Previously, Eating Berkeley praised the flavor of and gave tips on what to do with the almond, a popular type of nut that can be found in many places, from Hershey’s chocolate bars to the pantries of nut lovers. The trend has only been growing as the dairy aisle experiences the battle of dairy alternative products among soy milk, almond milk and coconut milk. The current king? Almond milk.
Relatively low in calories (30 to 40 per cup), void of saturated fats, delicately nutty and wonderfully satisfying, this creamy and mellow “milk” is the favorite choice of many. We could continue prattling on about all almond milk’s health benefits, but wouldn’t it be best to know how anyone can easily make almond milk in his or her own kitchen?
This has to be one of the easiest DIY projects — you only need five ingredients, no special equipment and barely any time investment. While Almond Breeze, Silk and other great brands offer fantastic almond milk, let’s face it: When has homemade ever lost to store-bought?
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of uncooked, unsalted raw almonds
- 4 cups of filtered water
- Separate water for soaking almonds
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
- Optional: honey, agave nectar, sliced dates, etc. as sweetener
Equipment:
- Blender
- Large bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Fine sieve or strainer OR several layers of cheesecloth/muslin (not just one)
- Storage jar with lid
Directions:
- Soak the almonds for at least 8 hours, preferably 12 (overnight). The water softens the almonds so they are easier to blend and make into almond pulp. The longer you soak your almonds, the creamier the result will be, so you can even consider soaking almonds for up to 2 days.
- Drain the water from the almonds.
- Place the soaked almonds and 4 cups of filtered water in a blender. Add the vanilla extract and optional sweetener(s). Continue blending until the mixture is no longer gritty.
- Prepare the cheesecloth/muslin/sieve/strainer and place it above the storage jar. Slowly pour the blended liquid through the strainer. This ensures that you leave the almond pulp out of the almond milk. (You can save the almond meal for additions to foods such as cookies and gluten-free casserole bread crumbs.)
- Refrigerate. Almond milk will last 4 to 7 days. Shake and drink away before that deadline! You can also use the milk for savory dishes such as Food&Wine’s Almond-Milk Creamed Spinach or all kinds of desserts (homemade banana ice cream, smoothies and rice pudding, to name a few).
We weren’t lying when we said this would be outrageously simple. Starting off with 1 cup of almonds to 2 cups of water results in almond milk that is similar to 2% cow’s milk. Change it up if you want thicker or thinner consistency. Also, make small batches, because the milk does not last very long and requires minimal labor.
Things can’t get better than this for almond milk enthusiasts, vegans and poor college students, right? So go to the nearest local grocery store and start shopping for those raw almonds in bulk!
Recipe was adapted from WikiHow and theKitchn.
Contact Eunice Choi at [email protected].