Coconut Milk Kefir

If there’s one food I’ve missed since starting my newest diet, it’s Kefir. The last time I got to enjoy it was during the summer of 2015 at Pine Mountain Lake—the same time I came to accept that the delicious dairy beverage would never touch my lips again. My stomach had been flaring up each and every time I had it, but not wanting to give it up, I practiced an instinctive out-of-sight-out-of-mind habit and pretended nothing was wrong. After being unable to eat dairy for the better part of a year, I’ve finally healed my stomach enough to tolerate cheeses and butter, but not the acidic low-fat dairy products. That doesn’t mean my desire hasn’t gone away, though; every once in awhile, I dream about the tangy homemade Kefir I still love so much.

Then, a few weeks back, an ingenious idea popped into my kefir-craving mind. Why not make the same drink with other products? The next morning, I marched into my makeshift kitchen, armed with a can of coconut milk and some live kefir grains I had gotten from a friend. I mixed the two ingredients together and carefully monitored my concoction every morning, the fear of failure constantly lingering in my mind. By the fourth day, the familiar taste I’d missed for so long had been created—and was safe for me to drink! Although it was a bit milder in flavor and slightly thicker in texture than the milk kefir I have been used to, it definitely was kefir.

And I was definitely excited. So excited that my first response was to grab my camera and photograph it so I could write up my next post. I took my fermented creation to the backyard, where the lighting was perfect to take pictures of delicious things. Once I was done capturing the true beauty of my Kefir, I went back into the kitchen—only to see the glass container, previously full of Kefir, now empty and laying sideways on the table.

Instantly, I knew who the culprit was, but all I could do was laugh as I saw Blake emerge from under the tablecloth, his nose stained white from the coconut. So if the kefir taught me one thing, it’s that you should never leave your most prized possession alone with a dog—especially if your most prized possession is edible.

Coconut Milk Kefir

Created by Cucee Sprouts

Ingredients

• Milk Kefir Grains
• 1 can Coconut milk (unsweetened, full fat only)

Directions

1. In a non-reactive glass dish, mix the milk kefir grains with coconut milk
2. Cover with cloth or paper towel, secured by a ribbon or a rubber band
3. Leave it alone for 24 hours
4. After 24 hours, stir and taste. If it does not taste like kefir yet, leave it for another 24 hours. Repeat the stirring and tasting. My kefir tasted ready after 4 days but yours might start fermenting faster if you live in a warmer or colder climate
5. Remove the milk kefir grains once the coconut kefir is ready. Keep the grains in a glass jar, covered in milk in a refrigerator

Pairing

Serve Kefir with homemade granola or spoon it onto a waffle with a drizzle of honey over it