Dairy-free dessert recipes

Desserts are one of those things that can frequently contain dairy ingredients making it hard for people who need to eat dairy or lactose-free due to allergies and intolerances. But don't worry, it's not impossible to enjoy dairy-free desserts.

Dairy foods to exclude

Eating dairy-free means not consuming any product containing cow's milk. The problem for people who need to avoid dairy in their diet is that it is found in many manufactured foods. It may be hard to buy ready-made foods from the shelves and you will need to pay extra attention when reading food labels to ensure products are dairy-free.

Foods to exclude:

• Butter

• Cows milk

• Yoghurt

• Milk solids (food additive found in manufactured foods)

• Whey and casein (proteins found in milk)

• Cheese

• Cream

• Ice-cream

Adapting recipes for dairy-free baking

Creating dairy-free versions of baked goods involves using substitutes like non-dairy milks such as soy or almond milk, apple puree, coconut oil, avocado, and olive oil. Converting traditional dairy-based desserts to dairy-free versions can require some trial and error, so it's often simpler to follow recipes that have already been tested for dairy or lactose-free diets.

Below we have gathered an array of delicious tried and tested dairy-free baking dessert recipes for you to enjoy. Need something sweet to pair with your morning coffee? Give our banana and date biscottit a try. This twist on the classic Italian biscuit uses mashed banana and dates for a flavourful treat. Or how about our dairy and gluten-free chocolate and walnut brownie? Made with olive oil and mashed sweet potato, it might sound unconventional, but trust us—you won’t even realise you’re enjoying veggies beneath the rich chocolate flavour.