Coconut whipped cream is an easy and delicious alternative to regular whipped cream.
To be completely honest, even I am a little surprised about how good it turns out compared to regular whipped cream. It’s incredible!
Why We Love Coconut Whipped Cream
Coconut whipped cream is:
- just 3 ingredients (or 2 if you leave out the vanilla extract)
- all-natural
- super easy to make
- naturally vegan and dairy-free
- full of healthy fats
- perfect on top of berries for a delicious healthy dessert
- fantastic as a lighter vegan frosting on cakes and desserts
Coconut whipped cream makes a delicious and healthy dairy-free (and vegan) substitute for traditional whipped cream. It has a very faint coconut flavor, and the addition of raw honey and pure vanilla extract make it extra decadent.
To make this recipe completely vegan use powdered sugar or a vegan sugar of your choice instead of honey.
Replacing traditional whipped cream with coconut whipped cream is easy and delicious–once you try it you’ll be hooked. It’s more like traditional whipped cream when chilled; you can get soft peaks out of it if the cream is chilled. It will soften as it gets to room temperature but won’t completely melt.
This recipe also makes a fantastic healthy fruit dip. I drizzle it on my watermelon pizza and use it for frozen banana splits, too. It’s also great over berries or any other dessert.
I make my coconut cream the exact same way my mom taught me how to make real whipped cream, but use this tip instead:
Coconut Whipped Cream [The Trick!]
The trick to getting soft peaks to form just like regular whipped cream is to use full-fat coconut milk, but pour off the coconut water that has separated from the coconut cream. Watch the video above to see this in action. Nine out of 10 times, the coconut cream and coconut water in a can of full-fat coconut milk will separate. To ensure separation, you can store the cans of coconut milk in the refrigerator for 24 hours. But honestly, I always forget to do that and this still works great.
I use the Whole Foods 365 brand of coconut milk or Native Forest brand that you can find at most natural grocery stores. Trader Joe’s coconut milk did not form soft peaks for me.
Tips for your can of coconut milk:
- If possible, look for organic and a company that indicates BPA-free lining. Some companies have proactively removed the BPA and other chemicals from the lining of cans.
- Use full-fat coconut milk for coconut whipped cream, it will NOT work with low fat or reduced-fat coconut milk
- When you open a can of coconut milk, 95% of the time the coconut cream has separated from the coconut water. The cream will be on top, so turn it over and open the can from the bottom; this will make it easier to pour off the water and scoop out the cream. Save the water for a smoothie or drink it later.
- Refrigerating your can of coconut milk overnight almost guarantees that they will separate, although I usually open it room temp and have luck. Refrigerating the can also helps the whipped cream to set up nicely and form soft peaks as I mentioned above.
Perfect Coconut Whipped Cream [The Trick!]
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: Healthy
Description
Coconut whipped cream can be used anywhere you’d use regular whipped cream. We especially love it on top of fresh berries or peaches, or as a light vegan frosting on cake. If you make it, leave a star rating in the comments below to help other readers in our community.
Ingredients
- 2 (15-ounce) cans full-fat coconut milk, refrigerated, coconut water poured off*
- 2 tablespoons raw honey (adjust more or less for sweetness) OR 2-4 tablespoons powdered sugar**
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch of fine sea salt
Instructions
- You can use your KitchenAid or stand mixer if you have one, but I just use a bowl and hand mixer to make my coconut whipped cream.
- If possible, chill a medium-size stainless steel mixing bowl in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to help ensure your coconut cream stays cool (too much heat will prevent soft peaks from forming.) If this isn’t an option use any bowl you have—your coconut whipped cream might be a little softer but will still turn out ok.
- Mix all ingredients in a chilled bowl with a hand mixer on high for about 3 minutes or until soft peaks form.
- Serve or chill for later use. It’s best to use it right away. If I save it for later, I usually whip is one more time right before serving.
- Leftovers keep in the refrigerator up to three days (though as I said above, I find it to be the best texture when made fresh, so use within a few hours if you can.) You may need to whip it with your mixer for a minute before using.
Notes
Tips for your coconut milk:
- Use full-fat coconut milk for coconut whipped cream. It will NOT work with low fat or reduced-fat coconut milk
- When you open a can of coconut milk, 95% of the time the coconut cream has separated from the coconut water. The cream will be on top, so turn it over and open the can from the bottom; this will make it easier to pour off the water and scoop out the cream. Save the coconut water for a smoothie or drink it later.
- If your can of coconut milk has not separated and you don’t have another one, that’s ok. You can still make this, your coconut whipped cream will just be much softer and may not form soft peaks (but it will still taste wonderful.)
- I use the Whole Foods 365 brand of coconut milk or Native Forest brand that you can find at most natural grocery stores. Trader Joe’s coconut milk did not form soft peaks for me.
**To make this recipe completely vegan use powdered sugar or a vegan sugar of your choice instead of honey. Powdered sugar is not as healthy as honey so use it in moderation.
Keywords: coconut whipped cream, vegan whipped cream, dairy-free whipped cream
Love making this…I usually use a tiny bit of vanilla stevia to sweeten, but the raw honey is a great option. I’m usually lucky with my coconut milk separating. Native Forest also sells tiny cans of just the coconut cream that you can whip up. I’ve never seen them in store but I buy from Thrive Market sometimes.