AIP coconut whipped cream - dairy-free whipped topping from coconut cream, honey, and vanilla

A dollop of whipped cream used to be the kind of thing nobody thought twice about, the finishing touch on a slice of something. Losing dairy takes that away quietly, without much ceremony. Chilled coconut cream, whipped hard enough to hold soft peaks and sweetened with a little honey, brings back that exact gesture, spoon and all.

Coconut itself is a source of manganese, a mineral your body uses in enzymes that handle everyday oxidative wear. There isn't much more nutrition story than that, and there doesn't need to be: 3 ingredients, all of them recognizable as food, whipped into something you can actually put a spoon in.

Use it right away over anything ripe, or chill it and let it firm up further. A little color underneath it, berries or stone fruit, turns a simple bowl into one worth sitting down for.

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut cream (the thick part from chilled full-fat coconut milk, or canned coconut cream)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon alcohol-free vanilla, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder (see swap note)
• A teaspoon of water or coconut water, if needed to loosen

Method

Whip the coconut cream on high speed until it lightens and holds soft peaks, about 1 to 3 minutes.

Beat in the honey and the vanilla until smooth.

If the cream is too thick to fluff, add a teaspoon of water or coconut water and whip again.

Use right away, or chill until you need it. It firms up cold.

Variation

For a fruit-tinted cream, beat in a tablespoon of powdered freeze-dried fruit at the end. For a carob version, fold in 5 to 6 tablespoons of carob powder (carob, not cocoa, since cocoa is not AIP). The author also suggests swapping half the honey for strong herbal coffee for a coffee-flavored cream.

This is a no-cook recipe whipped with a mixer, so it needs no stovetop, oven, air fryer, or Instant Pot version.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*