Almond milk is a great alternative to cow or soy milk and, if you have a blender, it’s incredibly easy to make at home. This recipe can be made in about 15 minutes with some minimal preparation the night before and can be customized to suit your tastes. While you can keep the recipe really simple, dates, cinnamon and vanilla add a wonderful sweetness to the milk. By adjusting the proportions, you can get the perfect flavour and make as much as you need. No more milk going to waste in your fridge!
Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds, soaked in water
3.5 cups filtered water
A nut milk bag or fine cheesecloth for straining (optional)
1 chopped vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 dates, soaked in water
Small pinch of fine grain sea salt
Method
- Soak the almonds in a bowl of water overnight. Six to eight hours are ideal but two will suffice.
- Rinse the almonds and put them in your blender along with the water. If you’re including dates, cinnamon or vanilla, add these now as well.
- Blend on high for around a minute.
- Place the nut milk bag or cheesecloth over the rim of a large bowl and pour the nut milk into the bowl. Gently lift the bag or cheesecloth and allow the milk to strain out of the bag. Gently squeeze all of the milk out of the almond milk mixture until all of the liquid is in the bowl.
- Rinse the blender and pour the bowl of milk back into the blender, add cinnamon and a pinch of sea salt (if desired) and blend quickly to mix.
- Transfer the almond milk into the container you plan to store it in, such as a mason jar. It will last four to five days in the fridge. Shake vigorously before using. Don’t discard the almond meal! Crumble it with sugar and honey over fruit for an easy fruit crumble. Add it to yogurt and fruit, use it for baking or pop it in the freezer for later.
Danielle Fuechtmann
