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A bowl of homemade labneh yogurt cheese
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Homemade Cream Cheese (Labneh or Yogurt Cheese)

You can make a handy homemade cream cheese using this traditional method of draining the liquid away from plain yogurt.
Author: Beverly

Equipment:

  • Flour sack or other lightweight lint-free material (I used muslin)
  • Colander and bowl (for method 1)

Ingredients:

  • Plain yogurt

Instructions:

Method 1:

  • Line a colander with your flour sack towel or other material.
  • Put the colander over a bowl to catch the liquid that will drain off.
  • Place some of the yogurt into the fabric lined colander. Place everything in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours to let all the liquid drain away.
    making homemade yogurt cheese
  • Note: You will need a bowl deep enough that as the liquid drains away, the colander does not end up setting in the liquid as the process moves along.

Method 2:

  • Place some of the yogurt into the material and gather up the edges to form a type of bag.
  • Hang the bag from something to let the liquid whey drain off. I used my banana tree for this and put a container under it to catch the liquid. This can set at room temperature for a few hours as the liquid drains away.
    making homemade yogurt cheese
  • At the end of the process for either of these methods, you will have a soft ball of cream cheese left in the material after the liquid has drained away. Transfer your homemade cream cheese to a container and store in the refrigerator.