Could you please recommend an 'alternative' milk for use in baking?

why are there so many deleted posts on here

We use lactose free milk which tastes the same as milk imho and plant based spread instead of butter (so vitalite or similar but you can actually also buy lactose free spread but I find it is expensive)

shelflife commercially produced plant milks such as oat and almond are typically fortified with calcium and vitamins so they are equivalent to bovine juice. Read the carton to get the info. Oat milk is arguably the healthiest and most sustainable of all the alternatives in terms of water and land use.

Being lactose intolerant I use lactose free milk (often found in the long life section) in everything and it is exactly the same as ordinary milk.

I am switching from dairy milk to other ' milks' Have been using almond milk , there are so many available! Can anyone tell me which I should use as a dairy substitute? ie which has the highest calcium in.

Update for lovely Gransnetters: my friend is indeed intolerant of milk in anything and prefers lactose-free milk (who knew there was such a thing!) or at a push, soy milk.

Many thanks to everyone who gave their advice - all very helpful and kind of you to take the trouble to post.

Regards

I thought at first that this was a question about us being urged to consume less meat and dairy products to save the world. Looks as though we will alll have to use veg, cheese, milk,cream in future.

Candelle, thanks, it's so nice to get a reply.

Somewhat (loosely) related, my little granddaughter had severe cow's milk protein allergy until she was four - and grew out of it. She knew she couldn't eat anything without checking with a family member first.

At a friend's birthday party, when offered cake, she automatically said 'I not allowed it!' - so sad.

Sometimes she still forgets and asks 'Am I allowed it?'

Hi Hetty58. Yes, I will ask if my friend is really lactose intolerant with regard to cakes. If she is not, I am not sure I dare give an update after all the kind replies I have had here! However, judging by her care when in restaurants, I think she probably is.

I am in the UK and we would normally be 'ladies wot lunch' but none of us want to eat inside a restaurant at the moment, for obvious reasons.

We can't reserve an outside table or visit somewhere we would have to wait for a table to become free, as some of us are a bit wobbly.

We are supposed to stay local and in any case, we are not allowed to car share (some of us don't drive any more), so I gave up and suggested tea and cakes in my garden. If a day or two before, the weather looks wet/freezing, I can cancel myself and rebook without worry!

Fingers crossed for a sunny May...

Thanks, muffinthemoo for the almond suggestion - so many answers now!

I love your baking described as 'munitions'; mine too on a bad day - I hope that the alternative/lactose-free milk doesn't make me emulate you!

My baking is only fit to be used as munitions, but a friend is lactose intolerant and bakes often, and she swears by almond milk.

glammagran an almond is actually a seed not a nut, technically known as a drupe. Lots of people with nut allergies can eat them and cashews too.

I manage to be allergic to most seeds as well?

Candelle - why not just ask the lactose-intolerant friend? We can only guess how severe it is. I'm lactose intolerant, but (before I became vegan) I never had a problem with cakes!

Maybe you're in NZ - or somewhere it's Covid safe to cater for friends. We'd decline an invitation, right now - or take our own food, to be on the safe side!

Peasblossom - food allergies are so strange. My youngest daughter is severely allergic to many nuts (and some drugs) and has always had an epipen to hand but for some unknown reason can tolerate almonds with no problem. Was very concerned her daughter would also have allergies but aged 2, seems to have none at all. Too soon to tell with son aged 1 week.

Oh, forgot to say I use koko coconut milk which really doesn't taste coconutty.

I only use almond milk or coconut milk. As long as I shake the carton well I find they work in baking and sauces exactly as milk would.

A huge thank you to everyone who has contributed with helpful replies (but don't you just wonder what a deleted message said? I'd love to know! Could an alternative milk dialogue really infuriate?!

Schnackie, I won't say that I doing it with a completely good heart but it's one of those 'right thing to do' situations!

Tree71, you are right, I have not actually asked, however when eating out with her she checks menus beforehand and is very particular about what she is served so I think she probably... won't be able to tolerate normal dairy milk. I will double-check though!

Mildmanneredgran, you'll be very welcome. I had no idea about oestrogen in soya milk, so thank you for that tip. Of course, I can't vouch for the baking with an altered milk!

Yorki, invite sent. I am sure.... I will cope.

grandtanteJE65, good point about the butter but I had thought of that. I have several recipes where sunflower (sometimes rapeseed) oil is used instead. Surprisingly, the cakes turn out to be really moist and not at all oily but thanks for the warning.

When my accupuncturist suggested, many years ago, that I should stop eating dairy products in order to clear up the gunge in my lungs, she suggested that if I did that for 2 weeks, and if I really wanted to eat cheese I should eat that made with sheeps or goats milk. That pleased me because Roquefort was my favourite cheese at that time. I also developed a liking for sheep's milk yoghurt, especially the Greek variety.

I have no experience of baking with oat milk, soya milk or almond milk, so I would simply use water instead of milk.

But what about butter? Can your friend eat it?

Most packaged bread is milk free, just check ingredients.. I find soya milk the best to cook with, but it often curdles if added to very hot drinks especially coffee. If you are adding it to coffee warm it to a similar temperature first . I hope the afternoon tea goes well.

pen50

Please don't use coconut milk! I know it's only a small minority of us who don't like coconut, but we REALLY don't like it.

I've never heard of anyone not liking coconut milk before - to us it's actually bland and fairly tasteless. Certainly no taste of coconut. Unless you're thinking of the coconut milk in tins, rather than cartons, that comes with all the coconut cream as well ? That would certainly taste very coconutty, and I wouldn't use it for drinking or baking unless I really wanted a coconut flavour.

halfpint1 oatmilk is very easy to make at home. A quick google will tell you how.

ElderlyPerson I tried rice milk for pancakes when ds was small because it was the inly ine that came in small cartons. It was fine when I made his but i put the rest if the batter aside for dh and I to have ours later and it was fermenting!! Never tried it again!!

Oat, cashew or almond milk for me. All will work a treat in your cakes and scones. Enjoy your tea

Oops that should have been

www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/252098117

Just a few notes if I may.

I do not do baking but I do use Alpro soya unsweetened a lot.

Though some people can be allergic to soya.

Do not go looking for packs labelled milk if it is not dairy as there are EU restrictions against using the word milk on non-dairy alternatives to milk. As far as I know, that still applies in the UK.

Have you considered baking using gluten-free flour?

Nobody has suggested rice-based alternative to milk. I have no idea whether it can be used in baking. Maybe that ticks all the boxes over avoiding allergens, I don't know.

I have not tried it all, maybe others here have, maybe it is no use for baking, but maybe worth a look.

www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/25209811

Candelle ... there's always someone who throws a spanner into the works. Don't invite the awkward one. ?