If you are concerned about sugar and gelatins added to commercial yogurts, make your own! It’s really very easy and quite inexpensive. I love to add a dollop of lemon curd or fruit compote to mine to make it a sweet treat. This yogurt is more tangy than commercial varieties and runnier too-in order to make it thicker, strain the yogurt over a large bowl with some cheesecloth to let some liquid drain.
Ingredients:
4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup yogurt with active cultures (low fat, whole, etc is fine)
Heat up the milk over medium heat to 160 F. Remove from the heat and stir in milk powder and maple syrup. Let the mixture sit on the stovetop until it comes down to 120 F, then whisk in the yogurt.
Transfer the yogurt to a mason jar with a lid. At this point, you have a few options. Your yogurt needs to be kept warm for the bacteria to grow, so you can do any of the following:
Allow your yogurt to sit for about 10-12 hours, or even longer, to thicken up. The longer it sits the more tangy the flavor will be. I let mine sit for about 16 hours, and then I drained off some of the liquid to make it really thick. Remember that when you chill the yogurt, it will thicken up some as well.
Store your finished yogurt in the fridge for a few weeks.
Makes about 2 cups of yogurt
Adapted from Melissa d'Arabian's new cookbook, Ten Dollar Dinners
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