Homemade Almond Milk

This is a wonderful alternative to store bought almond milk. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll find it hard to switch back. It’s not just absolutely delicious, you also don’t get any added sugars, you decide how creamy or diluted you want it, and you can make your very own almond cheese or cookies from the pulp. You just need some time to soak the almonds, the rest is quick and easy!

You will need:

• high speed blender
• cheese cloth, nut milk bag, or clean fine-woven kitchen towel

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raw unsalted almonds
• filtered water to soak
• 2-3 cups filtered water (depending on how creamy you want it)

optional (not if you want to make cheese with the pulp)

• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 – 2 dried dates

Preparation:

Soak the almonds over night. Drain in a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Add drained almonds with 2-3 cups (start with 2) filtered water to a high speed blender.

If you like your milk vanilla flavored and slightly sweet, you can add the dates, slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the blender. You can still use the pulp for almond cookies. Blend on high speed for at least 1 minute.

Place colander on a fitting bowl and line with cheese cloth. You can also use a nut milk bag or, if you don’t have either one, you can cheat with a clean, detergent free (!) kitchen towel. I did that in my trial phase with perfect results. Strain your almond milk by pouring the mixture into your lined colander. Let gravity work for a while, then squeeze as much liquid out as you can.

Refrigerate in sealed containers (I prefer glass) and enjoy within 3 days!

Notes:

• gluten free
• You’ll find the almond cheese recipe in a different post
• Since this milk is not pasteurized, you should use it within 3 days!
• I will come up with an almond cookie recipe 🙂