One of the biggest concerns that people have about adopting a real food diet is the expense. Items like coconut yoghurt, almond milk and stock are all high priced items. Add onto this the price of pasture raised meat and organic fruit and vegetables, and the grocery budget blows out.
I really encourage people to get back into the kitchen to start to make some of these staples from scratch. You will be surprised how easy these staples are to make and you will love how much you can save.
Today I will show you how to make coconut yoghurt from scratch. You only need a few ingredients and a warm spot in the kitchen and voila…fresh, handmade coconut yoghurt.
There are many ways that you can make your own coconut yoghurt. You can use extravagant yoghurt makers, or you can simply use your oven or a warm window sill. You will know when the yoghurt is ready, it will have a tangy natural yoghurt taste, but it certainly won’t smell or taste rotten. If it does, then you need to toss it out and start again.
The thickness of the yoghurt can vary. If you like a thicker yoghurt then you can add more arrowroot, just make sure that it dissolves well so that you don’t have a powdery texture to your coconut yoghurt. I find that the coconut yoghurt continues to thicken as it sit’s in the fridge during the week. Once you have had success with your coconut yoghurt, I recommend that you stick to the same brand of coconut milk. Each brand can vary in it’s additives and thickeners, and this can all effect how the coconut yoghurt turns out. Personally, I use the Ayam (Australia) brand as it contains only coconut and water.
Make sure you sterilise the glass jars that you ferment your yoghurt in. You can do this by cleaning them in hot soapy water, and then rinsing them and boiling them in a large saucepan for about 10 minutes.
Your yoghurt will thicken nicely as it cools. Add berries for a delicious breakfast
- • 400 ml full fat coconut milk I like Ayam brand as it doesn’t contain additives
- • 2 teaspoons arrowroot
- • 1 probiotic capsule broken open
- • 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract optional
- Put the coconut milk in a small saucepan and whisk in the arrowroot.
- Heat the coconut milk over a medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes, or until it starts to thicken.
- Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Give it a stir occasionally until it reduces to 40°.
- Turn the oven on to the lowest setting, or even with just the pilot light. You want the temperature to be around 35°-38°. If it is a warm summer’s night, you can even just leave it on the kitchen bench.
- Stir in the probiotic powder and vanilla extract.
- Pour the mixture into sterilised jars, seal them and place them in the oven. Leave the yogurt overnight in the oven to ferment. In the morning taste the yoghurt. If you want it to be more tangy, just let it ferment for longer. If you are happy with the taste, place the yoghurt in the fridge to let it set. The yoghurt will continue to thicken the longer that it is in the fridge.
[…] are the links for the coconut yoghurt and raspberry chia jam recipes that are optional toppings for this recipe. Grain Free Pear and […]