Coconut Cream Cheese (dairy-free, vegan)

Cream cheese, oh, cream cheese… soo thick, so creamy, so cool, so perfect when spread thickly on a toasted bagel. Those were the days… I could easily use one package of cream cheese on one toasted bagel. However, if people were watching, I’d have half a bagel with half the package. I certainly didn’t dilly dally with a smearing of cream cheese on bagels. Bagels deserve to be adorned with a thick layer of cream cheese, close to about 1 cm (almost ½ inch) thick. I’d like to think that the contrast of the warm crisp and chewy bagel and the cool, creamy, tangy cheese cheese was perfect, whereas in reality, the bagel was simply a vehicle to transport cream cheese into my mouth.

I recall a time when a friend of mine, M, and I were baking red velvet cupcakes. We had a decent amount of cream cheese frosting left, and we ended up piping it directly into our mouths. Ha! Another one of my favorite cream cheese recipes was a spread made by adding drained tinned tuna and green onions.

It’s been a while since my love affair with cream cheese (and bagels) has ended, however, when I saw this recipe, there was a flicker of interest. This vegan cream cheeze is pretty good, it’s creamy, tangy and spreadable, but unfortunately it was not for me. It just didn’t quite hit the spot. Since it’s made with coconut milk and coconut butter, there was (not surprisingly) a distinct coconut flavor, and it was also a little tangier than I’d like. It didn’t go too well with my smoked salmon either… such a shame.

I give this cheeze a rating of 1 out of 5.

COCONUT CREAM CHEESE (dairy-free, vegan)

adapted from jane’s healthy kitchen: dairy-free coconut cream cheese

Ingredients

• 7 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon vitamin c powder
• 55 g (1/4 cup) softened creamed coconut (coconut butter)
• 1-1/2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Method

1. Process everything together in a food processor until smooth.

2. Pour into a container and chill for 2+ hours to thicken.

3. Let sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!