Homemade almond milk

When I first posted that I was testing different almond milk brands, I got a slew of emails and comments from savvy vegan friends suggesting I make my own. I ordered a nut milk bag, got a ton of organic almonds and still, it took me weeks to actually try. To be honest, the idea of making my own was somewhat daunting partly because I thought it would be labor-intensive and messy, but also because I feared it would require an uber-expensive blender that I don’t have. So I kept getting my favorite store-bought brand until it was out of stock at Spinneys….and that was the trigger. As you may already know, supermarket shelves are filled with nut milks which unfortunately contain bad sugars like agave, unhealthy vegetable oils such as canola as well as additives and nasty emulsifiers like carrageenans – and despite all that processing, still manage not to taste right. So I decided to take the plunge.

Verdict: what a fool I was not to attempt this oh-so-simple recipe a looooong time ago. It would have saved me a lot of expensive shopping around and unpleasant taste tests. Oh and the bonus is that the leftover almond meal makes perfect gluten-free breadcrumbs. Trust me, there is NO downside in making your own, really.

Note: Do get a reusable nut milk bag – many people use a cheesecloth, and thought that does work, it is a lot messier.

Ingredients

• 2 cups organic almonds
• 3 + 4 cups of filtered water
• Seeds of 1 vanilla pod
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp maple syrup or 1 date (optional)

Instructions

1. Let the almonds soak overnight or 12 hours in 3 cups of water
2. Drain the almonds and rinse them very well – they should be almost double in size
3. Put almonds in blender along with 4 remaining cups of water, vanilla, sea salt and sweetener of your choice
4. Blend for 4 minutes at high
5. Poor into nut milk bag over a big bowl
6. Squeeze the nut bag as much as possible to get all the “milk” out and until the almond mix is dry
7. Poor nut milk in a jug or bottle, cover and refrigerate

To make almond meal: take the almond paste left over and spread it thin on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and leave it in a 100F oven for 2 hours or until it is dry, moving it around with a spoon every half hour. Take out of the oven and let cool at room temperature before storing it in an airtight container.