De-lish Homemade Yogurt in the Crockpot

yermz. that's our family word for yummy, and that's how my afternoon snack tastes ... right... now. i confess i had my doubts about how well homemade yogurt would taste, but y'all, lemme tell ya, iz gooood. at least my recipe is (cute face), which is why i decided to share it with ya. but better than the flavor, truthfully, is how EASY it is to make. don't "bleeve" me? (as my 4yr old says) try it for yo' self....

Easy Crockpot Yogurt

Makes about 4 cups

      Ingredients

• 8 Cups Milk (any kind)
• ½ cup plain or vanilla yogurt (any kind with live cultures, or use left over homemade yogurt)
• ½ cup powdered milk (this is optional, use for thicker yogurt)
• ½ cup honey
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 TB vanilla extract

Pour milk into crockpot and heat on low for 2 ½ hrs. When time is up, turn off pot and unplug it. Allow warm milk to sit covered for 3hrs to allow the temp to drop some. After that, remove 1 cup of warm milk and pour it into a medium bowl. Add powdered milk, honey, sugar, and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Pour sweetened mixture back into crockpot and whisk well to blend. Put the lid on, and wrap the unplugged pot in a thick towel covering the sides and top to insulate it. Allow the yogurt mixture to sit like that for at least 8 hrs or over night. When it’s done the yogurt is ready to eat, but it may be runnier that you like. You can strain it to thicken it.

                                    

To strain it, take a colander, line it with a white coffee filter or cheese cloth (or be cool like me and use one of those thin Ikea towels), and place it over a bowl. Then ladle your yogurt into the strainer and place the bowl/strainer combo into the fridge where your yogurt can cool. After several hours, the watery whey will strain out of the yogurt, leaving it nice and thick. Scrape the yogurt out of the coffee filter and into a container. If you want Greek style, dump it back into the strainer with a fresh filter and strain it again. Now save that whey (watery stuff), y'all! Use it in baking or smoothies in place of milk or buttermilk - it will add great nutrition without changing the flavor.

Yogurt will keep for 2 weeks. Whey keeps for 6 months in a sealed container. 

recipe adapted from alicia's method.