Homemade Almond Milk

Homemade Almond Milk

¾ cup raw almonds

4-5 cups filtered water

Splash of honey or maple syrup (optional)

Dash of salt (optional)

Splash of extract, vanilla or almond (optional)

Put the almonds in a bowl and fill with enough cold, clean, filtered water to cover them by an inch.

Store the bowl in the refrigerator, lightly covered, and let them soak a minimum of 4 hours. I let them soak until I need them for our next batch of almond milk, which could up to 4 days ahead. The water becomes cloudy and thicker.

Toss the almonds along with the soaking water into a blender (do not rinse them…the water makes it taste better). Add the 4-5 cups of filtered water along with the optional ingredients, if desired. Blend for a couple of minutes.

When finished, slowly pour the mixture through a mesh sieve and capture the almond milk in a pitcher below.

Voila! You have fresh almond milk. Store loosely covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. When ready to consume, lightly stir before pouring. Because you have not added emulsifiers and thickening agents like the commercial varieties, the water and almonds separate a bit after sitting.

Bonus! You have a very healthy ball of damp, ground almonds leftover as well. What do you do with it? Dry it out, grind in a small blender, and store it in the freezer for later goodies. More recipes to come!

Why I like it:

• It takes up less space and fewer trips to the store. We drink a lot of almond milk, and we used to buy 6 half-gallon containers every week. That takes up a lot of space in our fridge, and I hate grocery shopping (even before this damn pandemic, so imagine my frustration now!). A 3 lb. bag of raw almonds last a few months and takes up considerably less space.

• It tastes better. Our 6 year-old even loves it, and she grew up on the commercial varieties (and before that regular cow milk).

• It has no added thickening agents, hidden MSG, etc.

• It’s cost effective. The first time I calculated the cost comparison, it was about the same for the average container of almond milk on sale. It depends on the cost of raw almonds, of course, and how many almonds you strain per batch. Can you reuse them for another batch? I don’t know. We are experimenting with that right now, and I’ll let you know!

• Availability. Can’t find almond milk on the store shelves (hey….it’s possible now with this pandemic!)? Buy some raw almonds and you’re set.

At the very least, you get more nutrients, better taste, more available storage space, and no “who-knows-what” in it, available just about anywhere, for the same price. Win-win. No brainer. Sign me up.