- Jan 3, 2019
- 413
- 232
- 73
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
I've been getting rave reviews about my homemade almond milk. It's easy to make, so for those who like almond milk, but not the store-bought kind, I can share how I make it.
But first, I'll explain what got me to thinking about making it myself.
Our family has been using rice milk, and/or almond milk for years. But, as our dietary needs changed we began getting away from rice milk (cost and carbs) and settled on almond milk. However, we haven't been happy with the watery texture and the look and taste of the store-bought stuff. Plus, depending on brand, there are ingredients in store-bought almond milk that we didn't care for.
So, after experimenting I've come up with a method for making a perfect almond milk that is smooth, creamy, nutritious and tastes delicious.
Start with raw almonds. We've been getting them in big bags at Costco. They are pasteurized, which kills the healthy live enzymes, so we have joined a co-op to get raw, unpasteurized almonds. It's strictly a personal preference. The Costco almonds result in a cost of about $1.20 per homemade quart. The co-op almonds will cost about $2.00 per quart when all is said and done.
1.) Soak 1 cup of raw almonds in clean, filtered water (not city water) in a 4-cup measuring cup overnight, or for at least 9 hours during the day.
2.) Rinse soaked almonds in clean, filtered water, then dump them into a Vitamix type of high-speed blender canister.
3.) Add 4 c. of clean, filtered water.
4.) Add 1 or 2 pitted dates (for sweetness and flavor). Artificial sweeteners can be used, but my family rejected all tests using them. The dates won, hands down.
5.) Add 5 or 6 raw pecan halves (they help take the edge off the raw almond taste).
6.) Add a pinch of salt. Maybe not necessary, but it works for us.
7.) Blend at the highest speed for 1 min and 30 seconds.
8.) Let set in the blender for 1 min and 30 seconds.
9.) Place a nut bag into a large measuring bowl (the kind with a pour spout, you'll see why).
10.) Pour the contents from the blender into the nut bag, being careful to not let any of the pulp overflow into the bowl.
11.) Rinse the blender canister in clean, filtered water and place back on the blender.
12.) Squeeze and knead the pulp in the nut bag until all the liquid remains in the bowl and you have a bunch of almost dry pulp in the nut bag.
13.) Pour the almond milk liquid from the bowl back into the blender.
14,) Add 2 tb of MCT oil to the liquid in the blender. Any healthy tasteless oil can be used, but we feel MCT oil is the best.
15.) Blend on low for about 10-15 seconds to blend in the MCT oil.
16.) Pour the new almond milk into a quart glass milk bottle. There will be a little left over, and a lot of foam. I pour the remainder into a glass and enjoy it right away.
17.) Refrigerate the almond milk. It will have gotten warm from all the high-speed blending, and it tastes best when cooled.
This took a lot longer to write than it does to actually make the almond milk.
What to do with all that almond pulp? I have saved it up and then dried it, and blended it into a flour consistency as a thickener for soups, gravies, etc. That was a lot of work, so I now feed it to my worms.
Let me know what you think if you try this.
But first, I'll explain what got me to thinking about making it myself.
Our family has been using rice milk, and/or almond milk for years. But, as our dietary needs changed we began getting away from rice milk (cost and carbs) and settled on almond milk. However, we haven't been happy with the watery texture and the look and taste of the store-bought stuff. Plus, depending on brand, there are ingredients in store-bought almond milk that we didn't care for.
So, after experimenting I've come up with a method for making a perfect almond milk that is smooth, creamy, nutritious and tastes delicious.
Start with raw almonds. We've been getting them in big bags at Costco. They are pasteurized, which kills the healthy live enzymes, so we have joined a co-op to get raw, unpasteurized almonds. It's strictly a personal preference. The Costco almonds result in a cost of about $1.20 per homemade quart. The co-op almonds will cost about $2.00 per quart when all is said and done.
1.) Soak 1 cup of raw almonds in clean, filtered water (not city water) in a 4-cup measuring cup overnight, or for at least 9 hours during the day.
2.) Rinse soaked almonds in clean, filtered water, then dump them into a Vitamix type of high-speed blender canister.
3.) Add 4 c. of clean, filtered water.
4.) Add 1 or 2 pitted dates (for sweetness and flavor). Artificial sweeteners can be used, but my family rejected all tests using them. The dates won, hands down.
5.) Add 5 or 6 raw pecan halves (they help take the edge off the raw almond taste).
6.) Add a pinch of salt. Maybe not necessary, but it works for us.
7.) Blend at the highest speed for 1 min and 30 seconds.
8.) Let set in the blender for 1 min and 30 seconds.
9.) Place a nut bag into a large measuring bowl (the kind with a pour spout, you'll see why).
10.) Pour the contents from the blender into the nut bag, being careful to not let any of the pulp overflow into the bowl.
11.) Rinse the blender canister in clean, filtered water and place back on the blender.
12.) Squeeze and knead the pulp in the nut bag until all the liquid remains in the bowl and you have a bunch of almost dry pulp in the nut bag.
13.) Pour the almond milk liquid from the bowl back into the blender.
14,) Add 2 tb of MCT oil to the liquid in the blender. Any healthy tasteless oil can be used, but we feel MCT oil is the best.
15.) Blend on low for about 10-15 seconds to blend in the MCT oil.
16.) Pour the new almond milk into a quart glass milk bottle. There will be a little left over, and a lot of foam. I pour the remainder into a glass and enjoy it right away.
17.) Refrigerate the almond milk. It will have gotten warm from all the high-speed blending, and it tastes best when cooled.
This took a lot longer to write than it does to actually make the almond milk.
What to do with all that almond pulp? I have saved it up and then dried it, and blended it into a flour consistency as a thickener for soups, gravies, etc. That was a lot of work, so I now feed it to my worms.
Let me know what you think if you try this.
