Hello!
Now before I fly off to another beach vacation, I’ll squeeze in a post or two.
I’ve recently came across making your own almond milk.I started exploring almond milk when I was making the overnight oats for breakfast and then I keep seeing many benefits of almond milk. But store bought almond milk is … :/
Then I went on to google, and yes we can all make our own almond milk, SO DARN EASY you will not believe it. In my head I was like thinking, hang on, how do you MILK an almond ?
Making almond milk is actually an incredibly old process. It was made and used long before the French transformed it into delicate blancmanges. The process essentially involves soaking almonds in water over night or for up to two days — the longer you soak the almonds, the creamier the milk will be. Drain and rinse the beans from their soaking water and grind them with fresh water. The resulting liquid, drained from the almond meal, is almond milk.
Homemade almond milk is different from store bought. It’s incredibly creamy and has a mellow milky flavour. It is good. Like, freshly good. But I can’t help to add in a little maple syrup 😛 I may never drink store-bought almond milk again. It only lasts 2 days in the fridge so I recommend making in small amounts but as often as you want.
I’ve been adding them to my smoothie 2 days in a row and oh so yum!! The creaminess from the milk yields just the perfect texture of a smoothie without having the guilt of ice cream, or yogurt.
- 1 cup raw almonds, preferably organic
- 2 cups water, plus more for soaking
- Sweeteners like honey, sugar, agave syrup, or maple syrup, to taste, optional
- Soak the almonds overnight or up to 2 days. Place the almonds in a bowl and cover with about an inch of water. They will plump as they absorb water. Let stand, uncovered, overnight or up to 2 days. The longer the almonds soak, the creamier the almond milk.
- Drain and rinse the almonds. Drain the almonds from their soaking water and rinse them thoroughly under cool running water.
- Combine the almonds and water in a blender. Place the almonds in the blender and cover with 1 cup of water.
- Blend at the highest speed for 2 minutes. Pulse the blender a few times to break up the almonds, then blend continuously for two minutes. The almonds should be broken down into a very fine meal and the water should be white and opaque.
- Gradually add the 2nd cup of water into the blender.
- Strain the almonds. Line the strainer with either the opened cheese cloth, and place over a measuring cup. Pour the almond mixture into the strainer.
- Press all the almond milk from the almond meal. Gather the cheese cloth around the almond meal and twist close. Squeeze and press to extract as much almond milk as possible. You should get about 2 cups.
- Sweeten to taste. Taste the almond milk, and if a sweeter drink is desired, add sweetener to taste.
- Refrigerate almond milk. Store the almond milk in sealed containers in the fridge for up to two days.
Whether or not you prefer almond or regular milk, always opt for homemade, or the real stuff. 🙂