You gotta love a cranberry oatmeal muffin and cream cheese for breakfast! This recipe is very, very simple, and it makes a nice large batch. I like to freeze it in small containers, so it’s always fresh!
My homemade blocks of tempeh can weigh in around 10 ounces or a bit more, that’s why it is listed as 8–10 ounces. Store-bought tempeh usually comes in 8 ounce blocks.
If you prefer, you can make this recipe with tofu, either firm, or soft. I find that the tofu flavour comes through a bit, so I add a couple of tablespoons (3-4) of nutritional yeast.
I like both tofu and tempeh for this recipe, but tempeh is higher in protein.
Rejuvelac can be used instead of the probiotics, but the probiotics are great in a pinch when you are out of rejuvelac. Simply replace the water with rejuvelac.
Ingredients
8–10 ounces tempeh
1½ cups mixed cashews and almond meal
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons refined coconut oil (Make sure to use refined-neutral taste coconut oil, otherwise your cheese will taste like coconut.)
¼–½ cup water, as needed for blending
2 capsules probiotics (2 x 10 billion, or 1 x 30 billion)
Variations: all cashews, or mix half and half cashews and sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
Preparation
Soak cashews (or seeds) 4–6 hours in cool water (or overnight), or in hot water 15–30 minutes.
Chop tempeh. Place tempeh, nuts, almond meal, coconut oil and salt in blender jar. Add half of the water. Blend slowly, at first, until fairly smooth, adding water, as needed, and stopping to scrape sides of blender jar, as needed. Once mixture comes together, blend on high until completely smooth. Again, stop and scrape jar a couple of times. Blend in 10–15 second intervals.
If using a high powered blender, the mixture may become warm. Let it cool down before adding probiotics.
Transfer cheese to clean container.
Stir in probiotics. Cover with plastic wrap, place in dark spot in the kitchen, or cover with clean cloth.
Let it culture at room temperature for 22–26 hours. I like it at 24 hours, but it may culture faster in the summer.
Transfer to clean container(s).
Refrigerate. Freezes well.
