Hello lovelies, I wish it were already common that you can get plant-based milk in every restaurant and café, but it's still not. So I'd rather bring my own everywhere – I took my homemade almond milk to a brunch at a friend's house this week and a lot of people didn't even know how easy it is to make your own nut milk. So I'm sharing my basic recipe here again.
Why make almond milk yourself?
For me it's mostly about the taste: freshly blended almond milk is creamy, nutty and tastes of real almonds, not of packaging. On top of that, I know exactly what's in it – just almonds, water and a little sweetener of your choice, no thickeners, no additives. And if you keep almonds on hand, the homemade version is often cheaper than the store-bought carton, too. All you need are 3 basic ingredients and a blender.
Soaking and peeling
The most important step happens the evening before: I soak the almonds overnight (about 8 to 12 hours) in cold water. This softens them, makes them blend more finely and gives you a lovely creamy milk. In the morning I pour off the soaking water and rinse the almonds well. You can use them unpeeled, which makes the milk a little more rustic and higher in fibre – but I usually peel mine. The trick: pour some hot water over the soaked almonds, wait a moment, and the skins come off easily.
Blend, strain, done
Then everything goes into the blender together: the almonds, 1 liter of water, a small pinch of salt and your sweetener of choice – for example a little maple syrup, a few dates or figs. Blend on high speed for at least 1 minute until smooth. Then I pour the milk through a nut milk bag and squeeze it well – and the almond milk is ready. I never throw away the pulp left in the bag: dried it makes almond flour, and fresh I love stirring it into porridge or granola.
From this base you can easily create variations: for the chocolate version I simply blend in some cacao, and for a blueberry milk a teaspoon of blueberry powder. That way I always have the right milk for coffee, cereal, smoothies or baking in the fridge. Plain, it keeps there for around 3 to 4 days – just give it a quick shake before drinking, as it naturally settles.
If you've caught the bug, my other basics are worth a look: I show you just how versatile cashews are in my 3 basic recipes with cashews – milk, sweet cream and sour cream. A particularly lovely way to use homemade nut milk is my creamy porridge with cashew milk. And if soaking almonds gets you in the mood for more, my nut butter – 3 easy recipes is the next favourite project. I'd be so happy if you make your own almond milk.
