Almond trees in bloom…dreamy!
Almonds are one of those magical foods (just look at those trees in bloom!!!) that can be transformed into flours, butters, oils and even milk. For the non-dairy set (like me), almond milk has become a necessity. The problem? Commercial almond milk is devoid of all natural goodness, watered down to thin, hyper-sweetened liquid in boxes meant to be stored for a year without refrigeration. Really fresh almond milk is nutty, naturally sweet and, dare I say, refreshing. This insanely addictive nut milk is extremely hard to find in your average store and it is extraordinarily simple to make in three minutes!
I gave up pasteurized cow milk thanks to Traditional Chinese Medicine. I had low energy without the help of lots of caffeine, I was always feeling blah and I ate tons of cheese and milk. A holistic doctor explained to me that pasteurized cow protein was extremely hard- due to the size of the protein molecules- for our bodies to digest. If you overindulge, you might be dragging around, have weak digestion or always feel like you have a mild cold or seasonal allergies. I could never give up cheese and butter forever— but now, I step away for weeks then have a bit. When I step away from the cheese plates and milkshakes, coconut and almond milk take center stage.
Almond milk is shockingly versatile. Once you have everything in stock, you can whip up a fresh batch for impromptu smoothies, granola or that craving you had for hot chocolate whenever you want… and that is artful genius.
Super-Delicious Homemade Almond Milk (makes about 1 cup, double as you wish!)
- 1 very full cup spring water/filtered water (you may add more as you will see)
- 1/2 cup almond flour or almond meal (*** see note for using whole nuts)
- a little piece of vanilla bean (or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
- 1-2 tsp honey (I like clover, you can get fancy or go raw)
- a shake of salt (yes, pink, sea or plain table will work, up to you!)
Blend at high speed for about 2 minutes. Add a bit more water if its too thick for your liking, and a bit more almond to get a richer milk.
If you don’t mind a bit of grit settling at the bottom of your glass, you are good to go. It is more elegant (though a little time-consuming) to strain the mix through a cheese-cloth-lined colander or sieve to get the tiny bits out. Either way, you will love it. Store (you will drink it first, trust me) in the refrigerator for up to a week.
*** NOTE: If you fall in love with making your own almond milk, try to keep a bag of almond meal or almond flour on hand. This is the easy way. If you only have access to whole almonds this will still be easy, but you have to soak them overnight and rinse them before using. Also, if you blend whole nuts, you MUST strain the mix through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a bowl before using, or it will be way more gritty than milk. The nice part about using whole nuts is that you can use pecans, brazil nuts, walnuts… no nut is too exotic to use! Just soak and rinse. Oh, you can use sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or even hemp seeds to make the milk, too. Raw hazelnut milk in coffee? Yes, you can!
Enjoy!!! xoxo Dana
So simple! Homemade almond milk is awesome – we can control the sweetener / flavoring.
~ Tiffany
First time i made almond milk and actually first time i had some. Loved the easy recipe. But how does 1 cup of water make 3 cups of milk? For me it made about 1 cup.
Do i do sth wrong?
does it say that?! you did nothing wrong. you can double and triple. usually you get out of it just about the amount of water you put into it, not factoting in the nuts. after you strain you seem to break even or come up a bit short. fyi: its also really good with Dates instead of (or in addition to) honey! 🙂
Yes, it does say it makes 3 cups…I was wondering how 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup almond flour turned into 1 cup as well!
“Super-Delicious Homemade Almond Milk (makes about 3 cups, double as you wish!)”
ugh, I thought I had updated that. I actually had it as a bigger recipe for a giant blender, but it was unrealistic for many so scaled it back and screwed up! Now its updated! Essentially you’ll use a bit more than a cup of water and after straining per cup and a bit of water you wind up with about a cup of milk. 🙂
i actually use 3 cups water,
3 (1/2) cups of almond meal aka 1 & 1/2 cups of almond meal
blend on high over 2 min
THEN IT GETS DIFFERENT (so far i’m just tripling)
when i pour into a clean knee high panyhose sock (best strainer ever)
i add 6 extra cups of water thru the strainer/stocking.
so i end up with 9 cups of almond milk. it’s plenty creamy for milk for cereal, etc.
& i only need a half cup of almond meal for each 3 cups of milk.
i use trader joe almond meal which is 100% ground almonds
if u were making coffee creamer i would stick to 1/2 cup meal/1 to 1.5 cups of water, but i think this recipe is too creamy for regular milk use as written (no offense)
i’m gonna try your way & see how it goes… but with cheesecloth since i have no pantyhose nearby!!! thank you!!!
This turned out great for me -nice and sweet- I learned that I love almond milk! Thanks for the recipe!
Oh my goodness! Standing here with my laptop in the kitchen, having just made almond milk for the first time! Even at room temp, this is truly divine! Thank you for sharing the recipe! I’ve had a huge bag of almond flour in the fridge for almost a year, thinking I would bake with it, but never have. Now I know what I will be using it for. THANK YOU!!!
yay!!!!
Hi Dana, Thanks for the recipe. Quick question – does the grind of almond flour (fine vs coarser/medium) make a difference on the taste, texture and residual? I don’t have any almond flour at home at the moment, and am thinking of getting some. Bob Mill has a medium grind of almond meal/flour and Honeyville sells fine grind almond flour (but the mini is a 5lbs bag)… I want the best almond milk….so am wondering which type of almond (meal or flour or a mix of meal and flour) should I get to make this. Thanks so much!
The best & cheapest: Trader Joes almond meal. They now have cashew meal, too, that works great! I woudn’t waste great almond flour (like honeyville) on milk. Also, this recipie is super thick, so add more water as you go to create the best texture for you. 🙂