Naturally Sweetened Almond Milk

Ahhhh, nut milk. Such an unfortunate name for something so delicious.

Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE dairy. I eat dairy. My tummy has no problem with dairy. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy almond, cashew, or coconut milk too. Plus I gotta put that Vitamix to work from time to time.

But here’s the problem: I made the mistake of making my own almond milk, and now I don’t think I can go back to any store-bought nut milk. It just doesn’t compare.

I haven’t found any product NEARLY as delicious as the home made stuff. 

It’s creamy, lightly sweetened and can be made whole30 and paleo compliant by omitting any sweetening agent.

Not only is homemade almond milk it more delicious, but you also know every single ingredient going into it. I’m not one to be afraid of ingredients, but you can’t beat the taste of freshness.

It’s delicious used as a coffee creamer alternative and can be used for dairy free baking and cooking as well.

If you want to use for cooking and baking, be sure to leave out the dates & vanilla. But if you’re going to be drinking it on its own or eating it with cereal, the addition of dates & vanilla makes it even more delicious.

And you can sub in pretty much any type of nut in this recipe: cashew, macadamia, hazelnuts or pecans.  

How Almond Milk Is Made

The process of making almond milk is incredibly simple but you do need a few tools:

• large container

• nut milk bag or fine mesh reusable cheese cloth

• Vitamin high speed blender

First, soak your almonds overnight in the fridge. After giving them a good rinse, combine them with water in a high speed blender and blitz them for about a minute.

You’ll see lots of chunks, but that’s what the cheese cloth is for. Strain almond milk through the cheese cloth into a large bowl (preferable with a spout).

You do need to use a little bit of elbow grease to squeeze all of the liquid out of the cheese cloth.

Homemade Almond Milk Recipe

Don’t forget this WILL separate while being stored, so give it a good swirl or shake to recombine everything before using.

Ingredients

1c almonds
4c water + more for soaking
2-4 dried, pitted dates (optional)
1/2t vanilla (optional)

Instructions

1. The day before you plan to make your milk, place almonds in a container and cover with a few inches of water. Cover and place in fridge overnight. The next day the almonds should be plump and bright in color.

2. Rinse almonds thoroughly and place them in a blender with 4 cups of water and 2 dried, pitted dates (if using). 

3. Blend on high for about a minute, until everything has been blitzed into very small pieces. 

4. Place a cheese cloth or nut milk bag in a large bowl and pour contents of blender into cheese cloth or bag. If you’re using a cheese cloth, make sure that you gather it up around the almond milk so none of the pulp spills into your finished product. 

5. Squeeze the cheese cloth until most of the liquid has passed through the cloth.

6. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla (if using) and store in fridge for up to a week. 

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