Homemade Almond Milk

Listening to: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals- "The Lion The Beast The Beat" album

Never again will I buy almond milk…

Making it is so much cheaper, satisfying, and delicious. Miry and I were spoon-feeding ourselves the frothy top; "ooh-ing" and "ah-ing" over its resemblance to a vanilla milkshake. YUM. 

What you'll need: 1 cup raw almonds, 4 cups filtered water, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/8 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. maple syrup or honey (optional), 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. allspice, a glass quart jar with lid, and a blender.

(The sweeteners and spices are optional. Get creative!)

Here’s how it’s done:

•  Soak about 1 cup of raw almonds in a bowl of filtered water for up to 48 hours. (Putting a top on the bowl and sticking it in the fridge is a good idea to avoid bacteria and random floating stuff from the kitchen)

• Drain the almonds, discarding the water. 

•   Put your soaked almonds, 4 cups of pure, unfiltered water, your sweetener, vanilla, and spices into a high-speed blender until it looks frothy- about 1-2 minutes.

 

• Pour the milk through cheesecloth into a glass quart jar, squeezing the bulk to get every last drop out. 

 

• Store the milk in the refrigerator for up to 5 days max. 

 

I use almond milk in lots of things: smoothies, muesli, baking, etc. It has a pretty neutral flavor with just a hint of nuttiness, plus the texture is full and thick, mimicking the consistency of whole milk pretty closely. It’s lower in fat and calories than cow’s milk and still contains a good amount of vitamins A, D, and E, as well as calcium. On the downside, there’s not very much protein in almond milk. But that’s what all the things you add to it are for!

The idea of throwing out the almond pulp broke my heart a little so I got to thinking…

1. Mix it with coconut oil for a face/body scrub?
2. Use it to crust fish instead of panko or breadcrumbs?

  For now, It’s in a zip lock bag in the freezer. I’ll let you know what I decide!