Masen Matthews | Crumbs
Masen Matthews | Crumbs
Almond milk is delicious on so many levels, so why not try making your own? This reaps a lot of benefits, the first being that it can definitely be cheaper than store bought almond milk. The main attraction is that you go can go without a lot of the unnecessary additives that go in to a carton you would get from the supermarket. Making your own almond milk is actually super easy and only requires a few ingredients.
Before you start milking your almonds, you’re going to need one thing to aid the process: a nut milk bag. Now that you’re done laughing about that title, it’s time to find one. The bag is basically a thin cloth bag that you can strain liquids through. Do not try to use a cheesecloth for this process or you’ll have a huge mess on your hands. Going online is the best way to obtain one of these bags, and I’d suggest picking up one off of ecopeaceful.com. What’s great about that one is the fact that it’s made out of hemp and is free of any synthetic ingredients and fibers, and it’s also fairly inexpensive.
Now that you’ve snagged your bag, it’s time to get milking! One thing you might want to do at the beginning is soak your almonds. This process also removes some of the fat and carbohydrates from the almond, and it will make the finished product easier to digest. All you have to do for this step is fill a bowl with almonds, cover the almonds with water, and stick them in the fridge overnight. The next morning, rise off the almonds and you can start the milk-making process by filling your blender with almonds. Next, you’ll need to add water. How much water you add is up to you, and the amount you do add determines how thick or watery your solution will be. Fans of whole dairy milk might want to throw in two-to-four cups, while fans of thinner non-fat milk might prefer adding five-to-six cups.
Now that you’ve covered your almonds with water, it’s time to add a few other ingredients. This step is where you can get really creative with your final product by adding vanilla, salt, sugar, or even dates. If you want a sample, I typically add the following: a pinch of sugar, a dash of cinnamon, a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract, and a few dates. The vanilla extract is totally optional, but the dates really help sweeten up the final beverage without using processed white sugar. You can add these quantities to taste, which is what I would suggest.
Once you’ve finished your concoction, it’s time to blend. This process could take up to a minute of blending, and you’ll know it’s done when you can only see tiny specks of almond through your blender. With your milk bag in hand, dump in your almond milk over a large bowl. Working with a milk bag is interesting at first, and all you really have to do is squeeze out all of the milk. You’ll be left with a decent amount of damp almond pulp, which you can discard or save in the freezer to use in recipes for homemade granola bars, hummus, or anything else you’d want to add a nutty taste to.
Once you have your finished product, you can simply store it in the fridge. Be advised that raw almond milk doesn’t last as long as store-bought milk because of the lack of stabilizers and additives, so you might want to use it up within a week or so. Almond milk is great in smoothies, recipes, cereal, and more so stock up on nuts and start milking away.
Masen Matthews can be reached at [email protected]