Desserts are a staple of any large multi-course meal.
After a meal full of savory or spicy flavors, a dessert can be a great sweet palate cleanser, a good chance for your palette to break away from the previous flavor of the meal you were eating, giving you a whole new experience.
Plus, it is anyone with a sweet tooth’s favorite part of dinner time!
However, many recipes for deserts often require the use of at least one type of dairy product.
If a recipe doesn’t call for milk, it will often call for cream, butter, or some other substitute or dairy-based ingredient.
This can often mean that people who suffer from lactose intolerant will not be able to fully enjoy a dessert dish with some kind of dairy in it.
And given that almost 70% of the world is in some way lactose intolerant, that’s quite a lot of people.
Fortunately, there are plenty of recipes out there for you to try that do not need to use animal or dairy-based products to be made, either by using a milk or butter substitute or having an entirely different ingredient list altogether.
This guide will show you some of the best dairy-free recipes for desserts (see also ‘27 Quick And Easy Dessert Recipes For Chocolate Lovers‘) out there that you can find out there, for all skill levels, to try. Some are easy, some will be a little more difficult. But all of them will be delicious!
1. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Starting off our list strong, we have a dessert recipe that will surely make a fan of anyone who has a sweet tooth and a lactose-intolerant stomach.
Whilst this recipe does require a fair amount of equipment to make (the recipe explicitly calls for some type of ice cream maker), you will have a dessert that pretty much anyone will be able to enjoy.
Ice cream is a dessert that tends to be pretty heavy in lactose for the most part, so this is a great recipe for those who have missed the taste of a sweet, cold, and creamy dessert with their meals since they learned they were lactose intolerant.
2. Vegan Oreo Cheesecake
Cheesecake is the taunting bane of existence for a lot of lactose intolerant dessert lovers. Fortunately, this recipe gives everyone the chance to enjoy a good old-fashioned cheesecake!
This recipe has everything you could want from a good cheesecake.
The topping is creamy and smooth on your tongue and in your mouth, and the base has a nice firmness to it that contrasts with the topping.
Plus, the Oreo chocolate flavoring help set this recipe apart from a standard cheesecake.
Don’t worry, there’ll be no dairy in the Oreos either, meaning that you can enjoy the biscuit side of this recipe too!
3. Dairy-Free Ice Cream
As any lover of desserts will tell you, you can never have too much ice cream on your plate or in your bowl!
With no dairy and no egg products in sight for this recipe, you may be worried that it isn’t going to taste or feel like real ice cream as it melts in your mouth.
However, thanks to the use of coconut milk in this recipe, this is a dish that tastes just as good as its dairy counterpart, all while cutting down on the amount of fat in this recipe too!
4. Dairy-Free Brownies
Like ice cream, brownies are loved across the world by people of all ages, which means that not being able to eat them is a travesty for pretty much everyone.
So, why not make this recipe for the lactose intolerant person in your life who misses the chocolaty taste of this well-loved treat!
By simply substituting the butter that you would normally put in a brownie recipe with some type of oil, you have a dessert that has been turned into something that now everyone can enjoy!
5. Sugar Cookies
How doesn’t love a good cookie recipe?
Whilst dairy is off the table for every recipe on this list, sugar, that other vital ingredient for many dessert recipes (see also ‘23 Of The Tastiest, Most Scrumptious Keto Dessert Recipes On The Net‘), is certainly not!
These cookies crumble just like the originals do, and taste great to boot, without sacrificing any of the flavors that you know and love cookies for.
6. Dairy-Free Chocolate Cake
Perhaps the king of dairy recipes, the chocolate cake is a recipe that tantalizes and frustrates dairy-intolerant people across the world.
But, no more, thanks to this recipe!
What’s more, this recipe is such a one-to-one fit for a classic chocolate cake recipe, you can simply replace the substitutes with old-fashioned milk if you feel like it.
7. Dairy-Free Cupcakes & Frosting
Like chocolate cake, cupcakes are a staple of desserts and confectionaries across the country and around the world.
So this recipe is going to be a delight for those who normally end up missing out!
There are plenty of dairy substitutes that you can use for the cupcakes themselves, but what we are more surprised by is the dairy-free frosting that goes on top of them.
Believe it or not, frosting often contains tons of butter, so this recipe for this topping goes a long way to making this feel like an authentic cupcake, all whilst tasting just as good!
8. Blueberry Coffee Cake
Coffee cake is a lesser-known, but still much loved confectionary recipe around the world.
This coffee cake with blueberries at its center is both dairy-free and gluten-free, so there is no excuse for you to not enjoy the taste of the cake that lactose lovers have been hoarding for themselves for too long!
If you want to enjoy this dairy-free dessert, do not hesitate to click the link that we have provided!
9. Dairy Free Chocolate Pudding
Many people, when struggling to decide on a dessert recipe that everyone can enjoy, will often turn to the classic chocolate pudding for a solid hit of sugary flavor.
Now with this recipe, lactose intolerant people can enjoy this dessert staple too!
The main ingredients that give this chocolate pudding its flavors, without needing any lactose products, are soy milk as the milk substitute, corn starch for the extra thickening that a good pudding needs, and, of course, an unhealthy heaping of cocoa powder!
Make sure that you use unsweetened cocoa powder. Some sweetened varieties can use dairy-based chocolate.
Plus, with the amount of sugar that you’ll be adding, sweetness won’t be an issue for long!
10. Chocolate Pumpkin Blondies
If you’re looking for a great dessert to add to your fall and Halloween dessert repertoire, these vegan pumpkin blondies will be all the rage at your gathering.
Then again, with blondie recipes this good, you’ll probably find yourself making this recipe all year round!
This recipe, thanks to no animal products being used, is a recipe that everyone can enjoy.
With a recipe list this long, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it cuts costs or principles for at least one or two ingredients.
But you’ll be surprised at just how consistent this recipe’s whole recipe is.
What you won’t be surprised with however is how great it tastes!
11. Lime Bars
Lime bars are a favorite for people who loved the precarious balance of sweet sourness and creamy sweetness that these desserts play around with.
Something that many people have been missing out on, thanks to the dairy products normally used in it.
Fortunately, this recipe fixes that little problem by replacing normal milk and cream with coconut milk.
This ingredient, coupled with the many types of nuts that make up the filling and base, means that this is a treat with a surprisingly low-calorie amount, making it both a delicious treat and a healthy one!
12. Easy Dairy-Free Lemon Bars
We’ve covered the lime bars, now it is time to show you their lemon counterparts!
Like the lime bars we have just covered, traditional lemon bars tend to use a lot of high calories and dairy ingredients that, whilst incredibly tasty, also make them quite heavy on the calories, as well as not ideal for dairy and gluten intolerant people.
This recipe fixes that by using tons of cornstarch and zesty lemon juice, along with a ton of nuts for the base, to create a healthier vegetarian option for more people to eat and enjoy.
13. Vegan Chocolate Pudding
You can never have too much chocolate pudding!
Well, technically you can, but you can certainly never have too many ways to make it for yourself, especially if that means helping other people enjoy this well-loved dessert!
This vegan version of the classic dessert is a recipe for a creamy pudding that replaces all the dairy ingredients, from milk to chocolate chips, with vegan-friendly alternatives.
All whilst not sacrificing flavor either!
14. Dairy-Free & Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread
With vegan dessert recipes being better and more practiced now more than ever, many people are starting to come up with truly amazing ways to substitute classic baking and cooking ingredients with animal-friendlier alternatives.
Take this chocolate bread for example. Gone are the days when a recipe like this would be firm, chewy, or otherwise unappetizing.
This is a vegan recipe that is fluffy, sweet, and otherwise an all-around delicious dish to try!
15. Vegan Banana Pudding
Banana is an all-time favorite fruit to use when coming up with dessert recipes.
Its subtle sweet flavor, plus its vegetarian nature (it is a fruit after all!) makes it a go-to for many recipes. And that includes this recipe too!
The key to getting this recipe right is by using the right amount of cornstarch and milk substitute to get the texture and flavor just right. After that, it is simply a case of mixing the ingredients well.
16. Banana Cream Pie
Staying with the banana-themed recipes for a little while longer, we have this incredible cream and banana pie recipe.
Do not worry, you’ll need no dairy cream for this one either!
This take on an age-old recipe that has been around for centuries allows dairy-intolerant people to enjoy a pie blizzard without having to worry about their gut afterward.
It is amazing what you can accomplish with coconut milk these days!
17. Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake
It’s hard to go wrong with a good cheesecake recipe. So, it’ll be doubly hard to go wrong with a vegan-friendly cheesecake recipe!
18. Vegan Chocolate Pudding
Time for another classic dessert recipe with a dairy-free twist.
Like many older recipes, this version of chocolate pudding is cooked over a stove first, rather than just being whipped or mixed for its texture. It has a nice rustic charm to it when you are making it.
And, of course, it has a very sweet charm when you finally get to eat it too!
19. Dairy-Free Pumpkin Pie Pudding
Who doesn’t love a good pumpkin pie recipe?
Despite their often savory taste raw, many people are still surprised when they find out that pumpkin pie is a sweet dessert, and a good one at that.
So, why not give those same guests by making a stellar pumpkin pie that is also dairy free to boot?
20. Cinnamon Rolls
Who can say no to a good cinnamon roll?
When going dairy-free with a recipe, many people often wonder if they won’t be able to enjoy their favorite pastries anymore.
Cinnamon swirls, being one of the most popular sweet pastries in question, is often at the top of many people’s lists that they miss.
So, why not plug that hole in their heart and their stomach with a dairy-free alternative? They’ll certainly love it!
21. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Just like with a good chocolate pudding, there will always be delicious new ways of making old favorites in the kitchen.
This chocolate cookie dough ice cream is one of them, being delicious as you remember, whilst also letting lactose-intolerant people enjoy it too, without messing with their gut.
It scoops just like traditional dairy ice cream and still tastes amazing as well.
How could you not love it?
22. Dairy-Free Gooey Brownies
Whilst any early dairy and gluten-free dessert recipe often suffered for the chewy and gooey textures, it is a treat that many vegan recipes have benefited from.
Don’t believe us? Then check out this dairy-free recipe for yourself!
These brownies are best eaten fresh out of the oven when the chocolate that is used is still melting in your mouth for that extra gooey sensation.
Just make sure not to burn your mouth on these fresh brownies!
23. Raspberry Crumb Bars
This is another great take on an old favorite dessert.
Crumb bars are seeing a comeback in the dessert old, after being seen as old-fashioned for quite a while.
And what better way to make it a modern recipe than to make a great dairy-free alternative to it?
The fact that the shortbread in this recipe doesn’t use any dairy butter is mind-blowing for us. And it still tastes as good as a classic crumb bar to boot.
That is a recipe that you need to try for yourself at some point. You’re doing yourself a disservice otherwise!
24. Spiced Applesauce Cake
Applesauce cakes are an underappreciated cake in our minds, so we would love nothing more than to see this type of cake enjoyed by as many people as possible.
And with this dairy-free version of this recipe, so many more people will be able to enjoy this dessert!
The applesauce isn’t just a great ingredient for flavor but is also an excellent substitute for egg yolk when it comes to helping this cake retain its shape.
What you have at the end of the baking time is a spongy, sweet cake that will be gone from people’s plates in the blink of an eye!
25. Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
More than any other recipe, chocolate chip cookies feel like a dairy dish and are hard to imagine without at least some kind of dairy product in them, whether it is the butter in the dough or the milk in the chocolate chips.
Well, imagine no more with this recipe! Enjoy all the cookies you could want, with zero dairies inside them!
26. Gluten & Dairy-Free Zucchini Chocolate Bread
There are a surprising number of ways that you can prepare good chocolate bread, and zucchini always seems to be one of the ingredients in them.
Whilst zucchini creates a kind of bread that many would describe as bland, the extra ingredients in this recipe help add some much-needed flavor to the mix, quite literally in this case!
27. Coconut Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream
Sea salt caramel ice cream has to be one of the all-time favorite flavors out there. So, make sure that you can let your dairy-intolerant friends enjoy it too with this recipe!
Coconut milk once again comes in to save the day for a rich and creamy ice cream flavor, without any of the lactose that can give dairy intolerant people a bad time.
Grab your mixing bowl and scoop spoon today, and start making this recipe!
Frequently Asked Questions
What Exactly Does Non-Dairy Product Mean?
As we briefly mentioned in the introduction, having a dairy-free product means that the ingredient in question is free from all types of dairy products that are produced by animals, and any other food items that contain any form of lactose sugar.
For lactose to be processed by the body, it needs to be broken down by the enzyme lactase that the body produces.
Whilst most mammals, including humans, can process lactose when they are young, many will lose this ability as their digestive system develops.
In most animals, including most humans, the body’s small intestines will stop producing lactase in adulthood.
A non-dairy product will be an ingredient that does not require lactase to break its sugars down, meaning pretty much anyone can consume it.
What Issues Can Lactose Intolerance Cause?
Being lactose-intolerant, whilst usually not a serious issue for most adults, can still be a frustrating condition to deal with over time.
Most symptoms of lactose intolerance include having stomach cramps after consuming dairy, feeling gassy or bloated, or suffering from diarrhea.
Does Dairy-Free Mean Eating No Chocolate?
Most types of chocolate, especially many recipes for milk or white chocolate, contain large amounts of dairy in them.
This means that someone with lactose intolerance will either need to find a non-dairy alternative or stop consuming chocolate altogether.
For dessert recipes specifically, this can also mean cutting out many other parts of recipes that use dairy products, such as icing toppings for cakes and other confectionaries.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it! The recipe we’ve covered, while maybe be tricky for some, all produce some of the finest desserts you’ll ever taste!
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