This thick, rich almond cheese is wonderful spread on a whole grain bagel and topped with sliced fruit or roasted red peppers. It also makes an excellent base for my creamy vegan black bean dip.
I serve it all the time to non-vegans who never know that they aren’t eating traditional cream cheese!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup raw (unroasted) whole almonds (blanch 1-2 minutes in boiling water, rinse in cold water to loosen skins then squeeze each almond to remove its skin)
- 2 cups water
- 2 T. fresh lemon juice
- 4 T. cornstarch
- 3 T. oil (I usually use avocado oil but any mild oil will work)
- 1 T. nutritional yeast
- 1 t. salt (or more to taste)
Grind almonds to a fine powder in a coffee grinder (or pulse in the blender if have a high speed blender, such as a Vita-Mix, but a regular blender will not grind them fine enough). Place ground almonds in blender along with 1 cup of the water. Process on medium until it is a smooth, thick cream.
Add remaining water along with rest of ingredients and blend on high until smooth and creamy.
Pour blended mixture into saucepan and boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. After it thickens, reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute longer.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Beat cream cheese well with a fork, wire whisk, or electric beater. Transfer to a storage container and chill. It will continue to thicken as it chills and will become very firm. It will keep in refrigerator for about 1 week.
Important: Prior to serving, mash and beat the cream cheese again with fork/whisk/beater until smooth and creamy.
