- 1 quart yogurt, store-bought or
homemade, dairy or soy
- 1 strainer
- paper coffee filters or cheese cloth
or any loosely woven fabric that is
clean, and preferably, pet-hair-free
You may use homemade yogurt or purchased
yogurt to make this recipe. I always use
homemade because I keep it on hand
regularly. Line a strainer with damp cheese
cloth, or paper coffee filters or any clean
loosely woven clean fabric. It will take
about 3 or 4 paper coffee filters to line a
standard sized strainer or colander. Spoon
the yogurt into the filter or fabric. Set
the strainer in the sink and allow it to
drain overnight. The whey will drip out of
the yogurt, leaving a smooth, creamy cheese
similar in texture to cream cheese or
neufchatel. This recipe makes about 1-1/2
cups.
I use yogurt cheese to stuff celery, spread
on crackers, bagels or toast, and as a base
for dips instead of sour cream. I also like
it mixed with brown sugar and cooked whole
wheat berries. This is particularly good as
a snack or for breakfast. This cheese is
also good spooned into a bowl and topped
with fresh or canned fruit. See the recipes
for Cream Cheese Sauce, Cream Cheese
Frosting, and Creamy Fruit Dip, for ideas.
A quick note for folks who have rogue
nocturnal pets, specifically cats. I can't
drain my yogurt cheese in the sink overnight
because cats will get into it and eat every
bit of it while I sleep. To combat this, I
set up my draining device and place it in
the oven overnight. I find a large bowl or
dishpan and invert a cereal bowl in the
bottom of it. Then I place my strainer on
top of the inverted cereal bowl. The
inverted bowl acts like a rack, to keep the
yogurt above the whey which drains out of it
as it sits. The yogurt goes into the lined
strainer as directed above. The whole
apparatus goes on the bottom rack of the
oven. I make sure the oven is turned off,
shut the door and go to bed. In the morning,
my cheese is perfect, having been well
protected from lurking felines all night
long. This method also works well if you
want to save the whey to use in cooking.
Some people prefer to drain their yogurt in
the fridge, which is a great idea. My fridge
is small though, so I've had to make other
arrangements.
Soy Yogurt makes excellent soy yogurt
cheeze. It can be used to replace dairy
cream cheese in many recipes. It tastes a
little fruitier and sweeter than dairy
yogurt. Many people prefer it to dairy
yogurt cheese. If you're vegan you owe it to
yourself to give this a try at least once.
It is very good.
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