Upon our return to France my cheese cravings got stronger: French cheese is amazingly delicious and it is everywhere, which makes it hard to resist! There is the rule in our household: everything is allowed, except gluten: this rule applies to my husband of course, because I have so many other restrictions… Therefore, on many occasions I had to observe my husband eating some of the most delicious cheeses I used to enjoy before. Given the situation, I felt that I had to come up with another dairy-free cheese recipe soon so that I wouldn’t feel myself too deprived.
Luckily, while working on this recipe of mine I noted that it had a slightly cheesy flavor. I thought that by replacing cassava flour with tapioca, known for its ability to provide a gummy structure, I would be able to obtain the desired cheesy texture. The first attempt didn’t work out as I wanted, but I felt that I was on the right track. I kept on experimenting by modifying the amount of ingredients, so at some point we had the fridge full of dairy-free “mozzarella cheese” and it felt almost as a blessing!
I’ve also found out that this whisk works very well for making this cheese. Note of caution here: stirring constantly is critical in the recipe, so make sure to prepare all the necessary ingredients in advance!
- 2 tablespoons coconut yogurt
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan salt
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch*
- 2 tablespoons palm shortening**
- Fragrance-free coconut oil (for greasing)
- In a small recipient mix together the coconut yogurt and salt, set aside.
- In a measuring cup whisk the coconut milk with tapioca starch while breaking lumps until an emulsion forms.
- Pour the emulsion into a small or medium-size saucepan and stir continuously over medium heat.
- When the mixture starts to be a bit lumpy add the earlier prepared yogurt and salt mixture while stirring.
- When the mixture starts to become gummy, lower the heat to the minimum and add the palm shortening while stirring. Keep on stirring for 3 to 4 minutes and remove from heat.
- Grease the mold or any other adapted cookware with the coconut oil and pour in the mixture.
- As soon at the mixture cools place it in the fridge for 1h30m, after that gently remove the cheese and place it on a greased serving plate. Return the cheese to the fridge and let it cool for 10 to 12 hours or overnight.
**Stored at the room temperature.
Maria is the blogger behind the Zesty Paleo website. As a Hashimoto's patient for more than a decade, Maria has constantly been taking steps to improve her quality of life, including nutrition and lifestyle choices.
Aip coconut yogurt? Where or hoe?
How, not hoe
COYO Brand is AIP. Also, you can make coconut yogurt in the InstantPot.
I so miss cheese. Can’t wait to try this! Also, I’ve been making coconut yogurt for quite a while now but cannot get it to thicken properly. Any suggestions?
Hi Sharon, I usually add tapioca starch and gelatin to thicken my yogurt. You will have to heat it all together, let the mixture cool to the room temperature and stir in the yogurt culture.
my recipe said to add in the gelatine after it was heated, but it just hasn’t got thick at all do youthink thats the reason why????
What exactly is a recipient? Is it a certain kind of container, or just any container?
Any small container will do!
When I make coconut yogurt, I make it with coconut cream and thicken it with gelatin. It ends up like Greek yogurt. For this cheese recipe, should I make my yogurt thinner/creamier by using less gelatin or perhaps using coconut milk instead of cream?
Hi Karen,
Thickness of yogurt doesn’t matter in this recipe. As long as it is acid enough it will do the trick!
YOU HAVE SO MANY GREAT RECIPES!, SO NUTRITIOUS, WONDERFUL INGREDIENTS,
Thanks so much for your kind words, Kelly!