While most people pine for good cheese when going dairy-free, I get a hankering for rich buttery flavors. Fortunately, thanks to some amazing natural ingredients, my cravings are easily dealt with. Store-bought dairy-free margarines can be convenient, and add a boost of flavor, but for taste and nutrition, nothing beats a good homemade dairy-free butter spread. And trust me, it can be SO much easier than you might expect.
Honey Dairy-Free Butter Spread with Cinnamon and Five Spice
The super quick and simple dairy-free butter alternative recipe below is completely free of dairy butter and margarine. Seriously. How do I do it? I use a combination of nutritive oils that firm up nicely for slicing, spreading, whipping, and melting.
For solidifying power I use extra-virgin coconut oil. You can substitute organic palm oil / shortening for coconut-free needs or use refined coconut oil if you’re worried about coconut in the flavor. Then, to keep it just soft enough, I use another nutritive oil with a lower melting point. These oils will impart their own flavors, so I use extra-light olive oil or grapeseed oil for a neutral taste. Non-GMO canola oil also works well. For a richer flavor, I would turn to flax, walnut, or avocado oil.
This buttery spread firms up enough that it can easily be shaped into molds for cute edible decor to go atop pancakes or even lightly whipped and piped into little containers. Since I’m extremely deficient in food presentation, I simply mold it into a small rectangle and slice it into individual pats of buttery goodness.
It is delicious melted into steamed or roasted carrots as pictured at the bottom of the recipe, or simply spread on a slice of homemade dairy-free spelt bread (or toast of your choice!).
Special Diet Notes: Spiced Honey Dairy-Free Butter Spread
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-fee / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, plant-based, and vegetarian. For a vegan butter spread, you can substitute agave nectar or a honey alternative for the honey.
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (palm shortening can be substituted)
- 1 tablespoon liquid neutral-tasting oil (see post above for details)
- 1 tablespoon honey (use agave nectar or vegan "honey" for strictly vegan)
- ¼ teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder (sold in most spice sections)
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
- Whisk the oils, honey, 5-spice, cinnamon, and salt together in a small bowl.
- Place the mixture in the freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes..
- Remove it from the freezer and vigorously whisk the mixture with a fork to smooth it out.
- Return to the freezer for another 10 to 15 minutes.
- Whisk again to make it smooth. It should be quite firm at this point.
- Shape or pipe as desired and store the dairy-free "butter" in your refrigerator until ready to use. It will firm up a bit more in the refrigerator.
8 Comments
I know I am commenting late, but I just made this yesterday. I had it on home-made cinnamon rolls this morning and I loved it!
Well I saw this late! Glad you enjoyed it Mary and thank you for your feedback!
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How long does this last in the fridge? To just make a butter alternative could I just use the 1st 2 ingredients? Because I can’t even use most of the company made non dairy butters could this be used in baking as a one to one exchange?
Hi Nicola, it really depends on the recipe. In things like cakes and muffins, it should work, but in cookies, it won’t. This is really straight oils, so the fat content is higher than butter or a buttery spread, which has water emulsified in.
I went dairy free this summer and then had to go legume free too – which cuts out a lot of commercial non dairy “butters”. This recipe has saved me! By which I mean I can still have yummy gluten free toast. I’ve made this a few times now and love it. I may try to make it with maple, which is a favorite flavor of mine.
So glad you are enjoying it! I’m betting maple would be delicious.
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