bananas, blend until mixed.
6. Pour in greased* baking loaf and bake for 1hr 10 min or until toothpick comes out clean.
7. Enjoy warm!

*I found a dairy/soy free cooking spray at Whole Foods that I now use to grease my cooking pans: Spectrum brand "Butter It Up!" Natural flavor spray oil. Ingredients: canola oil, sunflower oil, natural non-dairy flavor, annatto extract for color.

Back In the Saddle: Dairy/Soy-Free

I kind of fell off the face of the earth for awhile there! Mothering a toddler can do that to you. Since I last wrote, we added another bundle to our family: Eloise Anne! She is cute as can be with chubby cheeks made for endless kisses. She has also put me through the ringer with her dairy and soy allergies and subsequent reflux. Being a nursing mother, it means I am now too dairy and soy-free. What is a baker to do when she kisses goodbye her precious butter and cream? 6 months later, I am finally through the mourning stages and here we are at acceptance. Time to change my game. And permanently change it I will, as some of my very own GI issues have  been healed with my new diet. My eyes have been opened to a whole  new culture of nutritional wellness and food alternatives. Dare I say I've made friends with the Vegans as their baked goods are the only ones to be found without dairy?! There is little out there on my particular diet, as I still love me some eggs and meat, so I've decided to share my adventures here in hopes of helping others with dairy allergies and sweet nursing babies with intolerances. Hope you enjoy this adventure with me!

Photo credit: Lucy O Photo

Here are a few tidbits I've learned:

Most babies will outgrow their dairy allergy, but this can take up to 3 years.
A strong percentage of babies allergic to dairy are also allergic to soy.
There are very few formula options for babies such as mine, and they all taste horrible.
Breastfeeding these babies is the best option, but means mom also too embraces a dairy and soy-free diet.
Babies are actually sensitive to the protein in milk, as opposed to lactose, and this can take 1-3 weeks to clear from mom and baby's system once consumed.

Dairy can come under many other names: Go Dairy Free has a great reference page for this.
Dr. Sears has a great description on infant dairy allergy.