I always hear people talk about how simple it is to make almond milk. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it’s simple at all! I think it’s a freaking production.
Whenever the thought of making it pops into my head, I realize, oh, right I have to soak almonds first … overnight. Eh, maybe I don’t really want it after all.
But that’s not the toughest part. The toughest part is the damn cheesecloth. Perhaps I lack the required technique or finesse, but I hate that thing. I know there are fancy ones out there too, and I should probably just bite the bullet and get one. But I haven’t yet, and using a regular cheesecloth is far from simple if you ask me.
You may be thinking, right okay, but you implied here that I would learn how to make almond milk. Sounds like that may not be the case?
I’ll get to the recipe. I just feel that an annotation is necessary here; make it at your own risk.
Here’s why I’m sharing it anyway.
Despite having the shortest list of ingredients ever, it’s sort of a pain to make … but oh lawdy, it’s delicious. It’s so, so, so much better than store-bought almond milk. Like, worth the production of making it better.
It’s also better for us. Nut milks you find on the shelves can be highly processed and full of some not-so-fun stuff. If you’re buying it, always go for unsweetened. Sweetened versions (flavored ones in particular) can really spike your blood sugar levels with all the added sugar.
Then there’s carrageenan. Extracted from seaweed (sans nutritional value), it’s an additive that’s used as a thickener in dairy products to keep them from separating, and unfortunately very common in store-bought nut milks. It’s been linked to inflammation (more on that here), which can lead to chronic disease. Yikes.
I like to make this recipe on weekends, which leaves a bit leftover for the week. It can seriously upgrade a regular ole cup of coffee or bowl of fruit and granola.
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Homemade Almond Milk
Makes about 3 cups
Ingredients
2 cups raw almonds
4 cups of water
2-3 tbsp maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it)
Pinch of sea salt
Optional: tsp of vanilla extract
Method
Soak almonds overnight in water. Be sure to use a covered container. I made this mistake once and woke up to moldy almonds. No bueno.
Strain and rinse the soaked almonds and place in a blender with fresh, filtered water. Blend until nuts are processed.
Using a cheesecloth (or nutmilk bag if you fancy) over a bowl, strain the almonds and water, squeezing out any excess liquid from the bag. You’ll be left with a bunch of “pulp” (almond meal). Save this! There are a lot of ways to use it, my favorite of which is in place of breadcrumbs in a baked chicken recipe. You could also make cookies, or just throw it into granola.
Return the strained nut milk to the blender and add the maple syrup and seat salt. Blend these again until smooth and slightly foaming. Store in the fridge (if it even makes it there).
