Photo by AmazingAlmonds
If you are like me and prefer almond milk over cow milk, then have you ever thought to make it yourself at home? The homemade almond milk is not only simple to prepare, but also so creamy and delicious that you’ll never want to buy it from the store! If getting a better taste is not convincing enough for you, then you should also know that when you drink almond milk you avoid the artificial additives, chemicals and hormones(in the case of cow’s milk) that are commonly found in the products that are available on the market. Almond milk and especially the homemade one is also extremely healthy for you as it is full of nutritious elements and vitamins, such as vitamin A and vitamin D, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus.
What products are needed to make homemade almond milk
All you will need is just almonds, filtered water and a sweetener of your choice. We suggest using agave nectar or honey, and a few drops of vanilla extract for flavor. If you feel adventurous, you can even add some raw cacao powder to get a taste of chocolate or a bit of cinnamon. Be creative!
The key to make your homemade almond milk is to use a powerful blender. If you think yours is not that powerful, you can increase the blending time to ensure that the almonds are ground to as fine particles as possible.
Before you begin, make sure that you have on hand a good strainer and a fine enough cheese cloth. You can probably even find special kitchen straining bags at your local store. Soak the almonds overnight, it is therefore necessary to plan this operation in advance.
Although it is possible to soak the almonds for just a few hours, you will get milk that is more creamy if you leave them to soak for at least 8 hours.
Homemade almond milk preparation:
1. Place the almonds in a bowl (you can also use almond flour which is also available on the market) and cover them completely with water. Let them soak without covering for overnight.
2. Pass the almonds in a colander and rinse well with cold water.
3. Mix the soaked almonds and 3 cups of filtered water in a blender.
4. Set your mixer on maximum speed and mix for about 1 minute, or until you get a nice well blended mixture. The mixture will then have a milky-white opaque appearance. You may still see thin pieces of almonds, but they will be filtered in the next steps.
5. You can also line the colander with the cheese cloth and lay it over a bowl of medium size. Pour the mixture gently in the colander.
6. When the colander is filled, lift the cheese cloth by grasping the edges and squeeze to extract the liquid. Wring out gently the milk until there is no more than a wet dough like substance left at the bottom of the cheese cloth. Be patient, and proceed slowly – you wouldn’t want to waste or spill even a little bit of this precious milk! Being patient and careful when squeezing all of the milky liquid will also avoid the almond particles getting thru the cheese cloth. Once all of the liquid is drained, leave aside the ground almonds “dough”.
You should get about 3 cups of thick and creamy almond milk. Add a pinch of salt, the vanilla and the sweetener of your choice. You can even add a little cinnamon or raw cocoa powder as we mentioned for even more delicious flavor and palate pleasure!
You can store the almond milk you just made yourself in your fridge for up to 3 days.
A great idea is to use this almond milk to make a Matcha Latte which is even healthier and more delightful (though the almond milk by itself is such a treat on its own:)) .
Enjoy !
A little side Note: keep the powdery almond leftovers and don’t trow them away! You can use it as a flavoring in your baked goods or even to thicken soups. To do this, spread the powder on a baking dish, and place in your oven at low temperature (90 °C) for about 2 hours to remove any residual moisture. Then you will have an almond tasting powder that you can use as a natural addition to your deserts or when cooking meals. You can safely experiment with it.
- 350 g of almonds or almond flour
- 1 liter of water
- sugar or other type of organic sweetener, optional (I sometimes don't add sweetener at all as the almond milk has a natural sweetness that is tasting great)
- Enclose the ground almonds in a thin cloth and solid, a cloth for example, but do not tighten. Tie securely.
- Soak the knot in water and knead to extract the milk.
- Repeat this mixing several times until complete extraction.
- Squeeze, wring it out and drain the node to the maximum nothing to lose.
- At the end, the almond powder that rest must have no taste, it all went in the drink.
- Sweeten according to your taste, put it in a bottle and store in refrigerator.
- Shake before serving well chilled.
Do you have any tips for making homemade almond milk? What are some other uses for the almond powder in the kitchen? Share your ideas in the comments below!
