Sweetened condensed milk is one of those coveted items, especially by those of us who cannot have milk. When used for deserts, candies, cakes, even hot drinks, there is a magical depth of flavor that occurs which no other addition seems to bring to the table.
My recipe for sweetened condensed milk gives you all of the flavor of the traditional stuff without the dairy or casein, but also without the refined sugar. Just a ½ cup of Agave does the trick.
I will be using this as an ingredient in a recipe I hope to share in the next day or so…as I prepare my treat, I wonder what it is you might use this tasty ingredient in? 🙂 Please let me know! You might inspire me to try something new!
Vegan Sweetened Condensed Milk (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Casein Free, Refined Sugar Free)
2 Cans Pure Coconut Milk (Approximately 13.66 oz each)
½ c Agave Nectar (Palm Syrup, Maple Syrup and Honey all work as well. The time to reduce is affected by the sweetener (Maple Syrup taking the longest) but each is delicious!)
In sauce pan, combine coconut milk and agave. Warm mixture over medium-low heat until mix begins to bubble. Continue to cook over low heat, mixing continuously until sauce is reduced to ½ , is slightly golden and is the consistency of a light syrup. Cool to room temperature. Store refrigerated in glass jelly jar until ready to use.
Makes approximately 1 ½-2 c
Before I forget! There is a giveaway which is strictly available through my Facebook page, and ends TODAY! I promise not to do these types of giveaways often, but it really is a great incentive to joining my many FB fans and becoming an integral part of the discussion there. 🙂 I look forward to hearing from you.
Do you think this would work with another type of milk? I can’t do dairy and tree nuts, so coconut is out 🙁 Maybe with hemp milk?
Jamie 🙁 I know it is difficult when we have to eliminate foods we love…that being said, have you been tested for a coconut allergy? In spite of recent reports identifying coconut as a “nut”, coconut is actually a fruit and allergies related to coconut are few and far between (more information can be found here: http://www.foodallergy.org/page/tree-nut-allergy). I understand if you would still like to try something else…I have not tested this recipe with anything other than coconut milk, hemp milk might work but would likely require additional time/reduction. As long as you get it to a light syrup stage, it should be fine. Please let me know what you do and how it turns out! Thanks for stopping by.
My daughter is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts but eats coconut and coconut products a lot.
Thanks for this recipe!
🙂 Michele, this makes me happier than you know! Enjoy and have a wonderful holiday season. xoxo
Thanks so much for this dairy & sugar free condensed milk recipe!! It truly rocks!!
i made it yesterday & I loevit so much!! I am lactose intolerant & eat since june 2010 gf!! I feel a lot better!
I love your lovely blog a lot!
Many greetings from a foodie from Brussels, Belgium!!!!
🙂 Thank you Sophie! I am so glad you enjoyed this, I look forward to seeing more of your recipes as well.
Actually, I went tree nut free for my nursing son. Now we are doing a different kind of allergy testing, so I can eat tree nuts for a few days! Yay! I’m going to make this using coconut milk and maple syrup – then making your fudge! I’ll let you know how it turns out!!! Thanks for all this info!
🙂 I am excited to hear about your results, Jamie! Good luck with your allergy testing, I promise you, from experience, your effort is worth every second.
xoxo,
SunnyB
Cool post. I’ll back here soon.
Ha! I _swear_ I just saw your blog for the first time today, a couple of days AFTER I posted a sweetened condensed coconut milk recipe on my blog. Thanks to Heidi at http://adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com for featuring your blog on Facebook. Now I have a new blog to follow! Your fudge recipe looks delicious, too!
Deanna,
Heidi is a doll, and I am honored that she chose to feature my Vegan Salted Cayenne Dark Chocolate Almond Fudge on her Facebook page, so glad you found me as well!
🙂 You know, Lexie, from Lexie’s Kitchen, featured her Vegan Pumpkin Pie recipe the very day I featured my own version. Such is the way of the blogging world. The great thing about this? Our readers have more options in the end! I haven’t tried palm sugar yet, but your recipe sounds amazing. I bet it would work well in the fudge recipe’s I have posted, and the perfect solution for those who don’t use agave.
Thank you for stopping by! I look forward to learning more from you as well.
xoxo,
Sunny
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! I have wanted to experiment with making sweetened condensed milk with coconut milk but never seem to find the time – you have saved me the trouble.
I would like to add though, that you mentioned that you made it without refined sugar. Actually, agave nectar is a very refined food product that goes through many processes such as hydrolyzation before becoming the final product. Personally, I will probably make this with coconut palm sugar, which is simply evaporated palm nectar.
Pam,
Thank you so much for your comment. This really is a fantastic recipe with many uses.
I understand there has been much controversy regarding agave nectar and the authenticity of the claims regarding the refining process/whether or not the product is truly raw or organic. That being said, I have done my research and have studied the harvesting process of this product. The brand of agave nectar that I use (and the one I link to in my recipes) is Madava.
You can find more information regarding Madava products here, though my favorite item of discussion is the very public response made more than two years ago by Madava Agave Nectar’s President, Craig Gerbore. You can read his unedited response to Rami Nagel’s very negative and highly controversial article here. I encourage you to make your own decision from there.
That being said, I am excited to hear how your experiment turned out!
Thank you again,
SunnyB
RE: AGAVE BEING HIGHLY REFINED – I checked with Wholesome Sweeteners… They PRESS the nectar from the center pina of the Blue Agave…. nothing is added and their RAW Avave is made ONLY using low temps… not above 118 degrees. There is a lot of mis information floating around about Agave… I invite everyone to do their own research… a thing or two or three might be learned 🙂
🙂 I completely agree, CMD. Thank you for your comment.
How long will this last in the fridge? Just needing to know, will I have to make things to use it up immediately or will it last for days, weeks, months? 🙂
Thanks! So excited to have a few more options for fun things this year. Within a years time, I was diagnosed with cancer, daughter with lactose intolerance and hubby with gluten sensitivities. So, needless to say, last year for the season from Thanksgiving through New Years wasn’t what we usually were eating!
I have kept mine for upto 3 weeks. Not certain after that.
I do hope this helps you restore your family favorites.
xoxo
Hi there, I am trying this recipe right now, but I have a quesiton — how long does it cook to reduce by half and become like syrup? Ive been cooking it on low heat for about 30 minutes and it doesn’t seem to have reduced and it still the consistency of coconut milk! Any suggestions?? Thanks!!
I have done this with several brands of coconut milk, although Thai Kitchen works best. 40-45 minutes seems average. What brand of milk are you using? Did it finally thicken for you?
Oh wow, THANK YOU for this! I was recently wondering if cndensed sub could be made using canned coconut milk and here you have done it! 🙂 I am gonna try this soon. Another option for those who can do nuts…they make a thick dairy free cream called Mimicreme. It is made from cashews and almonds. (I think I may be sensitive to cashews, so I can’t use it)! But it would make a perfect sub, too..
Mimicreme sounds great! Thank you for the tip.
I am so happy to help!
xoxo
SunnyB
Great recipe! I used it to substitute the sweetened condensed milk called for in a homemade coffee creamer. Delicious.
🙂 So glad you enjoyed this!
Keylime Pie here I come!
Do you use light agave or the darker agave in this recipe? Or can you use either one?
I have only ever made this with light agave, the darker variety will likely yield a more caramel like flavor, which won’t be a bad thing, but I have never tried it. Please let me know if you do and how it worked for you! xo
What can you sub for the agave? Pure maple syrup?
Hi Angel,
Thank you for reminding me that I needed to update this recipe. Maple Syrup works well, although the time to reduce is increased. Other readers have had success using palm syrup and honey as well, feel free to give it a try and let me know how your batch turns out. xoxo
I use honey in mine- but I also make it without having to cook and reduce it, by using coconut butter. Coconut butter is made out of shredded, dried, unsweetened coconut, so all the water is already gone!
My recipe, if you’re interested, is at http://theprovidenthomemaker.com/1/post/2012/11/dairy-free-no-cook-sweetened-condensed-milk.html
Rhonda, your recipe looks tasty, thank you for sharing.
OMG!!! I loved this recipe. My tastebuds were like “what?… this is dairy-free?” Thank you for this. I am going to use it in a traditional Puertorrican Coquito (Coconut Eggnog)… Happy Holidays!
🙂 Puertorrican Coquito sounds like an amazing idea! I am so happy you enjoy this. Happy holidays to you!! xoxo
You have NO idea how happy I am to come across this recipe, My daughter is vegan and I make a wonderful Irish Cream at Christmas (my version of Bailey’s) and I was wondering how the heck I would replace the sweetened condensed milk in the recipe. THANK YOU!