Coconut Yogurt

February 06, 2017

Coconut Yogurt

My kitchen has become a test kitchen lately. I am slowly replacing my store bought stuff with homemade. It would be nice when you find a recipe and its a winner on the first try but that is not the case 92% of the time. I have to remind myself of that when i get frustrated with my end product and have to figure out what the next step will be. So i have a long history with yogurt, i have always loved eating it daily. When i stopped having regular milk yogurt because it hurt my stomach i had serious with drawls. I own a yogurt maker and used to make my own milk yogurt before all this so i thought i am going to make a dairy free yogurt because i cant afford the stuff at the store. But as i was researching dairy free choices i read that it's hard to get a thick Greek style, which is a bummer. Thicker the better, i say! I picked a recipe online but i didn't have everything that she was using so i made alternative choices. Lets just say it didn't turn out. Go Figure! I will share my mistakes with you, so you can avoid them!

1. She used vital proteins beef gelatin- i have not ordered the gelatin kind in that brand yet so i used the knox stuff i had on hand from making jelly last summer
2. She used a probiotic yogurt starter- i would need to order that and i wanted yogurt now! Before i would just use a store bought organic plain yogurt as my starter.
3. I used the trader joes coconut milk and i read after wards is a not a good choice because of the flavor.

See that is a lot of switching and learning as i went along in this recipe. I put it in the yogurt maker for 12 hours and when i took them out they were separated. I was nerveous about that, but i put it in the fridge hoping it would fix the issue. So after awhile of being in the fridge i took them out and shaked them up but they didn't do much. Unfortunately i tossed them out a few minutes later. Oh well you have to grow and learn to reach perfection.

Now on to take 2.... I'm going with Danielle Walker's Coconut Yogurt recipe. I have her cookbook and i just love her and all her recipes. Buy all her cookbooks they are worth it, you will use them daily!

I bought the box of organic coconut milk from costco- i think it was the thai brand. I ordered vital proteins gelatin canister and a vegan yogurt starter off amazon. If you have not tried out vital proteins i would recommend there collagen powder. I add a scoop to my coffee every morning. It's great for restoring gut health, and helps with my hair and nails. I miss it when i run out!

Anyway back to yogurt.....

I bought all the right stuff and i followed the steps to a tee... But i have a secret to tell you, it's a bit embarrassing... Come in real close and i share my mistake with you.... As I was cooling my coconut milk in the sink with a bowl of ice cold water, i decided to wash my funnel to pour the yogurt into the jars with. Lets just say i literally poured dish soap into my freshly heated up coconut yogurt... Whomp Whomp. I probably should not use my sink as my cooling section and i don't make that mistake. I was mad at myself but i quickly restarted my stove grabbed two more cans of coconut milk and started it up before we left to go to church. I had to laugh it off!

Fast forward 21 hours later. I picked that number because it's recommend you cook it 18-24 hours and that is a good in between number. They were separated, but not as bad as before. So i gave them a shake before placing them in the fridge and i left them 17 hours. I read that the gelatin will set while it's in the fridge. It turned out to be not runny runny and it was not thick. It was doable. I loaded it up with blueberries, slivered almonds, unsweetened coconut, and drizzle of honey. Hello breakfast!

Here are a few pictures of me making yogurt... Don't be intimated it's a easy process