Easy Peasy Homemade Almond Milk and Meal/Flour

May 15, 2013

By Anna Varriano

In just a few minutes, you can make your own delicious almond milk! You’ll need raw almonds, filtered water, a pinch of sea salt, a sieve, cheesecloth (or any thin cloth that will work the same way), and a blender. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Prep

The night before you want to make almond milk, take one cup of raw almonds, 2 cups of filtered water, and a pinch of unrefined sea salt.
IMG_0730Put the almonds, water, and salt in a bowl. You want the almonds to be completely covered by the water – under at least a couple of inches of water – so add more water if necessary. Leave on the kitchen counter to soak overnight.

The next morning you’ll see that the almonds have swelled/plumped up, soaking up much of the water.

Drain the water and rinse the almonds well.

Step 2: Mixing

Put the almonds in a blender with 4 cups of filtered water. That’s right. Just 2 ingredients needed to make almond milk: filtered water and soaked raw almonds. Compare that to the ingredients listed on store bought brands. One ingredient you should avoid is carrageenan, as it can be a bowel irritant…and it’s not just in almond milk. Read labels!
IMG_0735Blend on high speed for a few minutes until the almonds are pulverized and you have a nice, smooth liquid. I use a Vitamix…love it.

Pour the contents of the blender through a cheesecloth lined sieve balanced over a measuring cup or bowl (I’m using a very worn-out, thin napkin that I’ve had since the beginning of time – works great!).

Doesn’t it look yummy?

You’ll likely have to gently stir the blender mixture a bit to help the liquid drain through the cheesecloth and sieve. It will start to get quite thick towards the end as most of the liquid drains away from the pasty, wet almond meal.IMG_0739

Gather up the sides of the cloth and gently squeeze and twist the top of the bundle to squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the wet almond meal, which won’t go to waste, because now you’re going to spread it out onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

 

Step 3: Cooking

IMG_0745Next, put the baking sheet with the wet almond meal spread on it, into a low oven (150F would be good…mine only goes as low as 170F) for about 1.5 hours until it is completely dry and crumbly and no longer sticks together. Check it every 30 minutes or so and break up any bigger clumps with your fingers so that it dries evenly. Once it’s completely dry, remove it from the oven, let it cool, and rub it all between your hands until it has the consistency of coarse flour. This will be delicious to use in baking of all kinds. I love making quiche crusts with it (just add some melted butter and press into the pie plate).

As for the almond milk, you’ll end up with about 4 cups.

Step 4: Serving

IMG_0750Enjoy as is, or if you want, you can add a touch of sweetener (e.g. maple syrup), and/or vanilla extract, and/or cinnamon. Use anywhere you would use milk.

To store, pour into a glass bottle or jar, seal with the lid, and keep in the fridge. It should last for 3 or 4 days (no preservatives means it won’t last for weeks and weeks!). Let me know if you try this and how you like it.

 

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