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By the time I get to the dairy aisle, I’m always bound to forget something, and for me, it’s cream cheese. To make matters worse, the once humble breakfast spread now has a not-so-modest price tag. I want to give my wallet a breather (and noone wants to drive back to the store for just one item), I found a great way to make cream cheese at home with one ingredient!

Via: Flickr

Making more cream cheese for less money? I’ll choose that option! When I stumbled across this video and recipe, I knew I had hit gold.

No need for fancy thickened Greek-style yogurt either, because this recipe calls for classic unflavored plain yogurt, but to achieve the creamiest results, it’s best to choose whole-milk yogurt.

Via: Flickr

Cheesecloth is the only special equipment needed, and honestly, there’s no good substitution. Though there are other things like coffee filters, cheesecloth is optimal for draining the liquid without disintegrating into the dairy mixture itself.

Via: Flickr

Place a strainer over a large bowl and then add the cheesecloth, once it’s set up, you can add your 32 ounces of yogurt into the cheesecloth-lined strainer, cover the yogurt and let it drain for 24 hours.

Via: Flickr

After 24 hours, prep a flat glass container with cheesecloth and place the strained yogurt into the container. Place it back in the refrigerator and put something heavy to weigh down the container. I mention a glass container for a reason because glass will hold up under the pressure of the weighted object, you don’t want a refrigerator disaster on your hands!

Via: Flickr

Now here’s the hardest part of this whole process – waiting. To transform the yogurt into a thicker, solid block of cream cheese, you have to let it “marinate” in the fridge for a week. This process further thickens the yogurt and gives it that rich cream cheese quality.

You can use it just like cream cheese, just make sure to soften it before adding it to baked goods, with this method you’ll get more cream cheese for less money!