We’ve been in a breakfast rut lately interchanging whole-grain waffles with oatmeal, always paired with green smoothies.
It’s morning. Simple routines needed.
When I do break out of the waffle/oatmeal breakfast rotation, the girls are stoked!
Most stoked when it’s pancakes… but, also pretty happy to see a beautiful vegan yogurt breakfast parfait like this…
These vegan yogurt parfaits are an especially easy and fast breakfast treat.
They look so elegant but really quite simple to make!
You can prepare the vegan yogurt the day before, and then layer your favorite fruits into parfaits the next morning.
Put them in special cups or parfait glasses and the kiddos think it’s very fancy.
My wee girl said “this is the best day ever“! 😊
The parfaits start with Vanilla Cashew Yogurt. When I wrote LTEV I used storebought vegan yogurts in several of the recipes – the Creamed Cheese Brownies, the Gluten-Free Chocolate Yogurt Cake, and the Banana Butter Pie (I have GOT to get that recipe and photos up for you)!
I went a little overboard offering allergy-friendly and storebought substitutions with LTEV, so I decided to include a homemade vegan yogurt recipe.
This Vanilla Yogurt is not exactly like storebought brands. It’s not cultured with probiotics.
What it does offer is the characteristic tang and texture of a plain or vanilla non-dairy yogurt.
While it doesn’t include the probiotics, you can easily add your own probiotics when eating. (I add probiotics to store-bought vegan yogurts all the time!). Just open a capsule of whatever probiotic you are using, and stir it into the yogurt.
Enjoy this vegan yogurt straight up or as a topping for granola, baked goods, or to layer in breakfast parfaits. Here, they are layered with fresh kiwi, nectarines, and blueberries.
Many other fruits could be used, and in the fall an apple/pear/orange combination would be tremendous! You could also layer in for an even heartier breakfast (or snack).
The recipe follows. If you’ve already tried it, please share you how you’ve enjoyed it.
x Dreena
Vanilla Cashew Vegan Yogurt
Ingredients
- 1 cup presoaked raw cashews
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce preferably organic
- 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp lemon juice see note
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup non-dairy milk or more to thin if desired; but keep to 1/3 cup for use in recipes
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract OR 1/4 - 1 /2 tsp vanilla bean powder
- pinch salt
Instructions
- In a high-powered blender, puree all ingredients until very smooth. If using a standard blender, this may take a few minutes, and scraping down the sides a few times throughout. Serve, or store in an airtight container. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.
Notes
- I created this vegan yogurt primarily as a substitute for premade yogurts in my recipes (ex: BF Blueberry Muffins, Fresh Orange Cake). As such, it isn’t overly sweet. Feel free to make it a little more fun for your little ones, by stirring in extra maple syrup, or try a few spoonfuls of a berry, peach, or other fruit jam. Also note that this vegan yogurt is nutritious for little ones that might not otherwise eat nuts or nut butters because of textural issues - nuts being too hard, and nut butters too sticky. This recipe brings cashews into a pudding-like form that can you can customize with extra flavor and sweetness!
- Use 1 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice for use in recipes, and if you’d like it tangier for eating straight, add the extra lemon juice to taste.
- Probiotics Note: Feel free to add probiotics (by breaking open a capsule), and stir into this yogurt.
Tammy says
I just made this, and I don’t see why pureed strawberries wouldn’t work. But the applesauce gave it a really nice, yogurt-y flavor.
Tammy says
I made a double batch of this for my family, and it’s absolutely incredible! I haven’t eaten dairy for 3 years, and the one thing I missed was yogurt. This is actually way better than yogurt, and I am so, so grateful to be able to eat a yogurt breakfast again. Even my husband, who still eats dairy, said it’s better than his dairy-based yogurt. Our 4-year-old daughter exclaimed, “Mmmm,this cream is SO yummy!” I use about 1/4 cup per serving, and this morning I mixed the yogurt with chopped banana, blueberries, granola and hempseed. It was so good, I could cry. Thank you so much, Dreena! Your recipes are so very appreciated!
Esther says
How do you think pureed strawberries would work? Don’t have applesauce.
Mikkel Magnuson says
Yesterday I tried this with chocolate, vanilla and cashew. As I have so many other ingredients available for different recipes .But I try with this combination which is quite yummy and divine in taste. Thanks to you
Tom says
Hi Dreena, I’ve been meaning to try making my own yogurt and found this recipe so thank you very much. I would like to try making in larger batches as my son and I eat yogurt daily. How long should this keep in the fridge?
Dreena says
Hi Tom, it’s good for about 5 days, after that it might be iffy! But, if you eat it daily, I’d say you could easily double or triple it to have it last through most of the week.