Creamy Soy-Almond Yogurt - Plus Key Lime Variation

I bought a new instant pot to get the Yogurt button, and made some batches following this blog post on soy yogurt. (I also tried using soaked almonds processed in my ninja blender which was pretty good but a little gritty and more work;  oat and coconut milk did not work -- it's critical that the milk you use has zero additives). Using soy milk is so easy, but was hard to get it to be as thick as I'd like. Cooking longer - I tried up to 15 hours -- helps, but it's super tangy!

Enter my brother Jeff, who perfected it after I sent him home with a jar. He bought an instant pot and did several experiments using combinations of soy milk and thickeners (like soy flour & cornstarch) and syrup for the yeasties to eat. He also dissolved them by boiling them in the milk first. The winning combo: Soy milk, almond flour, and (ginger) syrup, boiled, then add starter and cook in the instant pot with water around the jars to better distribute the heat. This takes almost half the time (roughly 9 hours) and is amazing - thick, creamy, and tasty!

Ingredients

1 qt soy milk (no additives)
28 grams (~4.5 T) fine blanched almond flour
2 T ginger syrup (or try maple)
starter:
3 TJs advanced strength probiotics 
(or yogurt from previous batch)

Toppings:
Berries
Chopped apples
Roasted flax seed
Grapenuts or granola
Jam or honey if you want it sweeter

Key lime flavoring (opt) per jar:
zest from one lime
juice from 1 lime
1/4 C sugar or honey

Instructions

Pour the soy milk into a large sauce pan, and stir in almond flour and syrup. Bring to a boil and cook for a minute or two. Turn off and come back in a couple of hours after it's cooled. There might be a little skin on it; you could take it off or try to mix it in. Add the starter: open 3 probiotic pills and stir in the contents. Pour into glass jars of your preferred size (I use 2 large; Jeff uses 6 small).  Put the jars in the Instant Pot and fill the pot with water up to the yogurt line.  Press Yogurt. I set it for 9.5 hours, but next time I'll try 9, and then maybe 8 (less time means a little less tangy).

Come back to find beautiful thick, creamy vegan soy yogurt. Let cool, cap, and refrigerate. I use it in the morning to take some of our supplements (e.g., resveratrol and quercetin powder, which are absorbed better with some fat and protein) and top with fresh berries, chopped apples, roasted flax seed and grapenuts. I don't add a sweetener, but you could mix a little honey or jam into your bowl.

UPDATE: Key lime variation: In one of the two jars, add zest and juice from one lime, plus sugar or honey. YUUUUM!



Photos of making the yogurt:





Boil, then stir in probiotic pill contents.

Put in instant pot and then add water around jars (up to level of milk).

Come back to thick creamy yogurt 9 hours later!



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