Learn to make your own homemade flavored cream cheese, and you’ll never buy another tub again. Sure, the grocery store flavors taste good — but these taste fabulous (and are more healthy). Plus, there’s no limit to what flavors you can try!
In this video excerpt from the Cultured Dairy & Basic Cheese eCourse, I show you how to make Onion-Chives or Cinnamon-Walnut cream cheese.
First, you have to know how to make cream cheese. That step is not included in the video above — but it is demonstrated on video in the eCourse. (Also — eCourse members — be sure to log in and download the detailed print notes which include more flavor ideas.)
1. How to Make Cream Cheese
This makes approximately 2 cups of cream cheese.
Combine 1 quart of cream (not heavy) with 1/8 teaspoon of mesophilic culture. You can also use 4 tablespoons of buttermilk or sour cream with active cultures. Cover the jar with a paper towel or cloth napkin and secure with a rubber band. Culture at room temperature for 8 to 24 hours until set up like firm yogurt or sour cream.
Drain the whey/buttermilk out of the cultured cream by hanging it in cheesecloth for 12 to 24 hours, or until the cheese is as dry as you’d like. Remove the cheese from the cheesecloth and put in a jar or glass storage container. Cover with an air-tight lid. Use plain, add sea salt to taste, or flavor (see below). Keeps for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Cream cheese from pastured cows eating rapidly growing green grass will be lightly to deeply yellow — from the carotene in the grass. One of the best real food sources of Vitamin A!
2. Cinnamon-Walnut Cream Cheese
By gently folding and mixing, combine 1 cup of cream cheese with 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (preferably soaked and dehydrated), 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 3 tablespoons of desired sweetener (such as palm sugar, date sugar, honey, maple syrup, rapadura or sucanat). Taste and add more of anything! Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Delicious with toast, pancakes, apple slices…
3. Onion-Chives Cream Cheese
By gently folding and mixing, combine 1 cup of cream cheese with 1/4 cup finely diced onions, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Taste and add more of anything! Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Eat some up with crackers, on toast, or with cut up veggies!
Have you made homemade flavored cream cheese? What are your favorite flavors? What do you eat with cream cheese? Please share!
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I shared this post with Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, and Pennywise Platter Thursday.
About Wardee Harmon
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I found a site that said you can make your own mesophilic starter culture. You take raw milk and let it sit out for 24+ hours till its thick like yogurt. Then pour in ice cube trays. There you have your starter culture. I was wondering if you know is that a good way to do it? Or do you just end up with clabbered milk?? Thanks!
Evie — Yes, you can do that! You run the risk of the flavor not being consistent (clabber — soured raw milk — can taste different batch to batch) but many people do this with great success. Use it as the same rate as a prepared mother culture (1 T to 1 cup of milk).
The flavored cream cheese looks delicious, by the way! I was looking into getting a mesophilic starter culture so I could make it. That’s how I ran into this other site.
Thank you!
Thank you for this post! My daughter and I love making different kinds of spread for our wraps. I think it’s time to make our own cream cheese. You make it seem so easy! Thank you!
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Hi Wardee,
Can I use whey as mesophilic culture?
Thanks
Martine
Martine — No, I don’t think so. Whey is acidic from the get-go and may end up curdling your cream way too fast into curds and whey. The mesophilic bacteria produce acids slowly over time to thicken it just right.
Thanks Wardee
So I will try with buttermilk
Martine
Can you use milk kefir to culture cream for cream cheese?
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Yes! Though not the kefir itself — use about a tablespoon of grains per quart of cream to culture it. Then of course remove the grain before proceeding, but I know you know that.
Oh, thank you!
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probably a very ignorant question, but are you able to freeze this cream cheese as you would store bought? If so, would you add the flavorings before or after freezing since it has no preservatives?
RG — You can freeze it, yes. Whether or not you add the other ingredients before or after doesn’t matter. If there are some that don’t freeze well, you’d probably want to wait on those.
Wardee, seeing you struggle a little with removing the cheese cloth from the stick reminded me to share something small but exciting…to homesteader types anyway! LOL I recently added a hook underneath a shelf in my laundry. The shelf is above a counter so when I need to hang things like cheese or jelly the bowl sits on the counter and whatever is hanging goes on the hook above…it’s so easy now!
hi i made my own starte from an online recipe from cultured buttermilk. The cream cheese recipe called for 2q half and half and 4 ounces of the starter if homemade. it said it would take abot 12 h to set and mine still has a consistecy of half and half. i guess what i wont to know is if it will take longer useing my own homemade starter?
Will this cream cheese melt well (like in a cream sauce over noodles?) or should it stay cold to stay creamy?
Rhonda — This will be creamy either cold or at room temperature. By melt, if you mean melt like butter — yes, it will do that. But it doesn’t melt like cheddar cheese, not that kind of melt. I hope this helps!
I was wondering if you can make this with a non-dairy cream like coconut or soy? My husband is allergic to milk, but loves cream cheese.
Dawn — I really don’t know. I’m not sure the culture would be able to eat anything in non-dairy creams (it needs a food source). I’m sorry I can’t help with this.