I have a love hate relationship with cool whip. I enjoy having cool whip on desserts like cobbler or pudding. However, cool whip is full of junk. It contains many ingredients that I know are not healthy.
I also have a love hate relationship with real whipping cream. I love the taste of it. It is perfectly rich and creamy when whipped just right, but it is extremely high in fat. Yes, it is real food, but even just a small amount adds up to a lot of fat and calories.
So, when I saw a recipe for homemade whipped topping, I was very interested, especially since it contained an ingredient that is a staple in gluten free kitchens. This recipe contains xanthan gum.
This really seems almost to simple to work, but it really did. Now, this is not quite the same as either cool whip or whipped cream. It is a little different. I think the best way to describe it is very airy. I am not sure this would hold up well in a layered dessert, but this works great for many things. We have been serving this with fruit and fruit salad. I also think this would work well for cobblers and berry type desserts.
The original recipe said to make it in a vitamix. I did that the first time I made it and it worked fine. However, I was pretty sure this would also work well in my kitchen aid mixer. So, I gave that a try. It worked great in my kitchen aid mixer.
Since I know most of you do not have a vitamix, I am giving the directions for the kitchen aid mixer. This may work in other mixers, but you need to whip this really fast, for quite a long time. So, the results may vary if you use something else.
Homemade Cool Whip
- 1 cup milk, cold
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
Mix all ingredients together and whip on medium for about 2 minutes. You need to use the wire whip to mix this. Then turn to medium high, this is about speed 6 0r 8 and mix for another 6 minutes, or until it reaches desired consistency.
This post linked to Tasty Tuesday.
I’ve seen this in several recipes, but I don’t think I’ve seen it in a grocery store. Where do you find xanthan gum?
.-= Sharon @ UnfinishedMom´s last blog ..Kellogg’s Cereals Catalina 5/1 – 5/14 =-.
You can find it in the health food stores or section of your groc store. Like where they would have the Bob’s Red Mill brand stuff. Bob’s Red Mill makes it and so does one or two other companies. It is not cheap, but gf recipes only take a little. And really it is a must in gf kitchens or at least I think so. It helps makes the gf flours work.
Depending on where you live I have also seen it my local grocery stores: Smiths and Vons. Smiths is a “Kroger” affiliate, and Vons is a “Safeway” affiliate if that helps.
I can’t wait to try this! Thanks for the great recipe.
awesome! I have that same love-hate relationship with both whipped toppings — can’t wait to give this one a try 🙂
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Awesome, thank you! I’m on a journey to replace our food with healthy/clean options and was literally just thinking *today* about how I wished there was a replacement for Cool Whip! I can’t believe you posted this! 🙂
I think that is really neat. I wouldn’t buy xanthan gum just to make it (it’s so expensive), but since I always have it on hand I’ll have to try it.
I might give guar gum a try also, since it’s about half the price. I’ll let you know if it works as well.
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Your answer as to whether it works with guar gum??
We can’t get Cool Whip in England and I’ve always missed it from my days in Canada so if I can get hold of some xanthan gum I’ll give it a try. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
What a wonderful recipe! I, too, have that love-hate relationship… this will a nice recipe to have up my sleeve. Thanks!
.-= JessieLeigh´s last blog ..Mexican Pantry Pie =-.
How clever! I just bought FF cool whip yesterday and was thinking about how unnatural it is (as I ate it) – here’s a question: What kind of milk? Whole? If so, do you think it would work with skim, or does it need the fat?
Who would have thought making homemade cool whip was so simple. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
.-= Saidah @ A Proverbs Wife´s last blog ..Mother’s Day Giveaway: $85 Avon Gift Set =-.
OMG! I am loving this. My oldest daughter is allergic to milk. I am going to try this with soy milk and see if it turns out! It is worth a shot since cool whip has dairy in it! Thanks
Please let me know if it works with soy milk. I have some readers that would love a non dairy alternative. I hope it works!
Good evening. I just found your recipe for homemade cool whip and I’m so anxious to try it. I just became aware of xanthan gum a month ago. I’ve used it to thicken soup rather than using cornstarch or flour. It’s sold at Walmart in the baking aisle. It lasts a long time since you use such a little amount.
I figure a cup of whole milk is 150 calories and there are 16 tablespoons. In 1 cup it comes out to about 10 calories a tablespoon using whole milk and using swerve instead of sugar I’m going to try this tomorrow on a recipe for lightened up apple crisp. Thank you for posting this recipe
I hope that you enjoy it!
My sweetie can’t do dairy (or soy) and we’ve been trying to concoct some kind of cool whip substitute since the cool whip people now put cream and milk in their previously non-dairy topping. It was exciting to see lots of recipes for homemade cool whip until we read them and see they’re all made with milk, which seems a lot like cheating 🙂
This seemed like a nice site so we decided to try the recipe here using coconut milk instead of milk. After ten minutes of mixing we ended up with a thin gelatinous substance that wasn’t going anywhere.
Our second attempt used coconut milk, sugar, egg replacer, vanilla, and increasingly more xanthan gum in the mix, but it didn’t turn out any better. We tried eating it with blueberries for dessert but gave up. Oh well.
I am sorry that it did not work. I am thinking this is one of those recipes that you really do need the diary in it to make it.
This does pretty well as a non-dairy/ non-soy. https://www.againstallgrain.com/2013/03/02/coconut-whipped-cream/
Tried it using almond milk and it turned into vanilla pudding lol a “gelatinous substance” as well. It was delicious on cherry-berry galette I made, but it is no substitute for cool whip. I tell you what though…Get a can of full fat coconut milk, (not the carton kind in the refrigerated section you use in cereal) the kind you use for making Thai food. DO NOT SHAKE IT UP! Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours, then open the can and scoop out all of the fatty solid part into a bowl. Add a couple tablespoons sugar, a teaspoon vanilla, and whip it with a hand mixer on the highest speed until it is fluffy and forms peaks like whipping cream/cool whip. Viola!!! DELICIOUS dairy free cool whip. It HAS TO BE COLD to work properly. You can store it in the fridge covered well for up to 5 days. If it separates at all, just whip it back up. Hope this helps someone, it is a trial and error recipe I developed for my vegan sweetheart <3
Would you suggest refrigerating it? Or must I make a batch each time I want to make a dessert? You describe it as “airy”, so it fluffs up nicely, correct? Because an airy taste does not mean it is fluffy like, say the cool whip or whipped cream.
Yes this does need refrigerated. I am not sure how long it will last, a few days maybe in the fridge. And it is much airy than cool whip or real whipped cream, and it is fluffy, but a different texture than cool whip. It does not get stiff like cool whip or whipped cream does.
Hi Lynn, would this work as an ingredient in a pie? I have been drooling over a low-fat chocolate pie recipe for a while but had resigned myself to not making it as we don’t have Cool Whip in the UK. But xanthum gum isn’t a problem! Thank-you!
This is much lighter and has more air than cool whip, so I am not sure how well it would hold up in a pie. It might be worth trying though.
Replacing milk with soymilk in this recipe produced a truly awsome vegan cool whip. Delicious.
What is the serving/yield?
I can’t wait to try this recipe! (vegan, with soy milk), I ordered xanthan gum from Ebay (Amazon also has it) since I could not find it in the Dominican Republic.
I was just wondering how this was used in a Vitamix. Was the recipe different at all? I don’t have a mixer in China and I’m not sure I can hand whip it long enough and a high enough speed. Do you think a blender would work?
It was just basically bleneded in the vitamix, so I think a blender would work, you might just have to blend a little longer. I think it is definitely worth trying.
Works great with soymilk! Not a big fan of a lot of soy, so looking forward to trying this with almond milk. Thank you! My daughter was making strawberry shortcake, and your recipe is a great blessing!
I am glad to know that it works well with soymilk. And thanks for letting me know you love the strawberry shortcake. We really enjoy that as well.
I’m not able to get it to work with almond milk… can you tell me what kind of soy milk you used?
For those of you who are curious – I tried this with guar gum, 1 tsp. , and it worked perfectly! I’m so excited to be able to turn milk into whipped topping!
Thank you for letting us know. I have not tried it, so I am glad to know it works!
Thank you! I’d just asked that question!!!
Thank you! Was searching for a low fat whipped cream recipe… amazing how many “homemade” Cool Whip recipes are simply Chantilly cream recipes 😉
Can you use Truvia, sugar substitute for this recipe?
I have never used Truvia so I am not sure. I think it would be worth trying though. If you try it I would love to hear how it works.
I was thinking of subbing soy or almond milk but I see most people didn’t get a good whipped cream with those. I think this might be worth buying Lactaid milk to make it dairy-free! I just found a chocolate pudding recipe made with almond milk and I think this would be the perfect topping. Thanks!
Most Walmart stores have a small pack of xanthan gum for 48 cents, for the people who don’t want to spend a lot on xanthan gum since it is expensive but I keep it because I am gluten free also, will try this next time I need cool whip, thanks.
Hi Lynn – Definitely going to try this, but I’m curious to know if you’ve explored making it with other stabilizers, whether other gums, gelatin, or agar (or anything else). I have a number of such ingredients handy, and will certainly experiment, but I’m hoping this has already at least partially been done for me!
No I have not tried it with others. If you do though I would love to hear how they work.
Little tip for people who don’t want of can use cow’s milk: you can use soy or almond milk, you just need to add fat. You can simply do that by adding coconut fat. For each cup of milk, you’ll need aprox. an equal amount of fat. I know, it seems a lot, but whipped cream (and cow’s milk) really is that fat 😉 Works like a charm, though!
Next question: has anyone tried this in a whipped cream dispenser such as ISI?