Dairy-Free Coconut Milk Yogurt Recipe
Coconut milk yogurt with a drizzle of Coconut Secret's Raw Coconut Nectar.
For those who've had enough of my non-dairy yogurt business, you might want to turn back now. For those wanting to venture on—let's go. Today we're making coconut milk yogurt. And it's my all-time favorite!
Before we jump into the yogurt, I have a bit of news. We are modifying our kiddo's diet—agaaain. I'd go into it, but will have to save that for another post. Bottom line; we're cutting out almonds for a while.
Almond milk has been the base of the non-dairy yogurt I have made on a weekly basis for the past two years. It wasn't easy giving it up.
When I committed to making the change, Moriah's words came back to me;
"I have learned how to respond with a plan. My plan for a successful
transition now begins with determining how to replace the foods
which need to be removed prior to removal."
I took Moriah's advice to heart and started playing with coconut milk yogurt—determined to "nail it" by the time we finished up the last of the almond yogurt.
Making coconut milk yogurt is not rocket science and recipes for it are a dime-a-dozen—but most use straight coconut milk which makes for a very high-fat yogurt. A 6-ounce serving of Thai Kitchen® Coconut Milk (full fat) easily exceeds 100 calories of saturated fat (good saturated fat, but a lot of it). My solution for reducing the fat without sacrificing all of the creaminess? Add water and thicken with a bit of tapioca starch and agar agar.
This morning Miles and I enjoyed our fresh coconut milk yogurt topped with a drizzle of low-glycemic Coconut Secret Raw Coconut Nectar and a sprinkle of white chia seed. Tomorrow we'll be churning up some frozen yogurt and I don't know who's more excited, the boys or me!
Coconut Milk Yogurt
Gluten-Free | Casein-Free | Citrus-Free | Corn-Free | Dairy-Free | Egg-Free | Fish-Free | Nightshade-Free | Peanut-Free | Potato-Free | Rice-Free | Shellfish-Free | Soy-Free | Wheat-Free | Grain-Free | Sesame-Free | Yeast-free | GFCF | Vegetarian | Vegan
Makes: Just shy of 1 quart
Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 26-32 10-12 vhours
Ingredients:
Filtered WATER
3/4 teaspoon AGAR AGAR powder (not flakes or bar)
1-1/2 tablespoons organic CANE SUGAR
2 cans Thai Kitchen® full fat COCONUT MILK
3 tablespoons TAPIOCA STARCH/FLOUR
1 packet Cultures for Health VEGAN YOGURT STARTER
Directions:
1. Sterilize cooking utensils, bowls and fermentation containers by dousing in boiling water.
2. In a small bowl, mix tapioca starch and 1/2 cup water to make a slurry. Set aside.
3. Add 2 cups filtered water to a large pot. Sprinkle agar agar powder over surface. Bring to boil and gently simmer 3-5 minutes or until agar agar is completely dissolved.
4. Give tapioca slurry a good stir and whisk it and the sugar into the agar agar mixture. Return to simmer, stirring constantly 1-2 minutes.
5. Whisk in coconut milk. Heat just until steam rises from surface.
6. Allow milk to cool to 95-100˚F. This can take a while.
7. Sprinkle yogurt starter over surface of cooled milk and whisk very well. Transfer to fermentation container(s) and then to yogurt maker. Leave undisturbed to ferment 8-10 hours (no longer). Transfer to refrigerator and chill 6-8 hours. Yogurt will set as it cools.
Notes:
Cooling: Allow milk to cool at room temperature. Do not cool using a water bath as the agar agar will begin to set. Give it an occasional whisk. The mixture may look clumpy (this is the agar agar setting), but a good whisk will smooth it out again.
The Starter: Nut/seed milk yogurts are best made using a yogurt starter. Unlike animal-based milks, a scoop of yogurt may not be effective. A lot of natural food stores carry the YoGourmet brand of yogurt starter which contains skim milk powder. So just be cautious when purchasing a starter. The vegan/non-dairy starter I have had the most success with is the Vegan Yogurt Starter from Cultures for Health.
The Yogurt Maker: I prefer using a yogurt maker. I rest assured knowing that the yogurt is fermenting at a safe and consistent temperature. However, you may choose to ferment in any container, preferably glass, in any environment that is kept at a constant 105-110˚F (on a heating pad, in the oven, etc).
What is Agar-Agar? Agar-agar is a plant-based "gelatine" derived from seaweed. It helps set the yogurt and firm it up. I get consistent results with agar powder versus flakes or bars. Agar powder may be purchased in packets at Asian grocery stores, from larger natural grocery stores and from Amazon.
Trouble Shooting: Portions of the surface may dry to a pale yellow; this can be expected. If there are any hints of pink, gray or black on the surface of the yogurt, throw the batch out and start again. This suggests the equipment was not thoroughly sterilized, that the yogurt starter was “dead” and that foreign “bad” bacteria colonized the batch, and/or that milk was hotter than 95° to 100°F when the starter was added.
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Reader Comments (36)
Lexie, should the honey be raw honey or pasteurized? I only have raw on hand but I'm not sure whether it might introduce bacteria....
Hi Lexie, I see you use honey in the recipe, this would then not be vegan. Vegans don't eat honey.
Santie, my slip. I have corrected the recipe to use cane sugar which may be more effective anyway : )
xoLexie
Lexie - this looks great! My daughter doesn't like almond products - which I do - but prefers coconut ones. Pleasing a picky eater with food allergies has been quite the challenge - but this sounds like a winner. I'll try it tomorrow. Thanks :)
I was told/read not to mix proabotic with honey as it is an antibotic. Is this not true??
Hi Lexie: This recipe is very similar to the one I make but I use agar and kudzu instead of tapioca with a teaspoon or so of maple syrup plus about 4 dates. I mix it all in the Vitamix until it's at 180 degrees, then let it cool, mixing for a second or 2 every hour until 105 degrees then add starter and vanilla. I'm wondering though,why you can't/don't use 2 or 3 Tablespoons of your last batch of yogurt to start a new one. What did I miss?
P.S. I just gave my doctor's office your blog as a resource for all the Autistic kids he's working with. His nurse told me their parents are pulling their hair out, obviously, because they don't know how to feed them. Keep up the good work.
I am going to have to try this... Finding a yummy dairy free yogurt that doesn't have the dreaded carrageenan is super hard here.
Beautiful yogurt, Lexie! I love how you took the words of advice from one of your Making the Switch posts and put them to use yourself. :-) I'm sure Moriah will be pleased, too.
xo,
Shirley
Carol. Very true about honey having antibiotic properties. And GREAT question. I am super grateful for readers like you who share what they have heard and learned. I, too am learning everyday.
Here are my thoughts. If the starter is working and producing a nice tangy yogurt then I think you are good to go. In my recipe here the honey is boiled ... and in a sense "pasteurized" which limits the antibiotic strength of the raw honey (okay, who's gonna jump on me for "heating" my honey ... go for it but don't expect a response : ). That said, I made a call to Cultures for Health and they said they usually do not recommend making yogurt using honey ... but rather organic cane sugar. So thanks to you Carol, I will be adjusting all my yogurt recipes to reflect that.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and for your help.
xoLexie
Lexie: Did they give you any altertive to can sugar if youcant have cane sugar?
Carol, agave would be my next choice. But I have not tested it so cannot say for sure.
xoLexie
I definitely need to try this. Must locate my yogurt starter...
This is something I still need to try. I've never been a yogurt fan, but I get so many requests for recipes like this! I'm also a little intimidated by agar, but need to get over that. Looks great Alexa!
Yes, Alta, find that starter : )
Alisa, no need to be intimidated by agar : ) Bars are agar-agar in its simplest form, then flakes. But both of those intimidate me ... exact measuring seems impossible. That is why I love the powder. It's been handled a little more, but it's the best! It's as easy as using Knox gelatine ... maybe even easier! No need to bloom. Just sprinkle over boiling liquid and simmer 2-5 minutes until it's certain to be dissolved. The thing with bars and flakes is that if you don't dissolve them completely (and usually takes longer) you will end up with chunks of weird, tough gel in the finished product. Embrace the agar powder! : ) It's hoof-free!
Here's a bit of info on animal-based gelatin from http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question557.htm :
The gelatin in Jell-O is what lets you transform it into all sorts of different shapes. What exactly is gelatin? Gelatin is just a processed version of a structural protein called collagen that is found in many animals, including humans. Collagen actually makes up almost a third of all the protein in the human body. It is a big, fibrous molecule that makes skin, bones, and tendons both strong and somewhat elastic. As you get older, your body makes less collagen, and individual collagen fibers become crosslinked with each other. You might experience this as stiff joints (from less flexible tendons) or wrinkles (from loss of skin elasticity).
The gelatin you eat in Jell-O comes from the collagen in cow or pig bones, hooves, and connective tissues. To make gelatin, manufacturers grind up these various parts and pre-treat them with either a strong acid or a strong base to break down cellular structures and release proteins like collagen. After pre-treatment, the resulting mixture is boiled. During this process, the large collagen protein ends up being partially broken down, and the resulting product is called gelatin. The gelatin is easily extracted because it forms a layer on the surface of the boiling mixture.
Good luck.
I cannot believe I have not yet made coconut milk yogurt. I have made goat milk yogurt with raw goat milk tons of time, but guess it is now time to give this a go. It looks absolutely amazing and creamy and I know my kiddos would be huge fans of it!
Great job, missy!!
xo
k
Thanks Kim! How do your kids (he he) do on goat milk?
Lexie
As I am refined sugar free, is it possible that I could do agave, honey (I know... not vegan), or maple syrup instead at 1.5 tbsp.?
This looks delicious, by the way. I've been looking for ways to make more things from scratch. Can this recipe be frozen to make a frozen yogurt dessert?
Best,
Morri
Can gelatin be used instead of agar agar? If so in what amount? Not a vegan just dealing with wheat, egg, deairy and peanut allergies. LOL
Morri,
For those wanting to try gelatin in place of agar:
Use 1-1/2 tablespoons gelatin in place of the agar
Adjust the next batch to your liking.
xoLexie
The last comment was for Kendra, not Morri ... sorry...
Morri, this answer is for you ... I started using sugar in place of honey b/c or any possible bacteria in the honey ... I had made it that way for a long time and it worked fine. Am sure maple would work just fine, too. So go ahead with either of those (same measure). I have just changed it up to cane sugar at the recommendation of Cultures for Health, the folks I buy my starter from.
xoLexie
Hi, just found your blog - I will be moseying around! I can wait to try this yogurt! I am a fairly new vegan and I miss yogurt and soy-yogurt does NOT cut it!!! We also don't have a coconut yogurt available here. Can you pin this recipe so I can add it to my board? I tried to pin it, but the image will not be found!!! :) It looks so lovely! Yum!
Would you compare the consistency to a regular yogurt or more of a Greek-style?
Thanks for this!
Dawn ... pinned : ) You can find it on this board:
http://pinterest.com/kulia/breakfast-gluten-free-dairy-free-egg-free/
This comes out to be the texture of So Delicious Coconut Yogurt. Not dense and thick like a greek yogurt. Hope that helps : )
xoLexie
Thank you!!!! :)
BTW - do you know if you can use the insides of a probiotic tablet to make the yogurt? I'm concerned I might not be able to find yogurt starter in my area and the vendor you recommended does not ship to Canada. :(
Dawn,
Okay, so here in the United States, the USDA clearly defines yogurt as:
§ 131.200 Yogurt.
(a) Description. Yogurt is the food produced by culturing one or more of the optional dairy ingredients specified in paragraph (c) of this section with a characterizing bacterial culture that contains the lactic acid-producing bacteria,Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus.(1)
Probiotic capsules taken as supplements may or may not contain these two cultures: Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. That's not to say that using a capsule is harmful, you just may not be making true yogurt. Different bacteria are used for culturing different foods (kefir, piima, yogurt, etc). That said I am not even using a dairy milk to make yogurt! Ha! I would say it all depends on your comfort level. My friend Kelly over at www.thespunkycoconut.com took my yogurt recipe and began making it with capsules. So take a look over at her site. I still prefer using a bacteria mix specifically designed for yogurt making. But then I am one of those people that throws out leftovers after day three : ).
Solaray Multidophilous (which Kelly uses): Does not contain the Streptococcus thermophilus which here in the U.S. is a required bacteria in yogurt. Solaray contains: L. Acidophilus (DDS-1 Strain), L. Acidophilus, B. Bifidum, L. Bulgaricus. During fermentation, do these other bacteria work against or with each other? I do not know. I have tried her technique and it tasted fine ... so it's a fermented food of some kind.
Cultures for Health Vegetal (which I use ... and I am sorry you cannot get in Canada): Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Streptococcus thermophilus
This is where I leave it up to you : )
xoLexie
(1) Source: Food and Drug Administration’s Standard of Identity for Yogurt
(21 CFR Part 131.200)
how can i make this using straight coconut milk?? My son needs all the calories he can get right now, and Loves coconut yogurt we buy at the store but it gets pricey buying it.
I just made my first batch of coconut milk and it turned out great!!! Put it in a 100 degree oven and left it for 9 hours. Let it cool for another 8 and boy do I have yogurt. Can't wait to have some for breakfast :) Thanks for the fabulous recipe!
xo Alyssa
Alyssa,
YES YES YES!!! Success! Thanks for letting us know : )
xoLexie
Can you explain why you recommend not allowing it to ferment any longer than 9 hours? Does it break down or something? I like doing it for 24 hours.
Victoria:
The folks at GIProstart and Cultures for Health have been very helpful in my yogurt making journey. In conversations with them we’ve discussed fermentation time for nut and seed milks and both agree that 8-12 hours is the recommended maximum for these milks. With different milks (non-dairy and cow’s) there are different levels of fat, sugar content, etc. As insignificant as each element may seem, they must be kept in mind when making yogurt. Scientifically, I do not have an exact answer for you, but I am thinking it may be due to the varying sugar and fat ratios. The SCD time for culturing dairy yogurt is 24 hours. Perhaps the lactose in animal milk is enough to feed the bacteria for a full 24 hours. Perhaps nut milks do not have enough in them to feed the bacteria for that length of time. When I have cultured almond milk for over 12 hours, 50% of the time the batch begins to grow bits of pink slime or mold. This, to me, indicates that the bad bacteria were beginning to gain the upperhand in the colonization process.
Again, I am no expert … I base my culturing times on my own experimentation and knowledge provided by those selling the cultures I have used. Hope that helps:
Some links that are helpful:
http://www.giprohealth.com/makingyogurt.aspx
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/vegan-dairy-free-yogurt-starter.html
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/alternative-milks-for-making-yogurt
xoLexie
So it seems as if the nut/seed yogurts simply cannot have the same amount of natural bacteria per volume that mammal yogurt does?
Victoria ... something along those lines would be my guess. I would love to be a fly on the wall at Amande or So Delicious ... to see if the way I am doing things in any way parallels there's. I add thickeners pre fermentation ... most sources recommend post. It's all been trial and error for me. Just sharing what "seems" to be working out for me. xoLexie
I think it'd be interesting to find out exactly how much bacteria per volume is in each. It'd be nice to know and not have to take probiotics anymore!
Victoria, I agree! I'd love to throw some of my yogurt under a microscope and count the buggers. The probiotics we buy are tops, but come at a VERY hefty price. Plus the thing with probiotics is they can say 60 billion (or whatever), but how many of those 60 billion are actually still alive or potent enough? I wish I knew a food scientist : ) I'd have a slew of question for them.
xoLexie
Well, I got very excited reading you recipe for coconut yogurt because I miss yogurt so much. I've been allergic to dairy now for 10 years. But there is another problem for me. I have Candida and I cannot use very much sweetner, like sugar cane or honey. So, of course there would be no way for the bacteria to grow, would there?
I guess I'm out of luck, yet again!
Hi Lexie - again, another great post. Thanks! Question - I'm going to purchase a yogurt maker. Is there a make/model you like? I'll be making this recipe with it! :-)
Nancy, I have a Yogourmet (link below) and really like that I can make 2 quarts of yogurt in one container vs several individual containers. That's a personal choice. Really I don't think you can go wrong with any machine. But I like making it in volume : ) I always recommend checking your local resale or thrift shop ... some really nice, lightly used machines, end up their. I have a second Yogourmet I purchased for $2 at Goodwill. I eventually replaced the plastic fermentation jars with glass ... picked those up at Sprouts in the bulk section or online:
Here is the machine: http://astore.amazon.com/lexieskitchen-20/detail/B0016HM77A
here is the insert: (At Lucy's Kitchen Shop) http://www.lucyskitchenshop.com/yogourmet.html
Thx Lexie!!