FIRST ATTEMPT AT HOMEMADE ALMOND MILK

by - 9:12:00 AM

If almond milk is new to your world, it is a dairy alternative with a creamy texture and almond taste (the base of this is literally almonds and purified water). Almond milk is high in vitamins and minerals as well as antioxidants - if you have a nut allergy do not try this! Please note almond milk does not contain as nearly as much protein as dairy milk. I am not going to go into detail because there are great articles online and I think it does come down to personally, what you are looking for in it - health benefits or if you're just keen to try it out.

I recently tried shop bought almond milk to add to smoothies and honestly its a bit pricey (R30) and unless you buy it from a health shop (R90 eeeekk), it's actually full of added sneaky sugar. With the smoothie experimenting I keep trying to find dairy alternatives just to see whats out there, almond milk and coconut water always seem to pop up. Considering the cost factor I decided to give making my own almond milk at home a try.  This was my first attempt so I kept it pretty simple and didn't add on anything to flavour it, I also included the pulp!  

(with almond pulp)

The Lady at my health shop recommended this recipe to me and there are lots of variations and adaptions online. The above photo is of almond milk homemade that still contains the "almond meal or pulp" basically the little pieces you see floating about. I wanted to include the almond pulp as I use it in smoothies, without the pulp it looks exactly like milk! Here is a recipe with variations:


What you need:
Almonds 
Purified water 
Optional - vanilla extra, salt, honey or cocoa nibs
A blender or food processor 

Instructions:
The recipe I used is really simple, I used 1/2 a cup of almonds to 2 cups of water.

1. Soak almonds over night or for 12hrs in water. I used half a cup of almonds just to test it out

2. Once you have soaked almonds drain the water off them  (rinse them if you wish).

3. Add almonds to your blender with 2 cups of purified water ( if you use a full cup of almonds then add 4 cups of water. But recipes vary, so see what works for you). You can either blend almonds first and then add water or in my case I added almonds, a little bit of water, just to give my blender something to work with and then added the rest of the water.

(include your choice of add on options/flavouring with the ingredients and blend)

4. Blend together with water until the consistency is to your satisfaction, it should look "milky and frothy" 

5. Store it in the fridge in a air tight container and drink within a few days.

Additional options for smooth milk without almond pulp/coarse texture:

Nutritionist Jessica Sepel has a really good recipe for making it into more of an actual milk and adding  flavour such as a 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract and a pinch of Himalayan pink salt. She recommends you use a piece of cheesecloth (hessian material) and strain the milk through it into a jar or bowl. This will help catch the almond meal and just give you the milk. 

I am sure the left over pulp can be used in other ways and included in your breakfast :)

Hope it helps! Next time I will add some flavour to it because it can be a bit bland on its own. Let me know if you give it a try and if it works for you :)

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5 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks for putting this recipe up Nats! I'm so excited to try this. xxx

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    1. pleasure darling! Please send me pics when you make it :)

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  2. I love Almond milk but have always been too lazy to make my own (also thought I would probably mess up and it would be a waste). This recipe sounds really simple thought so will definitely attempt it!

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  3. I've been wanting to try my hand at making my own almond milk for ages now. Thanks for the recipe, will def's give it a go. X

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