Yogurt Cheese Balls

I am expounding upon my homemade yogurt recipe. If taken a step further, one can make a creamy yogurt cheese. This is the easiest (and only) cheese I know how to make. You will need cheesecloth, a deep large bowl, and a string or twistie tie. Also helpful is a permanent hook fixture and paperclip. Fold your cheesecloth in half and place in bowl. Fill with your homemade yogurt, however much will fit, then gather up the cloth and tie with the string. You can then hook the paperclip onto the tie and place on hook with bowl placed underneath to catch dripping whey. I didn't have a hook to use, so I let the yogurt hang over the side of the bowl at the top. I made sure to drain the whey accordingly so that it would not soak the ball of yogurt. The instructions I followed suggested no refrigeration while this drains for 24 hours for a more sour cheese, but if you don't enjoy the sour I guess you could let it drain in the refrigerator. After 24 hours when you unwrap the yogurt you will find a soft, spreadable cream cheese with live yogurt culture. You can use it as is, or continue to season with onion powder, garlic salt, ranch dressing powder, bacon bits, chopped nuts, or whatever you prefer. I rolled mine into cheese balls after seasoning and covered with chopped walnuts. Yum!

Homemade Yogurt

I have wondered how to make yogurt for months now, and I guess I have been too lazy to research how to do it until recently!  I just youtubed a few tutorial videos and mixed up a few methods.  There a some that use the stove/oven and some that use solely the crockpot.  I chose to mix in order to achieve the fastest method, because my attention span in the kitchen is limited!  Also, the tutorials all seemed to result in a yogurt product that was runny, even almost a liquid.  I don't like the idea of drinking my yogurt all the time, so I kept my ears perked for what is used as a thickener and doubled the amount used.  Also, I doubled the amount of starter yogurt culture and halved the amount of milk.  This resulted in half as much yogurt which was likeably thick enough for me to eat!  Hooray!  I was thrilled it worked on my first try, especially considering that I added vanilla extract to enhance the flavor a bit.  It still did not taste like vanilla flavor, but it wasn't as noticeably tart as I think it could have been because of this.  I will list the recipe ingredient amounts in the amounts I used to get a thicker, creamier yogurt. 

4 cups milk (whole, 2%, skim, whatever)
1 tbsp. vanilla
6 Tbsp. Plain yogurt w/ live cultures and no sweeteners
6 Tbsp. powdered milk
-combine milk and vanilla and bring to a rolling boil on the stove
-let cool to body temperature (test it on your wrist)
-pour into a crockpot on WARM setting (ideally this should be 110 degrees)
-Add remaining ingredients and whisk well, let it remain covered for 6-9 hours
-scoop into containers and refrigerate

ENJOY!  Flavor may be enhanced with added jams or apple butter, similar to Fruit on the Bottom yogurt at the store. 

Perhaps next time I make it I will post pictures to help you out.