Learning to enjoy food again after finding out that you are lactose intolerant can take some time. In the initial phase most people simply find themselves doing without foods that have dairy in them and eating those that do not. While there are many lactose free foods out there, this still means doing without quite a few things. After a while people begin to miss some of the foods they may not have been able to easily replace, things such as baked goods for instance.  Some people will opt to simply continue to do without, others may choose to begin experimenting with baking their own goodies that are dairy free.

Fortunately if you know what to look for dairy can be relatively simple to replace and most baked goods will come out nearly as good as the ones you used to eat, without all the discomfort that dairy loaded goodies would bring.

Milk can be replaced by a number of different products including soy milk, rice milk, and even one of the lactose free milk products on the market. Rice milk is considerably thinner than cow’s milk and other milk alternatives so it may not work well for sauces or frostings or you may need to simply use less. Be sure to choose the unsweetened version of whatever milk alternative you choose to use.

Butter has been an issue for many people as there are not nearly as many dairy free alternatives available. Many people assume that margarine is dairy free but this is not the case, most margarine contains at least a little dairy in it. You can use oil, it works fine for things such as breads, cakes and muffins, but when it comes to things such as pies, pastries and cookies nothing beats butter.  You have a few different choices available to you though that come close and your local store should carry at least one of them.

Earth balance is soy margarine that has a very nice texture and flavor and has no dairy and is not hydrogenated. Smart balance carries a light butter that is dairy free that works fine for some things, but tends to brown easy so is not the best choice for cookies. Lastly be on the lookout for kosher margarine which contains no dairy, Fleischmans carries a kosher margarine that many people say works very well for baking.