Dairy free substitute for butter

I'm going to attempt a paleo strawberry pie, but its going to be fed to a group they includes someone extremely sensitive to lactose and the recipe calls for butter. Even ghee wouldn't be okay. In any other dish, I would fall back on bacon fatty or soothe animal fat, but that seems wrong for a baked good, especially a pie. I would imagine most pills would be inappropriate as well. Coconut oil is probably my best hope, but its there something I could mix the oil with to get something that's closer to butter?

Also, regarding a completely unrelated recipe, is there a dairy free milk substitute that isn't coconut milk but will have similar properties of creaminess?

Thanks

lard is actually pretty awesome for baking, and so is coconut oil. Sometimes you can replace oils with applesauce, too. I think lard would give it the flakiness of butter.

(just proof that lard CAN be used in sweets)
[url=http://theprimaljunkfoodie.blogspot.com/2011/11/sweet-potato-lard-bread-cookies.html]The Primal Junk Foodie: Sweet Potato Lard-bread Cookies[/url]

Spectrum organic vegetable shortening. It's 100% organic palm fruit oil, tasteless, and works great in baking.

If she is sensitive to lactose then ghee should be fine. Is it possible she is sensitive to casein?

Regardless, leaf lard was used for all baking not long ago and it makes for very flaky baked goods. Refined coconut oil and spectrum shortening are great choices as well.

I have heard that you can make paleo whipped cream using canned coconut milk (you know the really thick kind). You leave the can in a fridge for 24 to 48 hours and the cream like substance separates out from the water. Perhaps you could use this concept for your recipe.

[url=http://www.paleoplan.com/2011/10-09/coconut-whipped-cream/]Coconut Whipped Cream | Paleo Plan[/url]

[QUOTE=atmetal;1035763]

Also, regarding a completely unrelated recipe, is there a dairy free milk substitute that isn't coconut milk but will have similar properties of creaminess?

Thanks[/QUOTE]

Homemade cashew milk

Margarine?

I'm kidding! I'M KIDDING!

Beef dripping has a cleaner flavour than lard, but even so, lard is equally good.

Lard makes a flaky crust that is out of this world. It will step your pie game up.

I think people worry that lard will make the crust taste porky, but properly rendered lard has a very mild flavor that goes great in a pie crust. Tallow (rendered beef fat) is another option. If you aren't rendering your own, make sure you purchase good-quality lard. Most of the stuff they sell at standard grocery stores (like the Sno-Cap brand) are hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated to render them shelf-stable. It also tastes horrible.

Lard is looking like the way to go. I didn't fear that lard would make for a "porky" flavor, but there is a reason why it's easier to eat butter straight vs lard. I figured that whatever that reason was, it would translate on the chemical level into a recipe, making for an inferior product.

Thanks everyone