Homemade Almond Milk

We aren't dairy free. But we do prefer a non dairy milk in some applications - like in smoothies or protein shakes.  (We are now eating a primarily plant-based diet) So we were buying almond milk or cashew milk for that. But all those cartons add up. We didn't learn until recently that those paper/cardboard cartons are lined with plastic.

So for us, the benefits of making nut milk at home are twofold. It tastes better homemade and we aren't wasting those plastic lined containers anymore.

Here is a super easy recipe for almond milk. Feel free to swap almonds for any other nut or a combination of them! Last time we made cashew almond.

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Almond Milk

Ingredients:
1 cup raw almonds
2 cups water for soaking + 2 (or more) cups for blending*
(optional) sweetener, such as dates, honey, sugar, agave or maple syrup.
(optional) vanilla extract

Method:
Soak the almonds in water for 8-72 hours. A longer soak will mean more creamy almond milk. If you soak for more than 12 hours, you should keep them in the fridge.
Drain and rinse almonds in a strainer under fresh running water.
Put the almonds in a blender with 2 cups of water and blend for 2 minutes on high.
Strain the milk using a nut milk bag, cheese cloth or thin kitchen towel. Set almond meal aside.**
If adding sweetener or flavoring, add your milk back to the blender with sweetener and flavoring of choice. We use 2 pitted dates.
Blend until well incorporated.
Strain milk through sieve to catch any date pulp.
Store in the fridge in a glass jar for 2-3 days.

Notes:
* The less water you use, the creamier the milk will be.

** You can reserve almond meal for use in baked goods or smoothies.
If you won't use the almond meal, you could always find a friend who would like it, or you can compost it.

Making almond milk at home is not necessarily less expensive than buying it from the store. But there are some other benefits. First, you get to decide what exactly goes into it and can opt to make it organic. When you buy your almonds and other items in the bulk bins, you do not have the waste of the packaging. You can make as much or little as you want at a time. You also can control how creamy or how sweetened you want it to be.