Fat free cream cheese substitute
Fat free cream cheese substitute
Who doesn't love their bagels or English muffins just slathered with cream cheese?
Who really doesn't love the calories per cm² of all the cream cheese?
You can have your decadence without the fat, with a bit of patience on your part.
That's right, zero fat.
The secret ingredient?
Yep, just plain nonfat yogurt.
If the yogurt pours off the spoon (or out of the container), it's unsuitable for this recipe. You want traditional yogurt (that yogurt with the whey waiting on top as you open it)
Now, you'll want a hard colander, a coffee filter and a catch bowl. Your colander will need a base or handles wot keeps it from sitting on the bottom of the catch bowl.
Spread your coffee filter out across the bottom of the colander.
Spoon your plain nonfat yogurt into the filter-lined colander (you'll lose around 25%-33% of the volume as the whey runs off, so keep that in mind)
Place the colander in the catch bowl.
Throw a loose cover on top (to keep stuff from falling in while it's in the fridge)
Place bowl in fridge.
Keep in the fridge at least 12 hours. Check the catch bowl at least every 12 hours (I check every 8 hours) as you'll need to pour out the whey afore it rises to the bottom of the colander)
When it's as (relatively) dry as you want it, you can spoon the resulting spread back into the (hopefully clean) yogurt container from which it came. It'll keep in the fridge (I doubt it'll go bad, as it usually gets eaten long before one has to worry about that). Please note that whey will continue to separate, so you'll probably want to drain it out of the storage container before you partake.
Note: If you've got muscleheads in the house, you can serve/save the whey for them (it's full of good healthy protein that muscleheads crave); if ya ain't got no muscleheads, just pour it down the sink.
Note: It's gonna be ready to eat @ 12 hours draining, but it'll get drier (relatively speaking) the longer you leave it to drain (you're pretty much all done around two days (48 hours), though.
Note: You'll want to tilt the catch bowl / colander during your checks, so any whey that's formed on top of the yogurt will drain off
Note: As waiting for such decadence can try the patience of Job, this scrumptious spread can be used while it's draining (after the initial 12 hours) - just use your spreader to take from the top of the yogurt in the colander.
I like a (relatively) dry spread, so I let mine drain 2 full days.
This is probably not gonna satisfy those of you who like sweet cream cheese spreads, as the dried spread will have the concentrated "bite" of yogurt. I like savory spread, so I sprinkle sodium-free or "Everything Bagel" seasoning on my treats breakfast breads.