Vegan Yogurt Recipe

I haven't had traditional yogurt in such a long time and I never really took to the vegan varieties out there. They are packaged in plastic and always laden with sugar. I also didn't want other iffy ingredients in my yogurt such as modified maize starch, stabilisers, colourings and flavourings. I think this cashew yogurt is a good and natural way to get that creamy, yogurt-like fix and you can control what goes into it, from the flavour to the sweetness.

Here's the recipe for the lemon yogurt I featured in yesterday's post. You can tweak it to suit your taste buds. Add more water for a thinner yogurt and play around with the amount and type of natural sweeteners.

Lemon Cashew Yogurt

• 1 cup of organic cashews (soaked in water for approximately 3-6 hours)
• 1/4 cup of filtered water
• Juice of one small lemon

To sweeten (add either of the following)

• 2 finely chopped organic dates + 1 t agave (or honey)
  
• 1 T agave

Optional extras

• Lemon zest
• Seeds from vanilla bean

Instructions
Drain the soaked cashews and tip into a blender. Blend them without any water first so they are ground as much as possible. Add 1/4 cup of filtered water, juice of one small lemon and natural sweeteners (either 2 chopped dates with agave or just agave). Blend until the mixture is smooth and a consistency you like. I use a normal blender and occasionally need to stir the mixture from the sides with a spoon in between blending.

Store the yogurt in a sealed container in the fridge. My yogurt keeps well for 3-5 days. I think it would be fine to store in the freezer also.

This yogurt is creamy and really complements granola and stewed fruits for breakfast. As it is mainly cashews, you don't need too much. A little goes a long way. I've only tried this lemon flavour so far but I'm looking forward to trying some others. Perhaps rhubarb, apricot or berries.

Granola Side Note
I mentioned that this yogurt was great served with homemade granola. Since posting yesterday, I've read a little bit about the need to soak your oats before using them. In order to lock in their goodness and digest oats better (and any whole grains) it is apparently best to soak them in water and an acidic ingredient such as lemons or apple cider vinegar.

I wanted to test this out and have a cup of oats soaking in two cups of water and 2 T lemon juice as I type. I believe it needs to soak 24 hours. I'm going to try and strain them and proceed with the usual granola recipe I make but hope they will not be too mushy or wet. Has anyone else ever tried making a soaked granola recipe? Quite frankly my oats and I are a little nervous! I'll let you know if it works out.