Baking Basics: Baking Lactose Free

I've been baking for years. I started baking around age twelve. I'd never tried to bake lactose free before. And then my then four-year-old daughter was diagnosed as lactose intolerant.

It surprised me. I thought to myself, "What am I going to do now? What about birthday cakes? Cookies? Can my daughter still have these things?" I wasn't sure where to start. What exactly can she have and what can't she have?

So, let's talk about lactose intolerance for a moment. Lactose intolerance is a lack of an enyzme or an insufficient amount of an enzyme called lactase in the intestines. Lactase breaks down lactose to a simpler sugar and makes it possible to digest. It is not an allergy. Allergies are an overreaction of the immune system. Lactose intolerance doesn't involve the immune system. Symptoms of lactose intolerance include: stomach aches, gas, diarrhea or constipation, nausea, vomiting, weakness, lack of appetite and if it's not diagnosed for a long period of time, weight loss and fatigue.

Once you've consumed lactose, it remains in your body for two to three days and your symptoms will continue for that amount of time.

Now, I'm assuming those reading this are only concerned with lactose intolerance and aren't concerned with a dairy allergy, which is a completely different thing.

So, let's talk about baking for someone who's lactose intolerant. First, how do you determine how much lactose is in a dairy product? Check the nutrition facts on your dairy product. It always lists the amount of carbohydrates and from sugar. Sugar in a dairy product is lactose. That is a quite reliable measure of how much lactose is contained in a dairy product. Some people who are lactose intolerant can have some small amounts of lactose without reacting. My daughter can handle up to 1% lactose as a rule of thumb, but it also depends on how much of the product she eats. Some people can't handle any at all. So, know who you're baking for and what exactly he or she can handle.

If you've ever wondered how lactose free dairy products are made, as I had, it turns out the dairies take a vat of regular cow's milk and toss in lactase enzymes and let them break down the lactose molecules to be something more digestible. So, ironically, if you buy a lactose free dairy product, it had something extra added to it, rather than taken away.

This lactose free milk can now be used to make other dairy products. So, there are three different levels of dairy products I'll be talking about today. First, dairy products that are naturally lactose free or very low lactose. Second, dairy products that are easy to find lactose free. And third, dairy products that are basically impossible to find lactose free and must be substituted.

First off, what products are there that are naturally low lactose? The good news: cheese. The harder the cheese the less lactose it contains. Parmesan, for example, is pretty much always lactose free. The process of making the cheese doesn't use the lactose. Ripened cheese is at least very low lactose. The softer the cheese, the more likely it contains lactose. For my daughter, mozzarella cheese is the border. She can handle the lower lactose versions of mozzarella, but anything softer than that she can't eat.

However, butter is also very low lactose. If you've ever overbeaten your whipping cream, you know that it turns into butter. But there is also a watery by-product that you pour off. That is where the lactose is. Butter is, however, rarely completely lactose free. But, if the person you're baking for isn't an extreme case, chances are, they can eat butter. That's about the best news ever for bakers. But make sure you check with whoever you're baking for to find out how sensitive they are.

 So, let's talk margarine. Many margarines contain small amounts of dairy. Read the labels. But if you need to, it's pretty easy to find dairy free margarine. It's often soy based, but this one isn't. Just try and find one that is as close as possible to the consistency of butter.

 Be careful with chocolate. Dark chocolate is usually dairy free, but not always. Make sure to read your label. 

Now, let's talk about products you can find lactose free fairly easily. Lactose free plain yoghurt is pretty widely available.

 This one, I find quite ironic. I had never seen it before I decided to buy a few products for this blog. But, a miracle occurred and I found lactose free sour cream for the first time ever. Every once in a blue moon you'll find a product you don't typically see, but you'll be so happy you found it when you do.

 This one is the most obvious: milk. Of course, you can find lactose free milk.

 Cream. Lactose free whipping cream is pretty widely available.

 Cream cheese. Lactose free cream cheese is usually available when you need it.

I neglected to take pictures, but chocolate. Please, be careful with chocolate. Because milk and white chocolate contain milk and sugar, many chocolate producers replace some of the sugar with extra lactose. So it is often difficult to determine how much lactose chocolate contains. Make extra sure any chocolate you use in baking is lactose free.

Now, on to the products you can't find or are hard to find lactose free and you need to substitute. The more complicated something is and the more steps it requires the less likely you are to find it lactose free. For example, buttermilk. You don't need it everyday. And in the two and a half years I've been baking lactose free, I've never seen lactose free buttermilk anywhere. You just have to make it yourself using lactose free milk and lemon juice or vinegar.

And before today, I always said you can't find lactose free sour cream. I usually replace it with lactose free plain yoghurt.

Evaporated milk. I've never seen it lactose free. I replace it in recipes with canned cooking-grade coconut milk.

Sweetened condensed milk. I've never seen it lactose free. If you absolutely need it, you will have to make it yourself.

There are an impressive selection of non-dairy alternatives for some of these things. Here you can see a liter of almond milk. Feel free to use milk alternatives in baking. They pretty much all work, but can sometimes alter the flavor of your recipe depending on what you're making.

 And, of course, processed products like chocolate pudding are hard to find lactose free. Sometimes, it makes the most sense to search for an alternative like jello.

 I hope this information helps you to start baking lactose free without feeling overwhelmed and directionless.

 While this is not meant to be an exhaustive list, it should help those get started who are just facing a diagnosis or baking for someone lactose intolerant in an exceptional situation.

Watch us discuss this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/MBXCMVo-iD0
Schaut zu wie wir das erklären auf YouTube hier: https://youtu.be/lfq1kfnFHFA