Cashew Coconut Cream Cheese

Looking for that PERFECT vegan cream cheese spread? There may be a few pre-packed options these days at your local health food store, however if you’ve tried them you may have encountered something bland or downright unappetizing. Try making your own instead! You’ll love this recipe by Ann Oliverio of An Unrefined Vegan made with whole raw cashews, unsweetened coconut flakes, sweet white miso (or chickpea miso if you’re soy-free), fresh lemon, and a touch of agave and salt. Perfectly pure and wholesome. Raw “Black Bread” recipe featured in the image above coming soon!

Yield: 1 mini loaf pan

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight, rinsed, & drained
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, soaked for ~15 minutes, drained
• 1 tbsp. sweet white miso (I use South River brand)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. agave nectar
• pinch salt

Instructions

1) Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and process until very smooth.  You’ll need to stop the machine and scrape the sides every few minutes.  This will get smooth – it just takes time and patience.  I prefer a food processor here over a high-speed blender because it’s so much easier to scrape out the cheese once it’s smooth.
2) Line a mini-loaf pan or other small/shallow dish with a couple of layers of cheese cloth.
3) Scrape the cheese into the dish, pressing down so that the cheese gets into the corners.
4) Press down the cheesecloth over the top, place in the refrigerator and place something heavy on top of the cheese/cheesecloth.
5) Let the cheese rest in the fridge for 24+ hours.
6 )Carefully remove the cheese from the pan.  Take off the cheesecloth and schemer a big schlab on a bagel!