You can make any healthy dessert recipe even more delicious with coconut whipped cream! Whipping up coconut cream from scratch is super easy. In just minutes you can have yourself a decadent snack or dessert topping that is paleo, vegan, and even keto friendly. No processed, chemical crap! I love having coconut whipped cream waiting in the refrigerator for any time I want to have a satisfying, sweet treat that fits with my health goals.
Why would you want to make whipped cream yourself when you can buy it?
If you’ve been following me for even two seconds then you already know that I am a huge proponent of reducing or eliminating processed foods from your diet. Eating processed foods leaves you at the mercy of the food producers who generally do not have your precious health in their best interests. Not ALL food companies are like this – there are some out there creating foods for health, but by and large, most are not.
Processed foods are made to be convenient and inexpensive. This means that ingredient quality is not a top priority as cost becomes the focus. When focusing on cost, quality suffers. Food producers have to compete for consumers on price and taste. Keeping the price low and the taste desirable is achieved by using chemicals and additives that are not designed for optimizing human physiology.
Let’s take a look at some of what you’ll find in store-bought brands.
What’s wrong with store-bought whipped cream?
For starters, the most popular whipped topping that people think of isn’t even actually whipped cream. It is whipped chemically processed fats, sugars and additives and is completely toxic to human health.
Here’s the ingredient list for that popular product:
water, hydrogenated vegetable oil (including coconut and palm kernel oils), high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, skimmed milk, light cream (less than 2%), sodium caseinate, natural and artificial flavor, xanthan and guar gums, polysorbate 60, sorbitan monostearate, sodium polyphosphate, and beta carotene (as a colouring).
Water is the only thing on that list I would consider ingesting, but it’s probably not filtered so that’s out too!
What about all-natural products?
Even if you look at some of the “healthier” alternatives you’re still dealing with questionable ingredients like:
- High levels of added sugar
- Vegetable oils
- Emulsifiers
- “Flavors”
- Coloring
Here’s the ingredient list for a product billed as natural:
Water, Tapioca Syrup, Vegetable Oil (Palm Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil), Cane Sugar, Tapioca Maltodextrin, Contains Less Than 2% of Light Cream, Soy Lecithin, Sodium Caseinate (from Milk), Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum, Natural Flavors and Beta Carotene (For Color)
Still not a list of things I want to eat. This is why I make my own!
So why not just use heavy whipping cream?
Using heavy whipping cream is not too bad of an option if you are dairy tolerant. Given the choice between making your own whipped cream from heavy cream or buying something at the store, go with the heavy whipping cream! It fits perfectly with the paradigm of using whole, limited ingredients and having control over what goes in your food.
You’ll obviously want a diary-free alternative like plant-based coconut milk whipped cream if you are vegan, sensitive to dairy, or choosing to follow a paleo diet.
If you don’t fit in any of the above categories, I’ll give you just a couple reasons to consider avoiding dairy.
- Milk is a substance nature created for the growth of baby mammals in early stages of life. After this short growth period, mammals are weaned to eat their natural adult diet. They no longer drink mother’s milk.
- Dairy, aka cow’s milk, is meant for baby cows. It’s meant to make baby cows grow into big cows. The growth hormones and insulin-stimulating properties of dairy play a role in many chronic disease processes including obesity and diabetes.
- Conventional dairy (dairy produced from feed lot, grain fed cows) is highly inflammatory to the human body. These cows are raised and contained in stressful environments, fed GMO corn and fillers that cause poor health. They are pumped with antibiotics to keep them from getting too ill to make milk. The stress hormones, pesticides in the feed, and antibiotics are all transferred in their milk and to you when you eat conventional dairy.
You may be able to meet your macros with dairy products, but you are not helping your health. If you insist on eating dairy, opt for products from grass-fed, pasture raised animals. Choose organic to avoid GMOs and pesticides. Raw, unpasteurized products are even one notch better.
If you can avoid dairy or at least reduce it to a very minimal amount, you will reap health rewards!
Ok, enough about that!
Now that you’re fully educated on the benefits of putting this small effort in for a big pay-off, let’s get to making this coconut whipped cream already!
The ingredients you’ll need are:
1 can of organic full fat coconut milk
2 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of honey or maple syrup or 15-17 drops of liquid monk fruit sweetener if keto
Pinch of sea salt
There are just a few steps to making this easy recipe but it is important to plan ahead. To be successful you will need to start the day before you want to eat it!
How to make it:
- Buy full fat coconut milk. Nothing else will work! You need the full fat cream in order for it to separate from the water.
- Chill a can of coconut milk for at least 8 hours, overnight is best. (I just keep several cans in the fridge at all times.) Chilling the coconut milk allows the cream to rise to the top and separate from the water.
- Chill the mixing bowl and beater attachment for 15 min ahead of making your whipped cream. This will help with the consistency. Coconut fats get soft at room temp so keeping things cool is a must to avoid coconut cream soup.
- Open the can and separate the cream from the coconut water adding it to your mixing bowl. Keep the leftover coconut water for smoothies, poor over ice and mix with kombucha for a yummy treat, or share some with your pooch.
- Add 2 tsp of vanilla, sweetener of choice, and pinch of sea salt to the mixer.
- Turn the mixer on low to start, just a minute or so – depending on how solid your cream is it may take a couple spins to break it up. If you start too high it might go flying!
- Turn the mixer on high and whip until fluffy, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.
- Serve immediately or keep cool in the fridge until ready to use.
Now wasn’t that easy? You’ve just made a wholesome, healthy treat that you can feel good about eating and feeding to your friends and family.
Here are a few Ideas for how to enjoy healthy coconut whipped cream:
- as a topping for cakes and pies such as paleo | vegan pumpkin no-cheesecake
- Jazz up a bowl of fresh berries with a dollop of cream
- Top your morning coffee with a spoonful of rich and creamy goodness
- Use with pancakes or waffles
- Eat it straight up!
How do you like to use coconut whipped cream? Leave me a comment with your favorite ways.
- 1 can of organic full fat coconut milk
- 2 tsp of vanilla
- 1 tsp of honey or maple syrup or 15-17 drops of liquid monk fruit sweetener if keto
- Pinch of sea salt
-
Chill can of coconut milk at least 8 hours, overnight is best.
-
Chill the mixing bowl and beater attachment for 15 min ahead of time
-
Separate the cream from the coconut water, preserve the water for smoothies or drinks.
-
Add 2 tsp of vanilla, sweetener of choice and pinch of sea salt to the mixer.
-
Turn the mixer on low to break up the cold cream.
-
Turn the mixer on high and whip until fluffy, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.
-
Serve immediately or keep cool in the fridge until ready to use.
