Vanilla Coconut Yogurt

Makes 3 cups

2 cups young coconut meat (about 2-3 coconuts)
1/4 cup kefir, or 2 probiotic pills
1 pinch vanilla bean powder or the seeds from inside 1/2 of a vanilla bean

Instructions:

Blend the coconut and coconut water/probiotic in a blender until completely smooth and slightly warm. Add the vanilla powder and pulse it into the mixture. Place the coconut cream in a jar and put on lid. Allow to culture on the counter at 65-80 degrees (on top of a warm dehydrator is ideal) for 8-12 hours. It will expand, so make sure there is room for that in your jar. The yogurt is ready when it gets spongy and slightly sour. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week. It will continue to ferment and sour in the fridge.

What is a Young Coconut?

Unlike the hairy, aged brown coconuts you’re used to seeing in the supermarket, young coconuts often appear with their green outer shell or white inner skin still intact. These younger coconuts contain more minerals and health benefits than when they age.

How Do You Open the Coconut?

Coconuts can be opened by shaving off their outer layers with a sharp kitchen knife until you reach the inner core or ‘nut.’ Next, you crack the edges of the nut’s peak until it is able to be pried open, revealing the tasty and nutritious coconut water and flesh inside.

Vegan? Raw? Or Not?

It’s up to you to decide if you’d like to make yogurt with coconut meat or raw milk. If you’re making it raw, be sure you get fresh milk. You can also boil the raw milk at home first, then allow it to cool to 90-100 degrees before starting the recipe. This pasteurization process will deactivate some of the enzymes, but the fermentation process will create a combination of healthy benefits that may be different, but still beneficial.

Contributed by Heather Haxo Phillips (rawbayarea.com)

Serving Ideas:

Serve your yogurt in a bowl with fresh fruit, or make a fruit yogurt by blending 1?2 cup fresh fruit into the yogurt and top with honey, if desired. You could also make a beautiful parfait, by putting the yogurt in wine glass with layers of fresh strawberry jam below. Top it with your favorite granola or chopped nuts.

Strawberry Jam

1 1?2 cups strawberries or raspberries, fresh or frozen 1?2 cup soaked dates or date paste

Place berries and dates into a blender. Blend until very smooth. Taste the jam. If it is not sweet enough, add a few drops of stevia or more date paste. If you want it thicker, add a tablespoon of ground chia or psyllium husk.

Stored in a glass container, the jam will keep for up to 5 days.