My son has a dairy and soy allergy. So, we go through a ton of almond milk! I started making my own a little while ago. It’s taken a while to perfect it, but I think we’ve got it! Lincoln loves it, and I get plenty of yummy almond meal to add to all sorts of recipes. Added bonus- the dates act as a mild laxative.
Ingredients:
- 1cup raw almonds
- 3-4 dates, pitted
- 3 cups filtered water
- Dash of salt
- Generous play of quality vanilla
Equipment:
- Blender
- Milk bag (or cloth napkin)
- Glass milk jug (or storage of some sort)
- Large bowl
- Strainer
The Process
- Soak almonds in water overnight or up to 48. Keep them covered in the fridge if you’re soaking more than overnight.
- Once your almonds are soaked, strain the water off and give them a good rinse. The soaking releases an enzyme that can actually hinder nutrient absorption. So definitely discard the soaking water and rinse the almonds!
- Boil your dates in 2 cups of filtered water for 5 mins. This softens the dates and gets some of the nutrients into what will be your almond milk.
- Finally time to make the milk! Once your boiled dates have cooled, dump the dates with the water into a blender with your almonds. Add another cup of filtered water. Blend this mixture for a while- maybe 3 mins? You’ll start to see when it’s getting nice and smooth.
- Place your milk bag in a large bowl. Pour blender contents into the bag. It will take some serious squishing to get all of the liquid out. Keep at it! You want all that liquid! Almonds ain’t cheap!
- Once you’ve gotten all of the liquid that you can out, place the bag and its contents aside. (You can roast this on a silpat to make almond meal. It’s probably the only real reason to make your own almond milk. Recipe for the best muffins coming soon!)
- Put your milk back in the blender (rinse your blender first so that you don’t have any almond chunks put back in your smooth milk). Add the salt and vanilla. Blend again.
- Pour your delicious milk into your storage container of choice. I find that the milk is only good for 4-5 days. That’s why I prefer to make smaller batches.
The more water you add, the less creamy the milk is. So you can definitely stretch your almonds. I prefer this ratio, but you can tweak it to your preference. Make sure you shake before drinking!
If this seems super extra, it’s because it is. Store bought is cheaper and easier. Like I mentioned earlier, I like making my own because I get the almond meal, which is a great flour substitution. However, it is super nice to know exactly what is your going into your baby’s body!
Welcome to motherhood- the place where you make things harder than they have to be for your kid🤷🏻♀️
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