Why eat regular cream cheese when you can eat guilt-free cream cheese?
Hi Gems, it’s Geminii and welcome back to our blog!
We’ve missed you all so much! The past few months of online school (and life) have flown by, but we are so happy to be writing again.
If you’re following us on Instagram (@hi.geminii), you probably already know how much we love our cream and cakes—but our stomachs don’t always agree.
Our favorite foods would leave us with terrible stomach ache and bloating, and only when we realized we might be lactose intolerant did we understand this was our bodys’ reaction to dairy.
So, right around the time our classes ended, we were surprised to receive a message from Spero Foods asking if we’d like to try out some of their sunflower plant based cream cheeses! It seemed perfect for two lactose-intolerant-dairy-lovers like us.
I know what you’re thinking “oh sponsored content”, but writing this blog post wasn’t actually Spero’s idea–it was ours! We thought this would be a fun way to get back into writing since our busy first semester of college.
In this food guide, we’ll go over everything to know about these delightful cream cheeses so you don’t need to waste any time in the grocery store!
Topics in today’s blog
- Why Sunflower Cream Cheese?
- Easy on your stomach
- Probiotics (good for your gut)
- Better for the environment
- Seed-based cream cheese vs. Nut-based cream cheese?
- Our Flavor Rankings & Review
- Herb
- Smoked
- Pumpkin
- Red Pepper
- Cinnamon
- Reviews on the Classics
- Original
- Goat
Click here to learn more about us!
1. Why Sunflower Cream Cheese?
Coming from someone that has tried almost every type of nondairy milk and all sorts of vegan alternatives, we know that dairy replacements can be interesting at best and gross at worst.
Here is why sunflower cheeses are worth a try.
Easy on your stomach
Approximately 65% of the human population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy. In simpler words, most people are (somewhat) lactose intolerant but just don’t realize it.
Plant based options are going to be a lot nicer to your stomach, and they often come with lower calories.
Probiotics (help your gut)
This is specific to Spero cream cheese, but they actually add probiotic cultures to their cream cheese so you’re not just eating something tasty, but helping your gut at the same time!
We’ve been trying to incorporate more probiotics in our diet through yogurt and kimchi, but it’s not always easy. A lot of people gravitate towards probiotic tablets instead, but those can make your body dependent on your pills.
I don’t know about you, but I would definitely prefer my probiotics in my cream cheese instead of a tablet!
So much better for the environment
Plant-based dairy is not just amazing for your stomach, but it’s also good for the world! Plant-based products use 99% less CO2 than their dairy counterparts!
As Spero puts it, if you choose Sunflower Cream Cheese over nut/dairy versions, you could save around 20,000 car miles driven a year!
2. Should I use seed-based or Nut-based cream cheese?
If you google “non-dairy” cream cheese alternative, this will most likely be your first result. Nut-based alternatives often use almonds and cashews which is a great switch but it also means higher prices.
If you are trying to stay away from dairy but also trying to stay within budget–where do you look? It’s a difficult question because there are honestly so few nuts-based replacements that could ever come to a reasonable price. So that’s why we recommend you look into seed-based alternatives!
Going dairy-free?
Become a Gem and subscribe to our blog for our upcoming dairy free recipes and ideas!
3. Our Flavor Rankings & Review
Still don’t get the hype around non dairy cream cheese? We didn’t either until we tried this out for the first time!
#1 Herb (hands down the best one)
Flavor Check
Sooo delicious!! Out of all the flavors we tried, this tempting herbal cream cheese was certainly our favorite. It has an enjoyable blend of flavors and a rich aroma that wasn’t not too overpowering. Honestly, we could eat this on everything 😂😭
#2 Smoked (the bias wrecker)
Flavor Check
First of all, we thought we would mention that this was our #1 before we tried the Herb flavor. It has an appealing smoked quality and even a slight spicy kick at the end! We didn’t expect to fall for the savory cream cheeses, but we were surprised by the wonderful dark aroma this spread added when we tried it with a simple cracker!
Plus, if you know us, we love trying anything spicy at all (we’re Indian, so of course)!
#3 Pumpkin
November is almost over, and that means you’ll be running out of excuses for pumpkin spice in everything!
You could honestly just eat this pumpkin sunflower cream cheese spread on its own, and with its creamy spiced flavor, it is definitely an Autumn-must-try.
I did want to note that the flavor is more of a cinnamon flavor than a pumpkin flavor, so it definitely feels more like a complement to your favorite pumpkin dishes.
We will be writing a separate blog on recipes for each flavor, but we couldn’t help but mention how good this would taste with pumpkin bread.
This year we actually switched things up by carving our jack-o-lantern and using the fresh pumpkin for our pumpkin loaf and muffins (with fresh spices instead of the store-bought mixes😉) and we seriously wish we had saved a loaf for this cream cheese.
#4 Red Pepper
The red pepper flavor is a lot milder than the Smoked flavor, so if you want something lighter (for salads or recipes) this would be a good option. If your just looking for a dip (or to eat straight from the can😂) then we would recommend the Smoked flavor.
The red pepper won’t hit you until a bit later, but it’s definitely got a spicy aftertaste.
#5 Cinnamon
To be honest, this was the flavor we were most excited for since we are huge sweet-tooths and LOVE cinnamon (we practically eat cinnamon with a side of oatmeal for breakfast😳) but it didn’t make it to the top of our list.
The flavor is very light, and we found you actually get a lot more of the cinnamon flavor in the pumpkin tin than you do in this one.
However, if you’re making a cheesecake or more neutral dessert, this would make for the perfect base.
Going dairy-free?
Become a Gem and subscribe to our blog for our upcoming dairy free recipes and ideas!
4. Reviews on the Classics
Original
Flavor Check
Okay, small confession, we are not really fans of plain cream cheese since we usually gravitate towards strawberry or blueberry flavored cream cheese.
However, if we did like plain cream cheese, this would be a yes from both of us. Your seriously can’t tell the difference between this and the dairy version: It’s thick, creamy and holds well on anything from a cracker to inside a cake.
We are actually planning to make a cheesecake with this flavor, so stay tuned for our recipe article!
Goat
Flavor Check
Once again this is more of a personal preference, but we are not super huge fans of goat cheese, and therefore not crazy for the plant based substitute.
For the sake of the article, assuming that we do enjoy goat cheese, we think this had an incredibly similar consistency and texture that it could pass as a great alternative.
If goat cheese is your thing, then you’re going to enjoy this!
We have a lot of fun recipes and ideas that we can’t wait to share with you, so stay tuned and see you soon (totally did not mean to make that rhyme😳)!
Xo
Geminii
GEMINII 