Homemade Almond Milk

I’ve been buying almond milk for years and only recently realized that it might be healthier and cheaper to make it at home. Most major brands add carrageenan as a thickener and a plethora of other things to their almond milks, and some even use as little as 2% almonds.  I love almond milk in my morning smoothies, with a few shots of espresso over ice, in my oatmeal, or just as a drink when I want something creamy. After doing the math with the price of almonds rising due to the honey bee shortage, I realized it’s typically not cheaper to make almond milk at home unless you’re lucky and find a sale on the almonds.  However, it definitely does taste far better than the store bought stuff, and it’s better for your body.

I listed a few different ideas of optional add-ins in my go-to recipe below, depending on what you’ll end up using the batch for. You can use some, all, or none!  For example – I don’t like anything extra (especially cinnamon) in my smoothies, so I skip those when I’m making a batch of almond milk for that. You will also need a mesh nut milk bag or something similar to strain the goods. I highly recommend this one.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup raw almonds, soaked in water overnight, rinsed and drained
• 3 cup filtered water
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (for flavor, optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract (for flavor, optional)
• 2 pitted Medjool dates(as a sweetener, optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (for flavor, optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place all ingredients in a Vitamix (or other REALLY powerful) blender.  Blend on high for 1 minute.

   

2. Pour almond mixture contents into the mesh bag over a large bowl. Drain the liquid from the bag, gather the pulp at the bottom of the bag, and squeeze a few times to get the rest of the liquid out.
3. Store in airtight containers (i.e., mason jars) for 5-7 days.

   

My latest indulgence is making iced lattes with this homemade almond milk recipe, poured over ice and a few shots of silky smooth espresso from Intelligentsia. YUM!