Home Made New England Yogurt
It's great when you find easy ways to make your favorite store bought items. In my house we eat a lot of yogurt so I figured making it in bulk will save money and I know exactly what is going into it ingredient wise. Turns out making your own yogurt is super simple and can be done in the crock pot if you have one!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 gallon milk - I used Contoocook Creamery's half gallon (NH Made)
- 1/2 cup of plain, unflavored yogurt (make sure it has live active cultures) This is your "starter"
Pour the half gallon of milk into the crock pot (make sure it's clean!) and turn it on low for 2 hours and 45 minutes.
After the 2 hours and 45 minutes, turn the crock pot off and let it sit for 3 hours.
After 3 hours, spoon a small amount of the milk into a bowl. Mix your 1/2 cup of yogurt in with the milk and then dump the mixture back into the crock pot. Mix thoroughly. At this point we added about a 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla extract for flavoring.
Put the lid back on and wrap your crock pot in a large towel or blanket. This will keep the heat in and let it cool very slowly. You will let this sit for 8 to 12 hours. Make sure you put it in a place that isn't too drafty or cold and make sure you have turned off an unplugged your crock. I let this sit overnight and by morning it was yogurt!
At this point you can mix it and spoon it into sterilized jars or containers OR you can put it in the fridge for a while to let it set and thicken more (don't stir). Whatever your preference. If you stir right away it will be fine, but won't be as thick as yogurt from the store.
We also added 2 or 3 tablespoons of NH maple syrup after to sweeten it - highly recommended!
This also pairs wonderfully with our home made granola recipe from Issue 07!
Recipe Adapted From: http://goo.gl/wmVqf
The morning after letting the mixture sit, it had become yogurt!
Add granola, chia seeds, and dates for some extra flavor and nutrients!
Enjoy!
-Jenn
