Vegan Herb & Garlic Cream Cheese

Niki Limo made a video where she tested out Lauren Toyota's vegan cream cheese recipe, and I was intrigued. Could tofu really taste like cream cheese? Was this another protein-adder and food I love that I could incorporate into my diet?

I'd soon find out "no" because of the amount of coconut oil (I have an aversion to how it adds a coconut flavor to everything, ick) that goes into this recipe, but it's still handy to be able to whip up a speedy spread or dip.

Ingredients

• 1 package tofu
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup + 1tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1 tbsp basil
• 1 tbsp dill (I omitted because I didn't have it)
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1.5 tbsp chives (also omitted for same reason)

Methodology

Press the water out of the tofu with towels to get as much moisture out as possible.

Toss everything into a blender and go at it!

Super easy, right?

Scoop out into a container and let sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Results

The texture was a little looser than cream cheese, possibly because my tofu was still holding on to water. The flavor was like cream cheese...but with that coconut flavor that I really don't like. I was a little disappointed and wondering what I'd do with this, but decided to wait a bit.

After a few days in the fridge, I found that the coconut flavor lessened and the acidity really kicked it to make this into a killer dip for crackers and carrot stickets and such. It's a huge amount of "cream cheese" to go through in a week, so I'll just make a half batch next time.