People sometimes look at me like I’m nuts when I tell them I make my own almond milk. As if it’s so ambitious and must be so much work and wow, I didn’t realize you were such a big hippie! Well, let me tell you, none of that is true. In fact, I’m pretty darn lazy and making almond milk is very easy. Easier, to me, than lugging cartons of almond milk home from the supermarket, which is a personal pet peeve of mine. Almonds are way lighter than almond milk and water comes out of the faucet (but make sure you filter it if you use tap water to make your almond milk!). Just to prove to you how lazy I am, today I’m going to share with you my super easy almond milk recipe. Maybe you’ll try it and become as big of a slacker as I am! Here’s my easy peasy DIY almond milk tutorial!
Almond Milk Ingredients
You only need two ingredients for this almond milk recipe!
Almonds. Obviously. Raw almonds work best for almond milk and will give you the creamiest milk with the cleanest flavor. Steer clear of roasted almonds.Water. Because we need some kind of liquid!
If you want to add some flavor, you can do that with a few extra ingredients. These are all optional:
Sweetener. I like to add maple syrup to my almond milk after making it, but pretty much any type of sweetener works. You can also add a couple of dates before blending the almonds.Vanilla. A teaspoon or so of vanilla extract will give your milk a nice vanilla flavor.Chocolate. Add some cocoa powder for chocolate almond milk.
Equipment
You do need a few pieces of equipment to make almond milk.
Blender. It doesn’t have to be a super high-powered one. I use an older model Ninja for this recipe.Nut milk bag. This is a small, tightly woven bag that you’ll use to strain the almond pulp out of your milk. This is the one I currently use.Bowl or pitcher. Something large enough to catch all of your milk after straining it through the bag.
How to Make Almond Milk
My method requires three simple steps, and the active work takes all of about ten minutes.
Soak the Almonds
Place the almonds in a container and cover them with a couple of inches of water, taking into account the fact that they’ll expand in size as they soak.Soak your almonds for 8 to 12 hours.
Tip: In a rush? You can boil your almonds in water for 20 minutes instead of soaking them, but they won’t soften up quite as much, so your milk might end up a tad less on the creamy side.
Blend the Almonds
Place your almonds into your blender with some water. I like to use 1 cup of almonds and 3 cups of water, but play around with the ratios to get a consistency that’s right for you.Blend them up! I like to let the blender run for about a minuet to make sure the almonds are well blended. You can probably get away with a quicker blend if you’re using a high-powered device.
Strain Out the Pulp
Set the bag in your pitcher or bowl and open it up as best you can. Pour your almond mixture into the bag — the liquid that comes through it is your milk! Now pick up the bag and squeeze it to get every last bit of milk out.
Drink up, or chill for later!
Pro Tips
Your milk will separate while it sits in the fridge. This is totally normal and I haven’t found a way to avoid it. Simply stir it back together before serving.If you’re always forgetting to soak your almonds, soak a bunch and freeze them! You’ll want to freeze them right in the soaking water, then when it’s time to make nut milk, thaw, drain, rinse, and proceed as if they’re freshly soaked.You’ll end up with some almond pulp as a by-product of this recipe. Put it to good use! Make almond flour. Dry your pulp out in the oven or a dehydrator, then blend it to a powder and use it in recipes that call for almond flour.Make almond pulp crackers.Make energy bites.Put it in a batch of granola.
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