Homemade Yogurt

Yogurt is a healthy breakfast option, snack and a great addition to smoothies. I know it can also get expensive depending on what kind you enjoy and if you're able to find a good sale. Our family goes in spurts but we do enjoy eating yogurt each week and incorporating it into our fruit smoothies. I try to stock up when I can find a good sale.

I've been hearing about making your own yogurt for awhile now and finally decided to give it a try on Friday. It's my one day off during the week and it was a fun little project for our youngest and I to enjoy together. I really can't get over just how easy this was, the end result was great! I will forever now make my own yogurt and in return save our family some money.

If you decide to make this for yourself, which I hope you do, you'll need to remember your yogurt will not taste as sweet as what you buy in the store. We added some homemade strawberry freezer jam and fresh fruit to sweeten ours up and it was just enough. It's also not as thick as what you buy; the longer you let it set, the thicker it will be. Also using whole milk will result in a thicker yogurt, but feel free to use whatever kind of milk you have on hand.

Homemade Yogurt

Ingredients:
4 c whole milk
1//4 c instant nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 c plain or vanilla yogurt (Once you've made a batch, you can then use this as your starter)

Directions:
Heat milk in a large saucepan until a thermometer registers 180 degrees F. The milk will be steaming but not yet boiling. Turn off heat and slowly whisk in dry milk powder. Let the mixture cool to 115 degrees F, about 20-25 mins. While mixture is cooling, preheat a slow cooker on low. Once milk mixture is cool, whisk in plain yogurt.

Pour mixture into preheated slow cooker and turn off. Cover with lid and wrap slow cooker with a thick towel. Let sit for 10-12 hours, the longer it stands the thicker your yogurt will become. Do not stir it while in the slow cooker.

Once the yogurt is done, spoon into a container and transfer to the refrigerator. When ready to eat, you can sweeten with jam, honey or fruit if desired. Makes about 5-6 cups.

Adapted from: Ten Dollar Dinners