Dairy-Free Pumpkin Pie Dip

I'm going to a Halloween party tonight and wanted to bring a sweet treat I could enjoy (I've also got a friend w/ Crohn's going and one of the hosts is lactose-intolerant). So I did some digging around for DF recipes, but in the end adapted one I've used in the past with DF subs. It turned out great, and nobody could tell there was no dairy!

Dairy-Free Pumpkin Pie Dip
1 c pureed pumpkin (not pie filling)
8 oz df cream cheese (I used Daiya regular)
½ c powdered sugar
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
8 oz df whipped topping (I used So Delicious cocowhip, regular not lite)

Let cream cheese and whipped topping soften before making the dip.
Beat together cream cheese, pumpkin puree, powdered sugar, and pumpkin pie spice.
Fold/stir in whipped topping.
Keep refrigerated.

Serve with graham crackers or ginger snaps (I used the TJ brand GF ginger snaps). Alternately, you could crush up the crackers/cookies and do a traditional graham cracker style crust using your favorite DF butter sub and some sugar. I thought about doing this and making mini pumpkin cream pies in a muffin tin, but I am lazy and have leftover pumpkin puree to use up (I'm thinking granola!).

*You can buy pre made pumpkin pie spice or mix up your own. I use the same spices in a variety of other things (including apple pie spice), so I just use this recipe:

Pumpkin Pie Spice
3 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ tsp ground ginger
1 ½ tsp ground nutmeg
¾ tsp allspice
½ tsp ground cloves

Dairy Free/Vegan Almond Joy Creamer [Recipe]

I know there are tons of these recipes around, but I was lazy and looking for something that required a little less work, and ideally no extracts.

1 can Nature's Choice sweetened condensed coconut milk
1 can (approx 3/4 cup) Almond Breeze Vanilla
1.5 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
0.5 Tbsp amaretto (or 3/8 tsp almond extract; a few drops almond oil)

This breaks down to about 2 calories per Tbsp, or more likely 53 calories per serving.

There's definitely some tweaking that could be done. I had vanilla almond milk on hand, so I'm not sure how much vanilla you would need/want if you used plain. Same if you used unsweetened almond milk, although the sweetened condensed coconut milk may be enough without extra sugar (it was like the filling of an almond joy when I tasted it!). As for the almond extract, you can sub it out, or I think if you used a plain almond milk and did not add any vanilla it would work as well.

If I get a chance to revisit this, I will update you with the results. Feel free to share if you give this a go or make any changes yourself!

Kite Hill Soft Ripened

We had our bi-monthly wine night the other day. When it was hosted at my house I had an array of snacks. Now my old roommate and buddy has moved out and we go to his place. I got hooked on baked brie with an apple-date chutney. Running out of time I had resorted to unbaked brie with fig jam (a combo I learned about from a friend, and boy is it delicious!). However, DF means no more brie for me...

I picked up Kite Hill's soft ripened over the weekend, and decided to put it to the ultimate test at wine night! I did a quick taste test the day before and the texture is good (not as creamy, but still very soft and spreadable). It looked pink at first, but the next day that seemed to mellow. Plain it was alright (nothing special), but once you spread it on a cracker, and especially when you paired it with the fig jam, this was absolutely delicious!

About half of the people there gave it a try and we demolished it! I brought an actual brie as well, but the Kite Hill was gone first (granted it is smaller, but still it was a hit and everyone that tried it liked it). I haven't tried it baked yet, but I think that is coming up on the agenda. We do this the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month, so plenty of opportunity to find out how it bakes up!

I'm also looking forward to giving the ricotta a go (going to use this on a pizza in the near future, although I have also gotten recommendations for Daiya's mozz shreds for a good melting cheese as well, and if all goes well may try it in a lasagna perhaps with the Daiya since my recipe calls for ricotta and mozz). I am also looking forward to trying the other Kite Hill cheeses. I've heard good things about the cream cheese, and I think the soft ones will be a good goat cheese sub.

Also look for me to get off my lazy bum and make some of the cheeses in Miyoko's book: Vegan Artisan Cheese. Kite Hill is delicious, but if I can get my roommates on board I think making some of these will be more cost-effective ~_n