Which Vegan/dairy-free butter is the best for baking? – trying them all & my conclusion!

Baking vegan/dairy-free can be hard but with the amazing advances the food industry has made in vegan products certainly makes it easier. One area which they have excelled in is vegan/dairy-free butters. I think we all can look back to 9-10 years ago when there were no viable options for vegan butter in baking. It was slim pickings and the products that were available were pretty bad. Heck even gluten-free flours weren’t really a thing! But, in the past 5 years the world has come a long way in addressing the numerous food allergies people like me and so many others have and creating ingredients we can use and that actually taste good!

Since there are so many different vegan/dairy-free butters out in the world, I thought it would be a fun idea to narrow it down to which one(s) are the best. It took me awhile to get through all of them. In the past 2 months I can honestly say I’ve never eaten so much butter! But, it was a very delicious experience. 🙂 Some were home runs and other’s weren’t but I can say that after trying 7 different brands none of them were actually horrible. Of course some are better than others but you really can’t go wrong with any of them. However, with that being said, there was one which takes the cake and in my opinion is the best to use in your baking endeavors.

So, which vegan butter is the best? Keep reading to find out! 🙂

Note: For your convenience I added direct links to all of the products. Either click the photo or the name of the butter to bring you to their site.

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Earth Balance vegan butter baking sticks

Their baking sticks make measuring so easy! Plus, their butter works great in every vegan & dairy-free recipe I’ve made. I have had no problems whatsoever with it. They also sell them in a tub instead of stick form.

There was no reason for me to bake test with this butter because most of the dairy-free baking desserts I share use this butter. I replace normal butter for this vegan butter in equal quantities and I’ve never had any issues with the consistency of my batters or doughs, and I’ve been baking for years.

Vegan ☟ Soy Free ☟

Country rock plant butter

The different varieties they sell for their plant based butters is incredible! They make ones with olive oil, avocado oil and almond oil. Plus they come in stick form! YEA!!! I did try all three of the flavors and by far the olive oil one was 10/10 and so was the avocado oil. The almond oil one was ehh for me, wasn’t too fond of the taste and it doesn’t come in stick form so there’s no reason for me to use that one again. However the first two – olive oil and avocado oil were AMAZING!

I made my chocolate chip cookie recipe with this butter and they came out superb!

I can’t believe it’s not butter – Vegan

This is more of a spread and since it doesn’t come in a baking stick form it can be a pain when measuring. But the taste is good so if needed I would turn to this for baking. But it’s not my go to. I do prefer this brand over “Smart Balance” so if you have to choose between the two then go with “I can’t believe it’s not butter.”

As for baking with it I did make these gluten & dairy free oatmeal raisin cookies and everything went great!

Flora plant based butter – Salted & Unsalted

This butter was very hard to find but highly recommend by people so of course I had to find it! One of my favorite things about it is that it’s plant based. So many vegan butter are filled with many crazy named ingredients so this and the ghee (mentioned below) are healthier alternatives. I replaced in equal measurements for regular butter and my cookies came out pretty good in terms of taste and texture. I will say though that since it’s plant-based it had more of a clean flavor and not that rich butter taste other brands have.

Salted ☟ Unsalted ☟

Nutiva Organic Vegan Ghee

I went into this with low expectations and came out honestly pretty surprised! I made my chocolate chip cookie recipe using this and while it did taste different the consistency was not as bad as I thought. My dough was a lot softer so I had to change some of the dry ingredient quantities to make up for it but the cookies were still pretty good. I’d prefer to use a vegan butter but if this is your only option then Nutiva is my recommendation.

Smart Balance Original Spread – dairy-free

The consistency of this butter spread is much like “I can’t believe it’s not butter.” The taste was really good and it held up well during baking. For a low cholesterol butter this is a healthier alternative if you’re not into Ghee. One thing I really do like about this brand is that the variety of spreads they have, low sodium, light with flaxseed oil, omega-3 and tons of other flavors. But, I am not 100% they are all dairy-free.

With that being said, unless you need to use a healthier butter alternative for your heath (like this brand provides) it’s not my favorite to use because since the texture of it is softer it doesn’t always work the best in making cookies or scones. I had some issues.

Miyoko’s Organic Vegan butter

This brand has become my new favorite. All of their spreads from cream cheese to cheeses and butter are amazing and go perfectly in my scone recipe or to top a gluten-free everything bagel! 🙂 Every single product from their line has been a home run in terms of taste and replacing for regular butter in recipes you are making vegan or dairy-free. I found this butter at Trader Joes.

Unsalted ☟ Salted ☟

Now for the big answer to my question!

Which vegan/dairy free butter is the best for baking?

Earth Balance! Although I will say that Country Rock and Miyoko’s were definitely contenders. You really can’t go wrong with either of these three brands. Truthfully, it was a three way tie. 🙂 Whichever of these three brands you choose will work perfectly for all of your baking endeavors. I swapped out regular butter for these vegan options in equal quantities and had no issues with the consistency of my batters and doughs. They were home runs!

Did I miss any butters? If so then comment below and I’ll try to find them! 🙂

Other helpful baking posts on my blog

• 14 must have ingredients for Paleo baking
• 8 years of being Gluten Free – My Story- Gluten Free Awarness Month
• 6 important tips for the Vegan cook and/or baker
• 8 important tips for the gluten-free cook or baker
• 10 helpful tips for hosting the best Thanksgiving no matter the size!
• Gluten free & dairy free blueberry muffins
• Gluten free Valentine’s Day Oreos – using new Gf Oreo’s by Oreo!
• Paleo, Gluten Free & Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies – Heavenly bites

Thank you so much for reading today’s post! Have a wonderful weekend everyone. 🙂

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