Vegan Pumpkin Pie and Other Dairy-Free Pursuits

Since going dairy-free, I have had to let go of some yummy things and search around for suitable substitutes. Ice cream and pizza have been the hardest. But also, store bought or restaurant made desserts are pretty much out of the question for me b/c butter is in everything. Lucky for me, I have found some suitable substitutes. I know that most people aren't dairy-free, but you never know when you might have a vegan friend over for dinner :)

After trying lots of gritty soymilk ice creams, I found the SO Decadent brand of coconut milk ice cream. Each flavor has a hint of Coconut flavor, so if you get the Vanilla, it will taste more like Vanilla Coconut, but they do an awesome job on the Chocolate flavor--which tastes more Chocolate than Coconut Chocolate. The thing they nail is the texture--its creamy, just like ice cream, but doesn't melt the same way. Nonetheless, it is far superior to soy-based ice cream. I can eat sorbet too, but in my opinion it doesn't have the same satisfaction as a creamy ice cream.

The SO Decadent Coconut Milk coffee creamer is just okay. Silk soy creamer blows--its like putting skim milk in your coffee, unless you like that sort of thing. By far the best dairy free creamer is the Trader Joes Soy Creamer and at $1.49, its a steal. Its super-creamy and is unflavored. Incidentally, the Coffee Mate Creamer says non-dairy on the front, but if you read the label, there is casein, a milk derivative, which is a problem for us food allergy peeps. I have become a relentless label reader and you would be surprised as to all of the foods that contain milk.

Pizza has been something really hard for me to let go of. Soy and rice milk cheeses are generally gross and don't melt well. The rice milk cheese actually has casein in it, so its not a safe food for me--sadly, I learned the hard way. I crave pizza, I dream about it sometimes--so sad. I suppose I could try making a pizza with lots of toppings but no cheese, but this sounds weird to me--cheese IS the pizza! Oh well.

I am not a baker. I love to cook, but baking has never been my thing. Now that I can pretty much never have dessert unless I make it myself, I have been searching out dairy-free recipes that are easy enough and yummy too. My big find so far has been this Vegan Pumpkin Pie Recipe from Vegetarian Times. I don't bother with the crust b/c Pillsbury makes a premade pie crust that does not contain milk or butter. I just make the filling, pour into the shell and bake. Oh, the recipe calls for granulated sugar cane syrup--I just used the same amount of regular sugar. WTH is granulated sugar cane syrup? How can something be granulated and a syrup at the same time? Anyway, the results are wonderful--great texture and just the right balance of spice. Yum!