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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

A dairy free Christmas

43 replies

TinyLittleBug · 01/10/2022 22:17

I have a very recently diagnosed dairy intolerance and will no longer be able to enjoy my usual Christmas cheeseboard and Quality Streets.
I know - devastating!!

I wondered if anyone had any recommendations for some lovely dairy free alternatives to the usual festive treats? I can still have eggs - the supermarkets seem to think if you’re not eating dairy, you’re vegan, but it’s just dairy I can’t have.

If anyone else is in the same boat, Galaxy do a dairy free orange chocolate that tastes just like Terry’s chocolate orange, which I was thrilled to discover. But I’d love to hear of any other lovely treats fellow diary-free people have discovered.
Thanks in advance!

OP posts:
itchyhand · 02/10/2022 09:06

I had a DF Christmas due to BF CMPA DD (that's a lot of letters Grin) like a PP I used oatly barista- it's perfect for Yorkshire puddings. And with a DF marge you can make a bechemel for cauliflower no-cheese on your portion

Street treats I would just hunt through all the supermarkets and find the things that are accidentally DF so a few years ago the aldi lebkuchen were DF and most (cheaper range) mince pies. Elmlea do a good vegan whipping cream, and I used the oatly barista and birds custard powder for a custard, you could get a good trifle going with those too!

I used Betty Crocker devils cake mix and icing for an easy Yule log type chocolate bonanza

Bake your own Christmas cake and like you said just don't bother with a cheese board... cold meats and pickles all the way Gin

DottyLittleRainbow · 02/10/2022 09:13

Applewood smoked vegan.

Oatly barista for a creamy hot chocolate and anything else milk related!

Nush do a vegan Camembert that is amazing!

Bute farms sheeses are great.

Tonys chocolonely dark sea salt and almond.

Sainsbury's do a lovely free from Christmas pud (buy early as they do seem to sell out).

And a recent new discovery was oatly whipping cream which is lovely - also they do a crème fraiche and single cream which are great.

mincepielife · 02/10/2022 11:25

A second for Nomo chocolate! I'm actually vegan not just dairy free, but think it's up there with the best chocolate I've ever tasted (including 'regular' chocolate before my vegan days!). The caramel and sea salt is to die for 🤤

Limmers14 · 02/10/2022 11:32

OP, how did you find out? Some dairy makes me feel sick (milk, cream, ice cream) but I’ve never been tested. I still eat cheese and feel fine but wonder if I’d feel “better” if I cut it out.

Did you ask to be tested via health insurance/GP?

CherryGenoa · 02/10/2022 12:19

My best friend is dairy free for medical reasons and she was my lockdown buddy, so this is what I did last year:

For a Christmas Day starter, replace cream cheese in smoked salmon starter with capers, chopped dill and a lemon wedge. Or have soup, loads of them are dairy free if you don’t want to make your own.

The main course is easy to make dairy free. I would treat yourself to the tastiest meat you can afford and you won’t miss dairy at all! But If you normally make leeks or cauliflower in cheese sauce as a side, the sauce in This recipe is nice, although not an exact replica of cheese.

Check labels if you are buying a Christmas pudding, I think a basic Asda one was ok last year when cheered up with a soak of extra brandy and had palm oil as the fat, but the supermarkets normally sell a number of different types and they do change recipes. If you normally serve brandy or rum sauce, make a basic white sauce with dairy free margarine or vegan block and barista oat milk, then add sugar and alcohol. There are loads of nice vegan ice creams now as well. We love Swedish glacé.

Oatly cream is a tasty whipped / clotted cream substitute. I haven’t tried it to see if you can blend it with alcohol without it separating, but you could tip some alcohol over the pudding then add the oat cream on top? I reckon you could also make a cream tea or top a trifle with this cream (and decorate with berries and grated dark chocolate). Boudoir biscuits are generally dairy free if you make a trifle.

For making cakes or pastry (for mince pies and quiche), vegan block is good if the recipe calls for butter. Trex also works. If you can’t be faffed with making your own pastry, Jusroll ones are mainly dairy free.

For snacks we had a luxury tray of nuts (think M&S), and loads of the posher crisps and lentil chips are dairy free, as are twiglets. Booja booja chocolate is fab as others have said. If that’s too pricey, just go for supermarket dark chocolate, a lot of that is dairy free (but not all). Some of the Ritter sport chocolate flavours are dairy free but I’m afraid I can’t remember which!

One tip I’d have is if you can afford it, place an online order for extra bits with a specialist store. I used Ethical Superstore last year for picking up Booja booja chocolate, dairy free shortbread (nicer than butter shortbread!), crackers and all sorts of other goodies.

Hotandbothereds · 02/10/2022 21:32

Limmers14 · 02/10/2022 11:32

OP, how did you find out? Some dairy makes me feel sick (milk, cream, ice cream) but I’ve never been tested. I still eat cheese and feel fine but wonder if I’d feel “better” if I cut it out.

Did you ask to be tested via health insurance/GP?

I have a dairy intolerance but I’ve never been tested, my doctor suggested an exclusion diet to pin point what was triggering me, you can just do it yourself.

Boymummy321 · 18/09/2023 21:18

Hi, my son is dairy free and he really loves chocolate too! We reccommend:

Nomo salted caramel barS
coconut collab chocolate pots
monty bojangles vegan truffles

also if you wanted to make your own chocolate fix, bake a betty crocker devils food cake mix (mega easy!), once cool crumble it with your fingers and add betty crockers chocolate fudge icing, enough to make it in to a dough, then roll in to mini balls and dust with cocoa powder to make mini truffles or if doing for kids roll in rainbow sprinkles and serve in mini cup cake cases, cute and so tasty!!

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 18/09/2023 21:33

Nomo salted caramel bar

I like those too Wink

guildingthelily · 18/09/2023 21:48

Last Christmas I bought a friend a selection of 'i am NUT cheese', he brought it out Christmas day evening whilst we played cards and I can vouch for the fact it was delicious.

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 19/09/2023 07:10

Forgot to mention that Lidl had there Mince Pies in when I went on Sunday.

Didn't check this time but they are usually DF.

tries not to eat own body weight in Mince Pies between now and Christmas

OMGitsnotgood · 19/09/2023 10:35

Not sure if already mentioned but my friends who can't have dairy are able to have cheeses that aren't from cow's milk such as manchego and Singleton's Parlick. I'm not dairy free but really enjoy both of those. Do you know if you can have those?
Appreciate what you're saying about not always wanting vegan, but plant based foods are you friend here: Stork block margarine; just roll pastry ( not the all butter). The Tesco plant based cream cheese is tasty too, i've not used it in eg cheesecake but can't see why it wouldn't work.

Juliemeadow · 19/09/2023 20:29

Dairy intolerance is no fun ( I am dairy intolerant) and so much ready made stuff has milk or butter. There is a vegan squirty cream called heavenly food ( I think) from supermarkets and also a chocolate one dairy free. Perhaps if you have the gateau he could make his own pudding with some dark chocolate melted and strawberries and squirty cream- be fun

SeaToSki · 19/09/2023 20:32

Are you triggered by sheep and goat protein as well as cow? If not then the cheese situation is a little easier

cazcaz2 · 20/09/2023 03:51

See there it is- lactose intolerant is not the same as DAIRY FREE- Its just Lactose free- lactose free dairy items are available i am lactose intolerant myself- try the arla range of lactose free stuff very much like the usual dairy stuff- also lactose free version of cathedral city cheese is great- not like cardboard like the dairy free versions- yes theres even lactose free chocolaþe and nomo is great!

cazcaz2 · 20/09/2023 03:55

My neice &nephew ARE dairy free so its just the completely dairy free foods for them.But my lactose free is slightly more accomodating.

kikisparks · 21/09/2023 22:24

There are really nice handcrafted vegan cheeses which are different from what you get in the supermarket but they are pricey.

https://tynechease.com/shop/
https://www.iamnutok.com/shop
https://lafauxmagerie.com/

Shop - Tyne Chease

Welcome to our shop. Here you can browse all of the products we have to offer.

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zurala · 21/09/2023 22:25

La Fauxmagerie do some amazing dairy free cheeses, you can buy it at big Waitroses or from their website. It's really very good.

Pepperama · 21/09/2023 22:55

Nigella Lawson’s chocolate is an accidentally dairy free moist yummy heavenly sin! 😋

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