Insanely Delicious Vegan Gluten-Free Cheese

 This is not an original recipe, but I substituted enough ingredients that I thought it merited an actual blog post. The original recipe can be found here, at Sweet Roots blog. Check out that blog, by the way, for more super delicious vegan, gluten-free foods such as baked oatmeal.

I'm telling you about this cheese because it is so delicious and really easy to make. Even if  you don't follow the measurements exactly and roughly throw ingredients in based on the flavors you prefer, it's going to turn out delicious. Mine tastes just like cheddar, but with a hint of coconut and spicy peppers. If you don't like the taste of coconut, you won't like this cheese. It's not super strong, but I guarantee you will notice the coconut flavor. I think part of the reason this cheese tastes so much better than any vegan cheese I've yet tasted on the market is because the coconut gives it the satisfying fat that dairy cheese would have, while also being meltable.

I ended up substituting most of the ingredients because I do not have the time or money to go out and buy agar agar flakes, white balsamic vinegar, tapioca starch, or liquid smoke, especially considering that I would only be using a small portion of each for this recipe. I also didn't have paprika, so I made do with cayenne. I used comparable ingredients that I had on hand. In my opinion, Bragg's apple cider vinegar and liquid aminos are much healthier than white balsamic vinegar and liquid smoke anyway.

The Sweet Roots Version:

2 cans coconut milk (full fat, thai kitchen brand prefered)
3 T agar flakes *(see notes below if using agar powder - I primarily use powder now)
1 t white balsamic vinegar
4 T tapioca starch
1 t smoked paprika
1/4 t liquid smoke
2 t sea salt
1/4 c nutritional yeast flakes (optional but definitely gives it more cheesy-ness) - UPDATE
Pinch of turmeric (for more authentic cheese color - optional)

1. Boil coconut milk until no longer seperated. Add white balsamic vinegar, agar flakes, and salt. Boil gently for 15. * (no need to boil 15 minutes if using agar agar powder)
2. Add remaining ingredients, one at a time. Whisking all the while! Cook another 5-10 minutes.
3. Remove from pan and put in greased, flat-bottomed glass dish or parchment paper lined loaf pan.
4. Let cool two hours. You can also stick in fridge when cool and use the next day. Slice and enjoy! (If it's refridgerated, you can actually grate it. It's a little slippery though and easier to just slice).

Ingredients I used:

2 cans full fat coconut milk
1 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar
4 tsp Bob's Red Mill general purpose gluten free flour
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
2 tsp salt
1/4 c nutritional yeast flakes

It's probably not necessary to use agar agar or xantham gum. You might be able to get away with corn starch in a pinch, or nothing at all to gel it if you boil for 15 minutes.

You can probably tell that I don't know anything about cooking, so I'm sure some people will look at my measurements and cringe at the proportions of flour to xantham gum, which I assume are wrong. But I judged by how the cheese texture felt while I was cooking it, and it turned out just fine. If you are also an imprecise cook, you can at least benefit from my experience. Mad Scientist Kitchen.