Recently I tweeted a photo of my homemade coconut yogurt, and a couple people wanted to know how I made it. I got the idea from the Eat Drink Paleo cookbook by Irena Macri. You can buy coconut yogurt at Coles, but it costs $8.25 for a 500ml container. (Ouch!) If you make it yourself, it costs about half that much. That definitely makes it worth the additional effort to me.

I start with four cans of coconut cream or milk, which yields about a liter of yogurt. The first step is to boil a big kettle of water and pour it over a saucepan, spoon, and the metal bowl with a plastic lid I plan to store my yogurt in. This sterilises everything and makes sure the only bugs in your yogurt are the ones you put there deliberately! I carefully move the hot items to a clean tea towel to dry. I open each can of coconut milk/cream and pour it into the saucepan, stopping when I get to the clear/watery bit at the bottom of each can. (You can chill your cans to make separating even easier, but it’s not too hard to stop when you get to that point. I figure I lose maybe 20%.) Start heating the coconut up slowly on the cooktop, using a thermometer to check when you’re getting close to 40C. When it hits 43C, it’s time to take it off the heat and add your yogurt culture.

For my first batch, I used a sachet of yogurt culture the Snook bought at The Hop and Grain brewstore. For the second batch, I used a reserved quarter cup of my first batch of yogurt. (You could also try it with leftover purchased yogurt.) I use the sterilised spoon to scoop out a bit of the hot coconut into my clean cup, and then I add the starter and stir it in. Then I pour the whole thing back into the pot and stir it around well. Then it’s time to transfer the whole pot into my metal storage bowl and cover it up. This goes into the oven, which is set at 40C (the lowest our oven will go – it’s basically just the oven light as the heat source). And then I leave it there for at least 12 hours, if not more. You can tell when you uncover it that it’s been fermenting, and it’ll have a nice little tang if you taste it. Once I’m satisfied, I put the whole thing into the fridge for another day. It’s not as thick as storebought yogurt at first, but it definitely continues to thicken up the longer it sits in the fridge. It’s really nice!

And to go with my coconut yogurt, I usually have some paleo muesli. This is another recipe from Eat Drink Paleo, and I’ve made it several times. Unlike the yogurt, this is definitely not cheaper than the storebought version! That’s because it’s basically all nuts and seeds, without the filler of oats or grain. I use a mix of macadamias, almonds, and hazelnuts, and I generally put either dried cranberries or apricots in as the fruit. Then I add maple syrup, honey, shredded and flaked coconut, pepitas, and vanilla. I never bother with “activating” the nuts, and I never remember to add the chia either. (Chia kinda grosses me out anyway.) Just be careful not to eat too much in one sitting! As my friend Amy said when she tried it last week, “THIS STUFF IS LIKE CRACK.”