I know I’ve already posted a How-to-Make-Almond-Milk-from-Scratch recipe. ย In fact, I gave you three different versions! ย But my how-to involves slipping the skins off the soaked almonds before blitzing them in your blender which is really no big deal. ย The reason I do that is because I went to an ayurvedic cooking lecture many, many years ago and the teacher went into great detail about almonds. ย Almonds are wonderful and alkalizing and high in protein and good fats, BUT (I was hanging on the edge of my seat when I heard that “BUT”) they can be very hard to digest unless they are soaked. ย AND the skins can be a little bitter. ย AND the skins cause wrinkles. ย Whaaaaaat???? ย I will tell you no one was listening until she said that and then every manicured brow in the room went up. ย “Did she say almond skins cause WRINKLES?”
So obviously do you really think I was going to start eating almond skins after that? ย Silly question. ย Duh, noooooo. ย Of course I never did any research as to the validity of that statement and I still haven’t. ย But I did research how to make almond milk from other sources and everyone says to slip those skins off, perhaps due more to a bitter aftertaste than the wrinkles theory. ย But your friend Pamela here has gotten much busier since my last almond milk post and I have become practically dairy-free, so I have been making almond milk about twice a week. ย And there came a point when I decided that slipping those almond skins off was GIVING me wrinkles! ย Or maybe because I was doing it while watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. ย Oy. ย Anyhoo, I decided to see what would happen if I soaked the almonds, drained them and blended them in fresh water WITH their supposedly bitter, age-advancing skins. ย Gasp. ย No difference. ย Same delicious taste and my skin still looks like it did before I drank the almond milk. ย Life-changing moment!
I also now exclusively use a nut milk bag (I know, sounds nasty, but totally fabulous!) instead of my fine mesh sieve to squeeze out every last drop from the blended almonds. ย If you don’t have a nut milk bag (gives me the willies every time I type that, but a great product, really!), a fine mesh sieve works great. ย You just really want to press down on the pureed almonds or squeeze them with your hands as I am convinced that the creamiest part of the almond milk comes from that last squeeze.
I use almond milk all the time, especially to finish off hot breakfast porridges like oats and millet. ย I use it in acai bowls and smoothies, as well as chia seed pudding and desserts. ย The girls have been using it over granola and my friend Matt pours it over cereal and in coffee. ย Just remember, homemade almond milk is pure goodness with no preservatives so it doesn’t last as long as the stuff in a box. ย What else do you use almond milk for?
Basic Almond Milk
Instructions
- Soak 1 cup raw almonds in bowl with plenty of room temperature water for 6-8 hours. (Soaking will make the almonds softer and more digestible.)
- Drain the almonds in a colander and rinse with fresh water.
- Place the almonds in a blender or Vitamix. Add 3 cups fresh water and blend until the nuts are pulverized.
- Strain through a fine mesh sieve, cheesecloth or a nut milk bag into a glass bowl. If using a sieve, use a spoon to scrape the almond meal around and allow as much liquid to drain through.
- Transfer to a glass jar and refrigerate, covered for up to 4 days. Add the remaining pulp, sweetened with honey or maple syrup, to hot cereal, granola or fruit.
Notes
Soak almonds in regular water, but use coconut water to blend with the soaked almonds. Almond milk sweetened with dates:
Follow directions for basic almond milk, but blend soaked almonds with water and 8 pitted dates. You can add a drop of vanilla and sea salt, if you like, but it is delicious just like this. Of course you can sweeten almond milk with stevia or honey or whatever you like, but I think dates are the best! You donโt need to sweeten the remaining pulp if you choose to eat it since it is already sweet from the dates.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Hi,
Not sure if my question submitted properly. So I am sorry if is is a repeat. Do you cover the nuts when soaking overnight or leave uncovered on counter? Wonder same for beans and grains. Thanks!
Just made the almond milk for the first time; plain and date versions. So delicious, and my kids were intrigued. They did a taste test and liked it better than the store bought version. Am super excited! I then made almond paste with the remaining pulp, to use for baking. Am sure you could make marzipan too.
Of course what you made is better than store bought! No comparison. I recently had to use store bought almond milk somewhere and I was so surprised how horrible it was! Very clever use of the pulp — thanks for the suggestion!
So delicious ! Thank you for this recipe !
Krรณtki i? fajny filmik. Polecamjednak zapoznaฤ siฤ z program SeoAdder, jest ลwietny do pozycjonowania
Hello, where to use leftover of nuts after making milk??
This is the question. If you have a dehydrator, you can make almond meal and use it in baking or as a binder. You can also add the pulp to smoothies, hot porridges, pancake batter. I have seen recipes online for veggie burgers made with nut pulp, but I haven’t tried any.
Hi Pamela..
I put the leftover pulp on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper, then throw it in a 200 degree oven for 4hrs to overnight. (depends on how much pulp you have) Until it is completely dry.. I then put it in the food processor or nutribullet and turn it into almost a flour..
I use this to throw into my flour for making bread and cookies..
You might also want try a method that gives the milk a little more flavor.. That is to blend the nuts with just one cup of water (makes a paste), then add 2 cups of boiling water and let rest for 10 minutes or so..
Then just give it a whirl and strain as usual..
Thanks for spreading the word and don’t forget about sesame seed milk.. (made the same way)…
WHere have you been all this time with these fantastic suggestions?! Love it all and I will try sesame milk. Never even thought about that one! Thank you!
My pleasure Pamela..
Another thing I do; when I didn’t have a nut bag and just a strainer.. (didn’t like tiny particles in my milk, which the strainer method often left in, and I am always out of cheesecloth because I am always sprouting).. I lined the strainer with a coffee filter, it works beautifully and you can gather it up and very gently squeeze out every drop of mikj..
Hope someone will find that useful.. I better get back to making my homemade neosporin.. Isn’t doing things for yourself and your family, that are really healthy and save money.. (with the price of things and all the chemicals they put in everything, I think it is a necessity.. Don’t you..
Have just made this milk it is very deliousous and leftover meal great on cereal
Great suggestion, Gwen! Thank you ๐
and speaking of “to heck with it” I was quite delighted with the batch I made. Sweetened with agave sweetener. Wife took a few sips and remarked on it’s relation to pina colada.
Well, out came the rum, and there went the evening ๐
That is AWESOME! Thanks for sharing — I’m inspired ๐ !
Where did you buy your nut milk bag, Pamela? I am dying to try this!
Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EFW3NE/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=pamesalzkitcm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B004EFW3NE
Awesome, thank you! I tried it out today with a sieve, and it turned out good enough. I think the nut milk bag will help with the tiny pieces of almond at the bottom. But really, I’m just happy to have the real stuff!
Yes, the nut milk bag is awesome. When you do use a sieve, use the one that is super fine, like for rinsing quinoa. The other ones don’t work well for almond milk. Homemade almond milk is soooooooo good!
I know from experience that “organic” almonds are much easier to skin than non organic almonds. There is a difference!
How interesting! Didn’t know that, thanks!
Thanks for the recipe! Is the nut milk bag terribly hard to clean?
You’re welcome! The nut milk bag is super easy to clean. I rinse off the outside. Then turn it inside out and rinse off that side until I don’t see anymore almond residue. That process takes a minute or two. Then I hang it on my faucet to dry. That’s it!
Hi, I stumbled across your blog when I was trying for a third time to make some delicious almond milk. I like your date idea, so I tried it with some tweaks, and it came out SO GOOD. I soaked 2 cups of almonds for about 8 hours, which made about 2.5 cups of almonds. I threw in 6 cups of water, a cinnamon stick, four dates, and a vanilla bean (I bought from the grocer store). It was missing something, so I threw in a couple pinches of salt – PERFECT! I had to blend and strain 3x, but I have a $50 one speed Oster blender, so I can’t complain.
Thanks again for your blog. It’s a real inspiration.
And The nut bag makes all the difference!
Nice job, Lee! Love that nut milk bag.