Coconut milk is a staple in my house these days, but it can be hard to find in stores without a bunch of chemicals or in a BPA free can. But anyone who has been gluten free for a while is no doubt used to making everything else from scratch to avoid all kinds of ingredients, so why not coconut milk too?
When I came across this recipe, I knew I had found a winner. The original recipe uses stevia, not sugar, so make sure to go check it out especially if you are sugar free.
Prep Time; 5 minutes
Cook Time; N/A
Ready In; 2 hours 5 minutes
- 2 packed cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 4 cups drinking water
- 1 tsp gluten free vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp sugar
- Soak coconut in the water for 2 hours on the counter or overnight in the fridge.
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on the highest speed.
- Strain liquid through cheesecloth.
- Shake to recombine all parts of the milk if necessary.
- Enjoy on it's own or in recipes!
Tips;
Blend on a slow speed to start with, gradually turning it up to the highest speed your blender will go - this should keep it from splashing up into the lid where you loose a lot of the cream and oil, the most flavorful parts of this recipe, but still give you the power needed to liquefy as much of the coconut as possible. I figured that out after I took this photo;
Blend on a slow speed to start with, gradually turning it up to the highest speed your blender will go - this should keep it from splashing up into the lid where you loose a lot of the cream and oil, the most flavorful parts of this recipe, but still give you the power needed to liquefy as much of the coconut as possible. I figured that out after I took this photo;
Oops! Scraping down only rescues so much.
When I make this to use in baked goods I don't usually add the vanilla or any sweetener - there is enough sweetness and flavor in the recipe without it.
Make sure your cheesecloth is nice and big, as well as the jar that you squeeze this into. As you can see I used three small bottles, but it would have been much easier to use one large jar. You get consistency for all your milk that way too, instead of varying amounts of oil and cream in each jar. You want the cheesecloth to be big enough to pour all the mixture in to at once, plus a generous hand width all around the edge so that you have plenty of room for squeezing without the coconut falling out everywhere.
Use a funnel underneath the cheesecloth to help strain. (I will try and remember to get a good picture of this next time I am making coconut milk.) Like this;
Just pour in the mixture, no hands required.
It drains quickly on it's own at first.
But then lifting up the edges to gently squeeze the liquid out speeds up the process.
As you can see, this time I used a nice big jar - definitely a big improvement.
Finally, wringing the cloth well gets all the lovely coconut cream and oil out!
Make sure to squeeze the coconut solids in the cheesecloth really well after all the liquid has strained through to get the good creamy parts.
Freeze any extra you don't use within a couple of days - this has no preservatives in it and lots of water so it will go bad quickly. The oil floats to the top and solidifies there, like this;
It creates a nice temporary barrier between the milk and the air, but it is not airtight, and neither is any lid you put on.
This is what is left over!
It is exactly like dessicated coconut that you buy in the store. It explains why the stuff is so tasteless - all the good stuff has been taken out of it! I have heard of people using it in recipes toasted or as is, or composting it like I did.
While this recipe takes a little bit of work, the taste is far cleaner than what you buy in the store, and cheaper too! For me it is worth the effort.
It is wonderful to have a coconut milk option that tastes so fresh!
I would give the original recipe 4 out of 5 stars - the directions heavily relied on specific tools that I do not have, and it would have been nice to have some explanation on how to do it with other methods - I hope I have accomplished that here.
For taste alone this recipe gets 5 out of 5 stars - Perfect!
This recipe was shared through The Barn Hop, Sunday School, Simple Lives Thursday, Fresh Bites Friday, Frugal Friday, DIY Friday.
Excellent recipe! Came over from Little House in the Suburbs. I'll have to make this soon.
ReplyDeleteLet me know how it turns out!
DeleteWhat a great idea to make your own! I would never have thought to do this... wish I had this the other day when I needed some for a recipe (but was out of the canned variety)!
ReplyDeleteI cannot tell you how many times I have used this recipe for exactly that!
DeleteWhere do you find the unsweetened shredded coconut? I want to try this recipe but I've never seen that in the store. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIn my larger grocery store it is in the Health Food section, the brand they carry is Bob's Red Mill. One local grocery store carries it in the baking aisle along with the other alternative flours, again by Bob's Red Mill. I hope this helps.
DeleteSay you use a real coconut. How much of the meat would equal two packages?
ReplyDeleteThe recipe calls for 2 cups, not packages, so you can use either fresh or dried, it doesn't matter. I believe 2 cups would be about 2 good sized coconuts.
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