Raw Yogurt, Cheese, and Cookies

For more than 10 years, I've wanted to make raw yogurt, after reading a recipe for it in Rhio's great raw recipe book, Hooked on Raw.



I don't know why it took me so long--!--but I finally made the yogurt the other day, and it was awesome! I didn't follow the recipe. It wasn't intentional. It calls for soaking several types of nuts and I thought I remembered the recipe, so I only soaked two kinds.

Here's my adapted version of Rhio's AlPine (Almonds and Pine Nuts) Yogurt recipe. I would make it differently next time (because the pine nuts have an overpowering flavor), except that the yogurt made made awesome cheese and the pulp made yummy cookies. So I might have to make it this way again!

Judy's First Try at Raw Yogurt

1 cup raw organic almonds

1 cup raw organic pine nuts

1 probiotic capsule (non-dairy)

Pure water

Optional: fresh fruit, raw agave or honey


1. Soak each type of nut in a pure water in a glass jar that you cover with a dish towel and leave at room temperature to soak overnight.

2. Drain the nuts and discard the soak water. Rinse the nuts and blend them with some water. I use a Blend Tec Total Blender. I started with one cup but that wasn't enough. I didn't measure.

3. Pour the batter into a nutmilk bag that you have placed in a large bowl. Squeeze the bag so that all of the liquid is expelled, and reserve the pulp until after step 6.

4. Pour the strained liquid into a jar.

5. Open the pro-biotic capsule and shake the contents into the liquid. Stir, then pour the liquid into a glass jar.

6. Cover with a dish towel and leave at room temperature overnight.

7. The next day, you will see that what had been liquid has separated into a sort of curds and whey. The top part will be the yogurt. Scoop it out and put into a bowl. You can mix in fresh fruit or raw agave or honey. (Discard the liquid.)




Judy's Raw Yogurt Pulp Cookies


The pulp from the above recipe

1/2 cup golden flax seeds, ground in a coffee grinder

raw agave nectar

organic cinnamon

a small amount of pure water as necessary

1. Mix all of the above in a food processor (I use a Cuisinart.)

2. I use a cookie scoop to transfer the batter to an Excalibur dehydrator tray that I've covered with unbleached parchment paper.

3. Dehydrate at 90 degrees Fahrenheit for about 8-10 hours.

And Finally, the Cheese!

A Serving Suggestion

You can put the cheese from the following recipe on flax crackers, on slices of cucumber or tomato, or whatever you can think of.

I mixed it into a bowl of the following vegetables, along with some extra virgin olive oil:

Peeled, sliced broccoli stems,
Sliced radishes,
Sliced cucumber,
Strips of red bell pepper.

Delicious!

Judy's Raw Yogurt Cheese

Some yogurt from the first recipe above

Some Celtic Sea Salt

1. Mix a little bit of Celtic salt into some of the yogurt.

2. Pour the mixture onto an unbleached parchment paper sheet that covers an Excalibur dehydrator tray.

3. Dehydrate at 90 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 hours or until the liquid has turned firm.

Enjoy!

Vegetable Bounty

Sometimes ingredients are so beautiful your appetite is sated just by looking at them.