I discovered the beautiful world of plant-based milk lately and I’m totally in love with it. As I am in love with dairy, don’t get me wrong, a glass of local and organic cow milk, or a bowl of yogurt with honey brings me to heaven.
The first plant-based milk I tried was “oatmeal milk”, which is absolutely amazing, especially warmed a little bit with cocoa powder and maple syrup. After that I started experimenting with almond milk. Yummyyy …. I love its smell, its taste and texture. It has a silky consistency and a subtly sweet nutty flavor. It can be used in smoothies, coffees, to make golden milk,or hot cocoa, pretty much like a normal milk.
Making almond milk is actually an incredibly easy process. It starts with soaking almonds in water overnight, drain and rinse from their soaking water and grind them with fresh water. The liquid drained from the almond meal, is almond milk.
You may enrich the flavor if you like with spices like cinnamon and vanilla, or sweeten it with maple syrup or honey. I prefer the simple one, when the almond flavor is dominant.
Enjoy it with homemade oatmeal cookies, blueberry muffins, or use it to soak overnight oats for breakfast.
Makes about 3 cups
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw almonds, preferably organic
- 5 cups water (2 for soaking and 3 for the milk)
- A pinch of salt
1 cup – a standard cup of 240 ml
Directions
- Soak the almonds overnight with 2 cups of water.
- Drain the almonds from their soaking water and rinse them under cool running water.
- Combine the almonds, 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt in a blender.
- Blend at the highest speed for 1-2 minutes, until the nuts are completely pulverized.
- Strain the almonds, using a nut milk bag or as in my case a flour sifter.
- Press all the almond milk from the almond meal and keep the pulp.
- Keep it in a glass bottle in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Do not through away the pulp. You may use it in smoothies, in baking batters, in your overnight oatmeal, or in pasta sauces. The last time I made almond milk, I just added a bit of honey to the pulp and ate it. It was fantastic.
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