Description
This homemade vanilla bean yogurt is silky, creamy, and delicately sweet, featuring real vanilla flecks and balanced tang. It’s easy to make with just a few ingredients and no special equipment, offering a fresher and more economical alternative to store-bought yogurt.
Ingredients
- 1 quart organic whole milk (4 cups)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, or seeds from 1 vanilla bean
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 yogurt starter packet, or 1/4 cup yogurt with active cultures
Instructions
- Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 180°F, then remove from heat.
- Stir in sugar, vanilla bean paste (or scraped seeds), and vanilla extract until dissolved.
- Let the mixture cool to 112°F.
- Stir in the yogurt starter or active-culture yogurt until fully combined.
- Pour into 4 clean jars and cover loosely.
- Incubate the jars in a warm place for about 7 hours or overnight until set. Use an oven with the light on, a crockpot wrapped in towels, or a heating pad on low.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
- Enjoy plain or with toppings like fruit, honey, or granola.
Notes
- Use whole milk for best texture; low-fat milk will yield thinner yogurt.
- Don’t add fruit or flavorings before incubation — do this after the yogurt has set.
- To make thicker yogurt, strain through cheesecloth for 1–3 hours after chilling.
- Save 1/4 cup of this batch as a starter for your next batch.
- Use only plain yogurt with live active cultures as a starter — avoid flavored types.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Cultured
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 75mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 16g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 9g
- Cholesterol: 30mg
