Our recipe for How To Make Rice Milk has met with such tremendous success here on Vegan Reader, that we’d like to talk about another wonderful non-dairy milk today. Readers have been requesting an Almond Milk Recipe and I’m delighted to share with you the one we make here on our family farm. If you’ve never made your own almond milk before, you won’t believe how quick and easy it is…about as snappy as whipping up a smoothie in the blender!
If you grew up drinking cow’s milk and are perhaps are looking for an Almond Milk Recipe right now because you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an allergy, or because you are building a more ecologically-sound and compassionate diet, you are going to love almond milk. We use rice milk for an every day milk. But almond milk is special. It is the cream of the non-dairy milks…incredibly rich with healthy fats and so sweet and good to taste.
Why Make Your Own Almond Milk
Almond milk is sold commercially, but it cannot compare in taste or freshness to homemade and because only a few nuts are needed to make a small recipe of almond milk, making your own almond milk will represent a financial savings for most families. Best of all, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you’ve achieved something really vital – the skills you need to do for yourself and your loved ones. That’s an accomplishment that no one can put a price tag on.
In making almond milk, please do use only organic almonds. In your quest for satisfying recipes that give you a chance to improve your self-sufficiency, you don’t want the deadly pesticides in your glass that are sprayed on conventional almond orchards. Nothing appetizing about that! By choosing to make organic almond milk, you will know that you are serving up health, and not sickness, to your loved ones.
The making of nut milks is neither new nor faddish. Nut milks have been beloved in Europe, Asia and the Americas for centuries, and I always think of a passage I once read in a history of New England in which some very thirsty travelers are given a glass of hickory nut milk by a woodsman. The author claims he had never tasted anything so delicious in his life and I can certainly believe him. So, just remember, though the National Dairy Council may have spent billions of dollars over the past century trying to convince Americans that the only milk on the planet comes from cows, history points at a much more diverse take on the tasty milks humans can enjoy and make themselves, right in their own kitchens.
My Almond Milk Recipe For The Creamiest Milk In The World!
It’s important that I preface this with a note that our family only makes almond milk on demand. Unlike rice milk, which we make a week’s supply of at a time, we make almond milk only when we want it, for special recipes. The following recipe makes 2 cups of milk, but if you’d like to make more, you can double or triple the recipe. If the milk isn’t to be consumed right away, you must refrigerate it. I wouldn’t advise keeping the milk for more than a week, but to be honest, because of the way we instantly consume every last drop of almond milk we make here on the farm, I do not know the exact amount of time a larger batch of almond milk would remain good-tasting in the fridge. You can experiment and see what works for your family.
Almond Milk Ingredients and Equipment
- 1/3 C. Raw Organic Almonds
- 2 C. Water
- A pot
- A blender
- A mesh strainer
And that’s it!
Step 1 – Blanching The Almonds
You can make almond milk without this step if you’re really in a rush, but the skins of the nuts will give a slightly bitter, strong taste to the finished almond milk that isn’t totally pleasing. Blanching only takes a couple of minutes, and the end result will be a very white milk with a pure, sweet taste.
Bring about 1 cup of water to a boil in your pot. Drop in your almonds. Let them boil for about 3 minutes and then pour everything through your metal mesh strainer so that the water pours out and you’re left with just the almonds. Pour the almonds out onto a plate and let them rest for a few minutes until they are cool enough to touch with your hands.
Once the almonds have cooled a bit, simply rub off their papery skins and discard the skins. That’s all there is to blanching and the end result is the lovely, creamy nut meats, ready to be turned into almond milk.
Step 2 – Making Almond Milk
Put the blanched nuts and 2 cups of fresh water into your electric blender. *Make sure you put the lid on. Blend them until you’ve crushed as many of the nuts as you can and the milk is creamy white and thick. You may have to stop and start the blender, picking it up off the base and shaking it from time to time, as the nuts can get stuck under the blades.
I want to note here that if you use more water/less water or more nuts/less nuts, you can control the exact creaminess of the milk. A higher proportion of water produces a thinner milk, and a higher proportion of nuts produces a thicker one. My proportions in this almond milk recipe results in a milk that I feel is just about right, but you can experiment. The truth is, I no longer measure the nuts and water when I make almond milk. I just make as much as I need at the moment.
What you end up with is the pulverized almonds at the bottom of the blender and the water having been turned into a rich milk. *You don’t have to throw the nuts out. We’ll return to this in a minute.
Step 3 – Straining The Almond Milk
Holding your metal mesh strainer over a receptacle – a jar, a bowl or wide-mouthed container of some kind, simply pour the milk through the strainer. Set the pulverized nuts aside. You can strain the milk twice if you want to be sure you’ve gotten out all of the little particles of nuts, but I only strain once. There are fancy bags and other devices for straining nut milks, but we don’t have these around our house and any fine-gauge mesh strainer seems to do the job just fine.
And that’s it. You now have homemade almond milk! It could hardly be easier to make.
What Is This Almond Milk Recipe Good For?
Almond milk is delicious in hot beverages like tea and makes an exceptionally rich cup of hot chocolate. It is wonderful over hot or cold cereals. Using almond milk in pudding and baked goods recipes results in really superior dishes and it adds a subtle, but certainly not overpowering, taste of nuttiness to any recipe in which it’s included. And, of course, almond milk is quite tasty plain, just as it is, but it’s because of its richness that I tend to use it as an ingredient in other recipes rather than as my typical daily beverage.
I know that many of our readers are very conscientious about waste. They will try this recipe and then find themselves with a lovely batch of almond milk…but also with the leftover chopped up nuts. What can be done with those wet, pulverized nuts? In order to answer that question, I’d like to share with you another simple recipe that is so exquisitely good, you’d think it came from some fancy, gourmet restaurant, to the tune of $15 a plate! I hope you’ll give this a try the next time you’re making almond milk and your family would like something sweet after supper.
Blackberry Almond Cobbler with Ginger Lime Almond Milk Ice Cream
I’m sorry I don’t have a photo of this elegant and super easy dessert to share. The blackberries are just finishing up in the back field and my family always gobbles this treat up before I think to photograph it. Just follow the instructions and it’s bound to turn out right. And it uses up both the milk and the nuts in the almond milk recipe, so this a no-waste dessert you can feel very good about. The following recipe is not only vegan, but it is also gluten-free. This serves 2. Increase the recipe for a larger family.
Ingredients
- A batch of the almond milk recipe above.
- 1 C. Organic Rice Flour
- 2 C. Blackberries (or blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, whatever you have)
- 1/3 C. Maple Syrup for the berry mixture
- 1/4 C. Maple Syrup for the ice cream
- Juice of 1 organic lime
- 1/2 T. dried ginger powder
- 1 T. Organic Sunflower Oil
- Shake of salt
- Ice
Step 1 – Making the Almond Milk Ice Cream
Take your finished almond milk and put it in the blender with the 1/4 Maple Syrup, the lime juice, ginger, a tiny sprinkle of salt and the organic sunflower oil. Add 4-5 ice cubes. Blend until the ice is crushed. Taste. If it’s not quite citrus-y enough you can add a little lemon juice for an even more refreshing taste. I like to do this, but it isn’t essential if you don’t have a lemon. If it’s not sweet enough, blend in a little more syrup. You don’t want it too sweet. It’s supposed to be light and snappy to contrast with the syrupy fruit.
Pour the blended mixture into a wide-mouthed, shallow container. I like to use a glass pie dish but you could use a wide shallow bowl or a rimmed platter. *Do not use a metal receptacle or it may react badly with the citrus juice. Glass or ceramic is best. Set it in the freezer.
While you are doing the other steps in this recipe, return to the freezer every 15 minutes or so to see if the ice cream has formed crystals. When it has, use a spoon and stir the mixture in a circular motion so that you keep it granular and so that it doesn’t simply harden into one big flat lump. The stirring also keeps the juice from separating from the milk. If you’ve ever eaten a granita, snow cone or shaved ice, you will know what the granular texture is that you’re looking for here. It’s not smooth like traditional ice cream. It’s much icier than that, and it is so good! Keep stirring the mixture from time to time while you make the rest of the dessert.
Step 2 – Baking the Cobbler Biscuits
Mix the wet, pulverized almonds (left over from making almond milk) with the cup of rice flour. Add a sprinkle of salt and gently stir the mixture together. Plop out onto a baking sheet in rough circles about 3 inches in diameter. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees until the bottoms are turning golden brown. The tops will still be pale. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Step 3 – Making the Berry Filling
While your cobbler biscuits are baking, wash your berries and put them in a pot with a couple of drops of water and the 1/3 C. maple syrup. If you are using strawberries, do slice them. But, any other berry can be cooked whole. Bring almost to a boil and then turn down to simmer. Stir frequently until the berries have disintegrated in the syrup and the mixture has thickened slightly. What you are doing is cooking off the excess water in the berries. This tends to take no more than about 10-15 minutes over low heat. Don’t forget to stir!
Assembling Your Dessert
Spoon the berry mixture equally into the bowls. Lay the biscuits on top of this. Is the ice cream all icy and ready? Put a big scoop on top of each dessert. For real gourmet flair, add a sprig of fresh spearmint to the top of each. Beautiful! Serve.
You will love the nutty pastry that is made with the leftover almonds from the milk, and the bright taste of the granita-like ice cream. This dessert provides a wonderful contrast to a meal that is heavy or starchy. It’s so light and fruity and fresh tasting. And, it’s truly a fine way to use up the almonds. This dessert contains no gluten, no animal products and no unhealthy fats. It’s simply natural goodness and one of the loveliest ways I know of to celebrate summer berries.
Reskilling Feels So Good
The Reskills section of Vegan Reader aims to help you reclaim the living skills that your people all had in previous generations. Whether you want to sew your own clothes, grow your own food or cook nutritionally superior meals from scratch, we absolutely believe that you can acquire the skills you need for a more able, powerful life. Something as simple as trying an Almond Milk Recipe can be your first act of taking pride in doing for yourself. It really feels good to know you can make your own delicious milk whenever you want it!
I hope you will give our Almond Milk Recipe a try and that it serves your family well as a healthy beverage and as an ingredient in inspired homemade dishes. Please let me know how it works for you!
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154 users commented in " Almond Milk Recipe – The Creamiest Of Them All "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackYour cobbler sounds fabulous. I wanted to offer up my version of almond milk and the apple cobbler we make with the leftover almonds.
I soak I cup of almonds overnight in my 2-cup glass measure, filling it with water. Next morning I pour off the water and blend the almonds (with skins) with 4 cups water. I strain that milk into a saucepan, return almonds to blender and blend with 4 more cups water. I strain that into the same saucepan, then decant the milk into jars.
For the cobbler I slice up a few apples, mix the almonds with about 1-1/2 cups rolled oats, add a bit of Celtic Sea Salt (has 17% trace minerals in addition to the 83% sodium chloride mix) and add about a cup of the milk to moisten and mix it all. I press it over the apples and pour extra milk into the glass dish so that it comes up about 3/4 inch from the bottom, add some dabs of coconut oil (first pressing, mechanical) then bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. No sweetener needs be added as the almond milk is so very sweet naturally and it soaks into the apples from the bottom up and from the top, down. Yum! That is a favorite breakfast at our house.
Max
Greetings, Max!
That sounds like a fabulous apple treat, good enough for dessert but I can see how it would be good for breakfast, too. It’s neat to see someone else’s way of making almond milk, too. I appreciate you sharing that. Yum!
Mim
None of the other almond milk recipes I’ve seen feature blanching the almonds, but they do suggest soaking the almonds for at least six hours. With this method, is soaking completely unnecessary, and if not, when would be the time to soak them? Before blanching? Afterwards?
Hi Appleseed,
I am not sure why soaking would be necessary. We never do this. Could it be that the skins of the almonds fall off after soaking the almonds and this is the point? The only other reason I could imagine would be that the soaking is intended to soften the nuts somehow, but frankly, the blender does a fine job of pulverizing the nuts so I am just not clear on why soaking would be needed.
Blanching the nuts takes just a minute and can be done on the spur of the moment, whenever you want milk. The almond milk recipe we’ve shared enables you to have your milk almost as soon as you want it! We hope you’ll give it a try, and thanks for asking such an interesting question.
Mim
wow, thanks for the recipe. i was looking around for almond milk recipes and found this to be particularly helpful. through the advice in another cookbook i soaked my almonds in water overnight first, but the next morning found this post and saw your recommendation for blanching the almonds. i was going to go ahead and do that to my soaked almonds, but when i strained off the soaking water i noticed that the skins were very easy to slip off. so, in answer to appleseed’s question, i suspect that one can either soak or blanch the almonds and the result will be the same. i think next time when i don’t plan ahead i’ll try blanching them instead.
and i can’t wait to try your cobbler recipe… sounds delicious!
You are very welcome, Ara Jane,
Thank you for letting me know that the skins come off when you soak the nuts overnight. I’d been wondering about this, and something to consider is that soaking instead of blanching would make this milk suitable not just for vegans, but also for those who enjoy raw foods!
So glad you’re trying this out.
Mim
Hey thanks for the recipe, I can’t wait to make my own almond milk. I’ve only just tried almond milk this week (a commercial product) and I love it, but I’m excited to make my own preservative/chemical free milk at home!
I wanted to mention to be cautious on what kind of almonds are used in the milk. Apparently bitter almonds contain a chemical when combined with the water will make cyanide. Sweet almonds don’t have this problem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond_milk). I’ve seen it mentioned on a couple other places before I found your recipe.
I’ve never paid attention to the type of almonds available when I buy them at the store…I mean I didn’t realize there was such a thing as sweet or bitter almonds. So I can’t remember…are almonds labeled as “sweet” when you buy them?
Welcome, Karateckie,
If you live in the U.S., chances are, you would have to go out of your way to find bitter almonds. They tend to be used in small amounts in ethnic recipes in Italian cooking and other cultural dishes. The almonds you will find in most U.S. grocery stores will simply be called ‘almonds’ and they will be the sweet, edible kind. I imagine you’d have to go to a specialty store to find bitter almonds. Hope this information helps! Good luck with the recipe and I hope you really enjoy making your own delicious, rich, fresh almond milk. There’s just nothing else quite like it!
Mim
Thanks that makes sense as to why I’ve never seen them distinguished between sweet or bitter almonds. That does help!
Kara
I went looking to see if I could make my own almond milk so I wouldn’t have to buy it, and found this. Sounds fantastic and I can’t wait to add this to my paleo diet line up. I’m not vegan but I definitely try to eat as healthy as possible.
That sounds so good, I need to run out and get some raw almonds :3
Greetings Jeff B & Slugbunny,
So glad this almond milk recipe sounds like a hit with you. May it provide you with many joyful drinks and meals. Thank you, both, for taking the time to leave such nice comments.
Mim
I am about to make my first batch of Almond Milk so I was scouring the net looking for recipes and found your blog. I have Dr Youngs “The PH Miracle” and there is a recipe in that for almond milk that says to soak the almonds for 12 hours. I am going to try both methods as I like your method of being able to make up a batch of almond milk at the spur of the moment rather than waiting half a hour to do it.
Sorry, I meant ‘half a day’ not ‘half an hour’….doh!
Greetings, Paula!
That’s super that you are experimenting with 2 different almond milk recipes. I’d love to hear the results and what you find are the benefits of both. I know that I find it really super that the recipe I’ve given here requires no planning ahead, and I do think it produces the best almond milk I’ve ever had, but I’ve never had the long soak variety and would love to hear if you think there is a difference. Hope you’ll comment again!
Mim
Making Almond milk at home is so incredibly liberating. You never have to buy mammal milk again. … And combined with Mexican chocolate or cacao you can make the most awesome hot chocolate with no phlegm/mucus left in your throat. That being said, I like to soak my dried nuts overnight in order to re-activate the enzymes. I don’t know if blanching does the same or destroys them.
This sounds wonderful – I just tried almond milk for the first time this weekend (the commercial kind) and absolutely loved it! My only question is how long does your homemade almond milk keep? Does it last longer in an air-tight container in the fridge?
Hi Lisa,
I find that as long as it’s in an airtight container in the fridge, almond milk will keep for at least 3 days. Fresher is always better with food but if you don’t use all you make right away, it’ll keep for awhile. It should also freeze well but ours is always gone before we’d have a reason to be freezing it so I’ve never tried that. If anyone does, I’d love to hear about the consistency once it was defrosted.
When I’m not going to be using the leftover almonds soon after grinding for milk, I freeze those and defrost them when I’m ready to make our apple cobbler dish. They freeze and defrost well.
Max
Hi Lisa,
We keep ours in lidded mason jars in the fridge and it stays good-tasting for 5 days or so…normally we drink it faster than this, but it has lasted well that long. I’m so glad you were impressed with your first taste of almond milk. I think homemade almond milk is even better than packaged…it tastes so much fresher! Good luck with making your own almond milk!
Mim
Max-
It’s wonderful to see you here. Thanks for weighing in with your experience on this. I’ve been thinking about you!
Mim
[...] made, it has none of the unnecessary ingredients they put into the commercial versions. We used this recipe although we didn’t blanch them first, we just peeled them after they soaked. Not sure [...]
can almond milk be frozen
Welcome, Doreen,
Technically, I know that almond milk can be frozen, because I make ice cream with it…but whether it would taste very fresh if it were frozen and then thawed, I’m not as sure.
My feeling is this: if you need to freeze and thaw almond milk, be sure to consume all of it right away after it thaws. Just like any frozen food, it should be eaten immediately upon thawing. Don’t save it for later or refreeze it once it thaws. Bacteria can form if you’re not careful with this. All in all, my preference is to prepare this drink whenever you need it and enjoy it fresh!
Mim
I used to like almond milk while in USA. I have been missing it since after I returned India. You have really done a great job for me by providing the almond milk recipe.
Thanks.
Prashant
Do you know the recipe to make almond butter?
Greetings, Prashant!
I hope this recipe will enable you to have rice milk no matter where you are. Maybe you can start a new tradition in India!
As to making almond butter…basically it is made out of almonds. But, the trick is, you have to have a nut grinder (like the kind used to make peanut butter in the USA) to go from plain nuts to a creamy butter. These machines can be hard to find and expensive. Alternatively, if you can find a little coffee bean grinder, you can grind almonds into a flour in it and then add a little oil to turn it into a butter. I like to use sunflower oil. Just a little oil added into the almond flour will do the trick. I haven’t been able to find/afford a real nut grinder, so I use a very small, inexpensive coffee bean grinder to make nut butters. It works for me, but someday I would love to be able to afford a real nut butter grinder.
Good luck!
Mim
I’m happy to access ideas from sources here and there. Thank you for sharing your tasty ideas and joy for preparing good food!
I have a question, maybe an obvious one at that; but would you know if pesticides get to the nut itself while covered by the shell? I realize it could be absorbed into the nut, but I’d be curious to know for sure. And then, if still applicable, I wonder if soaking the nuts removes the pesticides with the skins when drained off? I haven’t heard much on this subject and hope my inquiry is not overly conspicious.
Thank you!
mixde
Welcome, Mixde!
Unfortunately, I do not have any scientific data for you regarding the amount of pesticide that would be in the actual kernel of the nut as opposed to its green husk and shell. Conventional fields and orchards tend to be sprayed with toxins at all stages of the life cycle – so, you have to imagine the trunk, branches, blossoms leaves and developing nuts being exposed to pesticides. I’m afraid I do not hold with the belief that has been popularized by fruit/vegetable soap manufacturers that you can wash pesticides off. My understanding is that pesticides are absorbed throughout the whole growing organism (root, stem, flower and seed) so I’m afraid there is no way to be safe eating non-organic nuts or any other kind of food.
It’s also important to remember that purchasing conventional foods means that all wildlife, farm workers and neighbors of conventional growing operations are being exposed to carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting toxins. So, it’s not just the purchase of conventional foods who is being sickened – it everything and everyone in the environment.
When I think of this, I find away to squeeze a few more dollars into my food budget to buy organics. We are a low-income family, but food comes first for us. It’s good that you are asking questions about this, and while I’m sorry I cannot give you a scientific answer, I hope I’ve at least given you some useful information.
Wishing you well!
Mim
I agree with Tom above making Almond milk at home is so incredibly liberating. To be honest I’ve never made it hence looking on the website to find how to do it. I’m looking forward to giving this a go. Thanks Mim for posting
Welcome, Elaine!
It certainly is liberating…and delicious! I hope you will have fun trying out this almond milk recipe. We’d love to hear how you like it and hope it will help you to save money and eat incredibly well. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment!
Mim
[...] went with a really simple recipe from Vegan Reader for my first go at it. It’s just almonds and water… doesn’t get much easier [...]
just wanted to go back to the sweet vs bitter almond flavors. Different varieties of nuts have subtle flavorings and are better suited for various uses. I plan on using the nonpareil almond for almond milk. These nuts have a creamier sweeter essence. Can’t wait to make this when I get home.
Also on almond butters, just put your almonds in your blender and grind them, you don’t have to add anything- especially oils- almonds have their own natural oil. Depending on the type of almond you use.. organic roasted with or without salt, provide a wonderful flavor with no added ingredients. The roasted almonds I use are gently slow roasted (no oil) and the roasted/salted version is salted with a sea salt. When blending, you do need to stir the contents as you go and it tends to be a little messy but well worth the effort.
Greetings, Almond Queen!
Thank you for sharing your tips about almonds and almond butter. Now, do you have a really high quality blender? We have had trouble trying to do things like butters in our blender. It heats up and complains and seems only to be able to make a powder instead of a butter. I have read that you must roast the almonds or dry them in order to make the butter, so maybe this is the secret step we’ve been missing. I’d love to hear more from you about this, and thank you for taking the time to comment!
Mim
The butter stage comes right after the powder stage. My blender is a “Kitchen Aid” not high end. I do use the Roasted Almonds and the Roasted Salted. The trick is not to overload the blender. I Key is to stir often. Let me know how you do? I will be making my “almond milk in the next day or so. I did the overnight soaking of the almonds in water and was amazed at how easy the skins came off. This will please those consumers that don’t want to heat “cook” their almonds in the water to Blanch them. I will report back on the process. ** Also looking into the “bitter” almond it means its rancid/spoiled. I recommend checking on the expiration date of the product you are buying. If the date is close to the current date I would avoid that package because although the date on the bag shows some room for freshness you have to remember your dealing with tree nuts and the nuts are from previous harvests and most commercial products will give you two year+ old nuts, thus the close expiration date.
Hi Again Almond Queen!
Thanks so much for coming back and explaining your process further. Next time I want to have almond butter, I will roast my nuts first and see if our blender is up to the job. I really appreciate your tips.
Bitter almonds are actually a variety of almond most frequently used in Italian cooking. They show the connection between the sweet almonds we eat and the pits of stone fruits like apricots which look like almonds but are high in cyanide. My mother never trusted bitter almonds, but cooks in other lands use them in small amounts to flavor foods. I wouldn’t recommend eating a lot of them.
What you are talking about is another case: rancid nuts which are bitter and which would certainly be bad for people to eat! Absolutely!
Thank you so much for sharing your professional expertise here with us and it’s great to be getting this straight about how to make almond butter. If our shot at it works out well, maybe we can add an article specifically about this to VeganReader! Good luck with the almond milk recipe and happy sipping.
Mim
Wanted to send you some organic almonds from our family farm – but privately -not posted on your site. you have my email address if you would like to contact me. Val
Thanks for the tip on blanching the almonds. I started making my own almond milk two weeks ago because I was appalled at how little protein was in the store bought almond milk. My daughter doesn’t drink cow’s milk, but drinks a LOT of nut and rice milks, and I wanted something more nutritious for her. I tried peeling the skins off almonds that I’d soaked, but that was an exercise in tedium if there ever was one! I’m about to go to try the blanching method right now. I’ve found that when I remove the skins off the almond, then put them and the water in my vitamix blender I don’t even have to strain it. The skin makes up the majority of the pulp.
I tried the blanching – I swear I heard angels singing! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Welcome Hsofia!
Well, we must confess, you’ve given us a little chuckle here with the picture of you peeling almonds one by one. No wonder you are hearing those angels singing today! We’re glad this worked out for you, and that’s very interesting that the Vitamix works in this neat way for you regarding the straining. That’s a good tip.
Thank you so much for sharing your funny and triumphant story here!
Mim
I have been making both almond and peanut butter at home for several years, using a small blender, like the ‘bullet’ you may have seen sold on tv, definately not high end. I found the trick for me is to actually fill the container as much as possible, to keep pressure on the nuts so they continue to blend past the powder stage. I have tried smaller amounts, and the ground nuts just jump around at a point, so I just use a smaller container when needing less. Also, bitter almonds are actually illegal to sell in the U.S, hence most almonds available never specify sweet or bitter, so no worries on which one purchases. Bitter almond oil is available if you search, though almonds are usually heated prior to extraction of oil, and poisonous acid unlikely remains in the finished oil. Lovely almond milk recipe! My husband is allergic to all things almond, so it never made sense to purchase almond milk, I am soooooo pleased to now be able to make small batches for myself
thank you!
A good reason to soak the almonds is that they contain high levels of phytic acid, which binds to minerals such that one can’t absorb them. It also slows digestion, can cause fermentation in the gut, and produce gas. These digestive effects are particularly pronounced in people who don’t have great digestion in the first place. There are also some healthful properties of phytic acid. Soaking the nuts will not remove all of p.a., but enough to stop the harmful effects–you’ll still get the good stuff. Soaking the almonds (or any nuts) for a minimum of 8 hours is recommended by many health mavens. Be sure to throw out the soaking water…
this is my first time making almond milk, and your recipe really helped. im making apple- carrot muffins. yum yum yum!
I’ve been making your almond milk for many weeks! I’ve blanched and soaked them overnight—both methods work fine. If I’m in a real pinch, I’ve microwaved the almonds in water. I tried your ice cream (more like grenita) dessert this morning; easy to make and another way of using up the pulp. It’s not my absolute fav dessert yet… Maybe I should add oats to biscuits or something. The grenita is definitely refreshing though. I’m interested in more ways of using up the almond pulp.
Greetings, Ash!
Thank you for your tip about the bullet. We don’t have TV here, so we’d not heard of it, but it seems well-worth researching for any family who wants to make their own nut butters. Super advice. Thanks for the information about bitter almonds and for the kind praise as well. Much appreciated!
Mim
Welcome, Kathleen,
Thank you for sharing what you’ve learned about phytic acid. That’s very interesting. We appreciate you taking the time to comment on this.
Bats -
Good luck with the almond milk recipe. May it serve you well!
Hello, Anonymous,
Just to make sure…you’re putting the almond pulp in the biscuits, right? Not in the ice cream? From your comment, it sounded like you were putting the pulp in the ice cream and I wouldn’t recommend that. It’s wonderful to know you’ve been making this almond milk recipe for weeks. That’s a success! Thank you for stopping by.
Mim
I wonder what Pistachio Milk would taste like.
Welcome Ben,
It would be interesting to experiment with that. To me, pistachios have kind of a smoky taste, so I’m not sure what the resultant milk would be like. It might be good for cooking smoky-type dishes with, but I don’t know about straight drinking. Hazelnuts (filberts), on the other hand, make a very creamy and good milk. I’m all for experimentation…who knows, maybe you’ll hit on something really great!
Thanks for stopping by.
Mim
I’ve never tried almond milk before & decided to make my own when I saw how expensive the commercial brands were (not to mention all the additives). Anyway, I’ve just made your recipe & had a sip. Sorry, but I’m quite disappointed…it doesn’t have much flavour at all. So I’m wondering will the taste improve after it’s been refigerated for a while, or can I sweeten it a little with maybe honey or some other sweetener?
Welcome Suelou!
If your first batch of homemade almond milk was also your first experience tasting it, you may not have known what flavor to expect. Almond milk, if made from good almonds, should have a slightly sweet, bland creamy flavor…not a strong flavor of its own. You can use it in all kinds of recipes, and you can certainly sweeten it. Sometimes I like to have some with a little maple syrup mixed in and that’s quite tasty, but I do also like it plain. Additionally, almond milk makes about the most delicious chocolate milk or cocoa imaginable.
Take a little fair trade organic cocoa (I recommend Dagoba) and mix it into a tiny bit of hot water to dissolve the cocoa. Add a little maple syrup and then ice cold almond milk. I’ve never tasted better chocolate milk than this! I like it over ice, in fact.
Congratulations on trying your first from-scratch almond milk. While sitting it in the fridge won’t improve the taste (I actually think it tastes the most fabulous the day it’s made), you can start trying all kinds of different ways of enjoying it, whether with an added sweetener, blended up with fruit and ice for a great smoothie, in puddings, ice creams and a ton of other great things. Good luck!
Mim
Hi Mim, thanks for all your suggestions. I’ll give them a try. I sweetened my almond milk with a little xylitol & it did improve the taste, however it is quite watery….made my Weet Bix go really soggy this morning. Will keep persevering though, thinking next time I might use more almonds or less water (or both). Thanks again
Hi,
I only had roasted, salted almonds on hand so I used them. I blanched them first, peeled them, then blended them. I think I added too much water, since the milk was watery. But it might have been because I used the roasted almonds, and more nuts are needed when they are roasted. I added sugar free cocoa mix and blended in two bananas to get the sweetness and consistancy I wanted.
I also added some margarine to the almond pulp and made a nut butter. When added with jam on bread, it tasted good.
Thanks!
Would the leftover almond stuff be a good stir in for oatmeal?
Hi Suelou!
Thanks for trying the almond milk recipe. I hope you can experiment until you get a milk that is just right for you.
Greetings, Nancy,
Well, that was creative of you to try it with roasted, salted almonds, but that would definitely result in a very different end product. Toasted nuts have such a different taste, but it sounds like you ended up with something really creative anyway. Good for you! Next time you have plain, raw almonds, I hope you’ll give this almond milk recipe another try. It’s really yummy.
Greetings, Shannon,
I don’t see what would be wrong with trying that. It could be tasty, though maybe a little gritty. You’ll have to see. I think it’s nice that so many readers want to think of a way to use the leftover almond pulp. On our farm, we don’t consider the leftovers a waste, because they all go into the compost pile and help us grow our crops, but if you don’t have a compost pile, finding creative uses for the leftover almond pulp is both thrifty and smart. Thanks for stopping by.
Mim
Thank you BUT I just bought a pound of almond flour. How do you use that for almond milk?
Hi Allergy Lady,
I wish I had a simple answer for you. If the almond flour you have is from blanched almonds (skins removed) then you could likely blend it with water, strain it and come up with some milk. However, if it’s whole almond flour (skins included) the milk might be bitter, because the skins can make the milk bitter. I make whole almond flour for baked goods, and you might want to you use yours for that. If it’s got the skins ground into it, you will likely see a brownish color to the flour. If not, it’s likely to be cream colored. Without seeing your flour, I can’t be sure, but if it were me, I’d probably save the flour to make cookies with and buy some whole almonds for making the milk according to this almond milk recipe, just to be sure. Thanks for stopping by.
Mim
I just tried your recipe of almond milk twice. The second time I used 1 cup almonds and 1 cup water in blender, started blending, from that point I slowly added more water just enough at a time to keep the mixture from stopping. The remainder of water was added after about two minutes. What this method did is leave almost nothing in the strainer compaired to the first try with all water added at once. I feel that less pulp made more milk because the blender blades were able to attack more of the solids in a thick solution.
Mim –
Sounds delicious to me! I’ve been wanting to make almond milk for some time and even had a failed experiment recently. I’m anxious to try your recipe. I was interested in the query about enzymes. I didn’t hear you address it. I had heard the same thing, that soaking releases the enzymes but cooking kills them. Do you have any further information on that topic? Do you ever add vanilla bean to your almond milk, or does it just not need it?
Hi Jerry -
Great experiment. So glad to see you trying your own ideas with this. Thanks for the interesting comment!
Mim
Welcome Linda!
Thank you for taking the time to comment. As for raw vs. cooked, I’m really not qualified to answer this. A nutritionist might know, but from what I have seen, there is considerable controversy surrounding enzymes in cooked/non-cooked forms. Some people claim that cooking kills foods. Others state that cooking makes certain elements in foods more digestible and available. When it comes down to almonds, I’m not sure what the experts would say, but I have a feeling they wouldn’t agree with one another
Because we treat nut and grain milks as supplemental to our main foods sources, I am not overly concerned with their chemical makeups (enzymes, proteins, etc.) However, for anyone who is concerned about this, extra research would be a smart thing. If you find out anything else about this that you’d like to share, Linda, we’d love to have you come comment again.
Good luck with the almond milk recipe!
Mim
Almond Milk Breakfast Recipe.
My dad taught me a fantastic breakfast/lunch recipe using almond milk. It is worth sharing here, super yummy and super nutritious.
I think the recipe is of an indian heritage.
*3-4 cups of water
*2-3 handfuls of Almonds
*7-15 Chinese Red Dates
*7+ Cardamon pods (crushed finely)
*a good sprinkle of Cinnamon
*Black pepper (finely crushed)
*tea spoon dried (roasted) Tumeric
Method
Soak the almonds over night, drain, blanch in boiling water from the kettle for 1 min, then the skins pop off. (i haven’t tried just boiling them)
Cut dates into slithers.
add all ingredients to the blender, taking time to add the water to get an even consistency.
Add warm or cold water for taste.
Add more or less Dates for sweetness
Add more or less Almonds for thinkness & Creaminess (my GF likes it so think:)
Enjoy, and pls post feedback if you liked it
Tino
I have recently started making my own almond milk as most of the folks in here. I’ve tried several different types of almonds, and I prefer the raw almonds (I used the nonpareil almond, not the carmel almonds – I read somewhere that the nonpareil were better for milk-making) . I soaked them for 24 hours in the fridge, poured off the water, I left the skins on, and the milk was still very white and I could not taste the difference in the milk with the skins on or with the skins off. I have used honey, vanilla, dates, etc. as sweeteners, and have no real preference for any one particular kind. Frankly, I like it just plain. I’ve been a big 2% milk drinker for years, but have high cholesterol and have been changing my diet gradually, but almond milk is the way to go if you love milk as much as I do. If you and a friend go in together, buy in bulk, find a site with free shipping, and you can get a pretty good deal on the raw almonds. I have not tried the recipe given in here yet with blanching the almonds, but certainly will give it a try for my next batch. Nice to find this site to gain for info. I use the pulp known in many ways. You can use is with you favorite facial cream to exfoliate for a soft facial scrub, mix it with cereal and oatmeal. You can freeze it and use in just about all breads or cakes. I even read you could mix with your dog food to help prevent worms. So sounds to me like it’s pretty versatile.
I didn’t proof before submitting, and I made a couple of boo-boos. I meant to include the name for the almond pulp, but can’t come up with it at the moment. But it really has it’s own little name. Sorry about the typos.
I would like to know if you can, CAN rice or almond milk and if so what are steps Thanks
Welcome, Jeri,
That is such a good question. I have often wondered how it is that commercial rice milk and almond milk are sold unrefrigerated. Obviously, they are just sitting on a shelf in a box. Not being a chemist, I don’t know how this is possible. My understanding of canning is that you must have abundant acid in the canning solution or canned product in order for it to safely last and not become contaminated with botulism or some other toxin. It’s not something you’d want to mess around with, because a mistake could make you very sick or could even be fatal. That being said, there must be some way that commercial producers of these beverages do this safely.
If you want to research this further, I would suggest trying to get ahold of Ball – the company that makes canning jars, canning pots, etc. They have been publishing information about safe canning for generations and if they became aware that new generations of folks want to can things like rice/almond milks, perhaps their staff could begin researching this.
Wishing you best of luck in your research!
Mim
I have been making almond milk for several months and it is fantastic! I use 2/3 cup almonds soaked overnight, but i do not remove the skins. 2 cups water, pinch sea salt and a 1/2 packet sweetener (I am diabetic) and three drops vanilla, blend, strain, return nut mush to blender then add 2 more cups water blend and strain again. I then take the mush and add three eggs, sprinkle of cinnamon, 1/4 t baking powder and 1T ground flax seed. Fry this up like pancakes, top with fruit or sugar free syrup YUM!!!
[...] So after Alex told us about this yummy Almond Milk I decided to do the daily research and I found this blog which explains all the benefits it has well as some other recipes you might want to [...]
[...] almond [...]
Recently, I discovered I needed to make a severe change to my diet. One being lactose intolerant. So, I began with your almond milk recipe and have found it so successful in removing the skins that I am now entering into a new dietery phase using ‘almond flour’, because I am also ‘gluten intolerant’.
My question is, I need a resource to buy raw almonds for the best price possible. From my search online and at the local stores, my best buy is Costco’s raw almond 3 lb package for 9.97. Do you know of another ‘raw almond’ resource for a better price?
Thank you for your assistance in helping me on this important life journey. A journey to optimum health, vitality and well-being.
Elaine
Dear Elaine,
Where I currently buy raw almonds (at my local natural foods store) they are organic and they are $6.98/lb. This is the best price I have found locally. While Costco’s are cheaper, I wanted to ask you if they are organic? In your pursuit of health, having just found out about your lactose and gluten intolerance, you definitely don’t need to consume the huge amounts of pesticides applied to conventional almond orchards. If you could see the spray machines going down those lines of trees, you’d definitely say, “Whoa, I’m not eating that!”
Now, when it comes to making organic almond milk, the price, above, is just fine because it takes so few almonds to make a good batch of milk. It remains more affordable than any packaged product.
Making flour is going to be more expensive because the almonds, themselves, make up the bulk of the finished dish rather than the water (as with the milk recipe).
I have some thoughts for you on flours, as I am also gluten sensitive and can’t eat wheat.
I have found that almond flour, on its own, is good for only a few recipes. It makes a great cookie. And, you can make a biscuit like the one I’ve written about, above, for the shortcake recipe. Beyond this, I find almond flour to be good when mixed with another flour (typically rice flour) for things like pie crusts. Some people use a mix of almond and rice flour for a pizza crust, too. Rice flour is generally going to be cheaper than almond flour, so that can be a way to save.
However, when it comes to wanting something really bread-y, almond flour just doesn’t do it for me. This is why our family uses corn as our bread base. We make corn tortillas for our main bread, and supplement this with a bread made of broiled polenta. I’ll link to the articles where I demonstrate how these things are made, and I want to really stress, if you buy corn flours or meals, please by only organic. Nearly all conventional corn in the U.S. not only contains huge burdens of pesticides and herbicides, but it’s genetically modified – meaning not proven fit for human consumption. GMO corn has been banned in many countries, but politics in the U.S. have made it legal and unlabeled. Your only protection from this is to buy only organic corn flours and for the tortilla flour (called masa) we highly recommend Gold Mine Natural Foods.
Here are the links to my two solutions for delicious gluten-free breads:
Tortillas:
http://www.veganreader.com/2010/06/13/how-to-make-corn-tortillas-tortillas-corn-recipe/
Polenta Bread:
http://www.veganreader.com/2009/06/23/gluten-free-pizza-recipe-vegan-soy-free/
(you can use almond milk or rice milk in the polenta bread recipe)
Once I learned to make these two breads, I never missed wheat flour again.
Hope my response is helpful, Elaine, and please allow us to wish you the best of luck as you work towards a new repertoire of recipes that will be delicious and healthy for you!
Mim
Tino -
So sorry we missed your comment, earlier. Your breakfast shake sounds terrific! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Mim
I just couldn’t not respond to your thorough response to my question. First of all, you seem extremly knowlegable about living a healthy organic lifestyle. Thank you for your encouragement and insights you share with all who follow your site.
About buying organic raw almonds. You are right and I know that. I just checked my Costco bag of almonds and it doesn’t mention anything about being organic. I have just been looking for cheap at the expensive of my health. I will reevaluate my search. Thank you.
Also, I am very interested in your recipe using ‘almond/rice’ combination for a pizza crust. My basic interest came to use ‘almond flour’ as my base source for my ‘flour’ because of my food limitations. I didn’t mention it before but I can only eat ‘quinoa’ as a corn base. Which also means I have had to replace ‘cornstarch’ with ‘arrowroot’. Inaddition, I don’t respond well at all to ‘soy’.
So, I found this book: “the Gluten-Free Almond Flour cookbook” by Elana Amsterdam at my local library. It’s current and loaded with almond flour recipes that seem doable because it uses all the ingredients that my body loves. I am discovering what you already know and that is using ‘almond flour’ is expensive and more so when I go organic. So now I am on my quest to use a ‘coffee grinder’ or the ‘vita mix’ to blend the almonds from a ‘meal’ state to the ‘flour’ state without turning it into ‘almond butter’.
Final note, I am looking for a rice flour solution thaqt will work for me. Because, like you mentioned, it is the most economical way to go. My problem is, I am finding that most of them have other ingredients that I have to find replacements for.
I know the websites, using corn, you shared, I will take a look at and see if something will work for me. But even if it doesn’t work for me, I’m certain someone, who doesn’t have a sensitivity to corn, will read your response and that information will bless their life.
Thank you so much for your informative and open discussions.
Elaine
Hey, thanks for the wonderful recipe! I actually made an oatmeal milk with almonds added for flavor and a little rice for thickening. It was wonderful and then I made these amazing almond tea biscuits with the grainy bits. Mmmm! Here’s the almond oatmeal milk recipe.
Almond Oatmeal Milk
¼ cup of rice, softened or soaked (rising optional) (soak in minimal water)—This is used as a thickening agent)
2.5 cups oatmeal
About 1 cup peeled blanched almonds
5 cups water
1 tsp cocoa
Sugar to taste (1 cup or so)
1 TB vanilla
2 tsp coconut oil (use to add a little nutrition and smoothness)
A pinch of salt
1 stick or two very small sticks of cinnamon
** If you can (and if the mixture will, in fact, pass through cheese cloth—I’ve never tried), it’s highly recommended to strain with cheese cloth if possible. Otherwise, it is grainy, but delish!***
In a blender, let the salt, vanilla, cocoa, coconut oil, water, almonds, oatmeal, and rice soak for 30 minutes or up to a couple of hours (This is not required, but will allow for more liquid and less graininess and less waste). Blend until smooth. Add sugar to taste and blend until well-incorporated.
Strain the mixture in stages. Do NOT use a spoon to force the mixture through. You will cause more graininess. Encourage the mixture to pass by tapping on the side of the strainer or by rocking the strainer in a circular motion.
Once the strainer has clogged (this will happen maybe 5 times in the entire process), spoon out the thick paste that you are left with and put it into a bowl. Scrape the paste from the bottom of the strainer and add to the bowl as well. Do NOT throw away this paste.
Rinse the strainer well to remove any stuck-on bits. Strain again and repeat this process of straining, scraping the paste into the bowl, rinsing, and continuing to strain.
Do NOT add the last bit of grains that you strain from the drink into the paste mixture you have set aside. Once the bits that are strained begin to look obviously coarser, just throw it away. This should be no more than just around 1/3 cup or so.
Use the paste that you have set aside and follow the almond tea biscuit recipe. Enjoy!
Little waste (1/3 cup or less)
Here’s the tea biscuit recipe.
Almond Tea Biscuits
¾ cup to 1 cup of dough from oatmeal almond rice drink (do not include the last 1/3 cup or so)
1/2 stick softened butter
1 egg
½ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups + 1 tb self rising flour (or enough to get a cookie-like dough—it will be stickier than cookie dough, but get it to the point that it forms a ball when mixing)
Mix and bake in oven at 375 for about 10 minutes or until the biscuits are lightly browned and no longer visibly wet in the top center.
By the way, the oatmeal in the recipe for the milk must be QUICK OATS
[...] about soy cultivation, processing and the detriments of soy to our systems and our ecosystems. Almond milk is quite good, but once I learned how easy it is to make it, I find it nearly impossible to buy it [...]
I have tried twice now to make my almond milk. I used one cup of almonds to 3 cups of water, that was too thin, so I tried 1 cup of almonds to 2 cups of water, still very thin, compared to the store bought. (Silk) I blend it on high for like 3 minutes, then tried 5 minutes. My milk just isn’t very creamy? Is it my blender? the amount of time? Thoughts?
Does anybody know WHY the protein in commercial almond milk is so low? I have made almond milk homemade before- and was considering it as an option for my 1 year old after I wean him. BUT I just bought some commercial almond milk and it says “not for use as an infant formula”. My first thought was “conspiracy!” but then I saw it only has 1g protein/per cup and so I wouldn’t use it. What gives?
Hello, thank you for this amazing site!! All of the recipes are amazing and I really have enjoyed using them.
It is essential to SOAK Almonds esp. of all nuts for at least 6-8 hours before using. Nuts have something called an ENZYME INHIBITOR in their skin, which prevents it from pre-germinating out in the wild. However, we cannot digest this membrane when it is intact in the skin. SOAKING THEM DEACTIVATES the enzyme inhibitors so that our bodies can digest them. It any of you notice that if you eat unsoaked nuts, sometimes you are full very quickly and/or may be bloated. It is true that when snacking, we don’t need that many nuts anyway, but if they are not soaked, we may experience this fullness or bloatedness.
I just made some raw almond milk this AM, and I just simply soaked the nuts overnight and then poured hot water over them after rinsing and straining them, and was able to remove the skins very easily. Now I will concoct away, adding whatever incredients I desire on this cloudy here where I am!! Many Thanks again, and please please soak your almonds so that they are more highly assilated and digestible!
Cheers!!
I always pre-roast the almonds at 250 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes. This improves the flavor of the almonds and makes them more nutty. You can then use the almonds to make the almond milk or the ice cream.
I have not made almond butter but have made peanut butter successfully with a champion juicer. Don’t know why almonds wouldn’t work as well. Thanks for the almond milk recipe. I use it to make yogurt and it is delicious.
Can you substitute other nuts with this recipe, like peanuts perhaps? I’m allergic to tree nuts but I can eat peanuts just fine.
Welcome, Kwanie,
I have never heard of peanut milk, but you could certainly give it a try. I’m not sure what that would taste like. Most nut milks are made from things like almonds or hazelnuts – peanuts are significantly different from these.
I’m wondering if you are allergic to coconut. If not, you can make a wonderful milk from coconut – one that is a staple in many tropical countries.
Good luck!
Mim
[...] Almond milk is quite good, but once I learned how easy it is to make it, I find it nearly impossible to buy it (and am somehow also too lazy to make it myself). Just in case you’re not lazy, here are a couple of almond milk recipes: Image from http://www.veganreader.com [...]
Hello there!
Finding this recipe and your rice milk recipe has given me hope that even a poor college student such as myself can have and afford healthy foods like this. I’m so excited to try making both of these recipes and never having to buy milk from the store again!
I wanted to add that the reason many people prefer to soak their almonds as opposed to blanching them is that this way preserves more nutrients. Blanching depletes some of the natural nutrients from almonds while soaking leaves them all intact. Of course, if you’re not worried about losing those nutrients then being able to make almond milk in less than 30 minutes whenever you want it is a wonderful thing!
I think I’ll be keeping both these recipes in my recipe book. I can’t wait to try it out.
I have made my own almond milk for about a year now. I also soak my almonds, rather than blanching, and I don’t remove the skins.
I strain it through the (clean) foot of a pair of nylons dedicated to this use, and after I strain it the first time, I put the pulp back into the blender and blend it again with a little more water. (I use a 2:1 ratio of almonds to water for the first blend, and then add another cup or two of water for the second blend) I like to add a little bit of raw honey and some vanilla to mine if I’m drinking it, but I leave it plain for cooking.
After I strain it the second time, I spread the pulp onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and dry it in a very low oven until it is completely dry. I then grind the dried pulp in a coffee grinder, and it makes a very nice almond flour.
As far as making almond butter, I use raw almonds for that too, and I make it in my food processor. I don’t add anything to it until after it has reached the butter stage (which takes at least 5 minutes of continuous processing), especially if you add any kind of sugar (like honey or maple syrup) it will cause it to seize and it will not turn into almond butter, no matter how much you process it.
In response to the question above regarding rice flour- I’ve found the best source for inexpensive rice flour is the Asian foods store in town. I pay around $1/lb there.
I recently made this and a day later it separated. The ground almonds at the bottom (what didn’t strain out – my food processor blended them very fine and I think I may use the nylon trick listed above next time), then water, then almond “cream” at the top. Is this normal, or did I do something wrong?
I’m from the U.K and haven’t actually heard of almond milk. Im definitely going to give your recipe a go though as it looks super tasty.
Hi, I just started making my own almond milk. I can only find sliced almonds in a large quantity. How would I blanche these? They do give the milk a bitter taste, the store bought does not have. I love this site. Such great sounding recipes….I am sure my hips will love it!!
Welcome Darbye,
I don’t know if it will be possible to blanch sliced almonds. They are so thin, I’m not seeing how you could rub the skins off. We buy our whole almonds in the bulk section of natural foods stores. If there is no such store where you live, and you are committed to making your own almond milk, you may need to purchase your almonds online.
Mim
Why did I interlibrary loan two cookbooks on raw foods recently when this site is available? You write so well, I second the suggestion that you author a nonfiction book. People have made such welcome recipe suggestions on your site. My first small contribution, with reference to Kristen’s post above, is a recipe for self-rising flour, which I found online at Cooks.com in 2003 under Sourdough.
Self Rising Flour
To each cup of flour, add 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp baking powder.
Also, I have a recipe for baking powder my aunt gave me 20+ years ago, but it is not “double-acting”.
Baking Powder
2 parts cornstarch or arrowroot
2 parts cream of tartar
1 part baking soda or potassium bicarbonate
By the way, I am excited about the almond and rice milk recipes and plan to make them very soon, since a few days ago I bought Lifeway Kefir (surprisingly enough, it says it is 99% lactose free) at my local food coop (lfc) because only Silk and Almond Breeze are available there and my opinion is that the only good soy is tofu and Almond Breeze is not organic. I used to buy Breeze to use on cereal.
I find your thoughts about rice and almond milk uses most instructive.
Also, as far as I know, only whole nuts can be blanched.
The bulk pasteurized almonds I purchase at my lfc look sickly to me: soft and with depressions. I suppose that process ensures the nuts are bacteria free. I read recently that nuts and grains kept at room temperature can be breeding grounds for bacteria, especially if they are kept in below-waist level, lid-flip-up bulk bins at a store.
On an even more serious note, I have a widowed friend who is somewhat lactose intolerant, but a couple of her sons have an inability to digest lactose, galactosemia, that, upon exposure, creates a chemical imbalance which has continuing adverse impacts on intelligence and other systems. These impacts only worsen over time as the children are exposed to more dairy. Fortunately, my friend learned quite a bit with the first son and her sons, who have been tested regularly over the years, have been poster children for how parents can cope with this debilitating genetic- and sex-linked disorder.
I plan to soak almonds and see if this helps my family with their digestion. If it does help I will be ever grateful. Would this process work with pecans and walnuts?
Chocolate almond milk was a revelation to me this morning. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Hi Again Jacqueline,
Isn’t that chocolate almond milk amazingly delicious? You bet!
I’m so glad you are finding the recipes here to be helpful. I have kicked around the idea of authoring a Vegan Reader Cookbook e-book, but between farming and other work, I’m pretty occupied. Maybe at some point we will do this, and I appreciate the vote of confidence!
Thank you so much for sharing what you know about galactosemia. I sincerely hope your friend is finding good ways to nourish her children and protect their health.
Not sure about walnut or pecan milk. You’d have to give this a try. Typically, the other nut milk people make is hazelnut milk, which I don’t find to be good for drinking plain. I imagine you could make some nice things with it though (ice cream, baked goods, etc.) You’ll need to experiment to see what you think of the various tastes. For me, almond milk is definitely the favorite!
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Mim
[...] it in cereal a few mornings a week. Can I make it myself?  Sure you can, if you have the time. Here’s a recipe from Vegan Reader. [...]
why won’t you respond to comments about separation of milk? How to stop it or if it is normal? I tried your recipe and it was very thin and separated. I’ve left a couple of comment sbut you keep deleting them – seems you delete anything less than glowing… too bad and shame on you. What is wrong with some questions/critisisms?
Welcome, Curious,
Whoa, there! If your questions didn’t come through, there may have been a glitch in our system, unless they in some way violated our comment policy and didn’t make it past moderation. We’re sincerely sorry that you concluded your questions had been deleted, but I think if you take a look around Vegan Reader, you will see that we have a really open comment policy, so long as comments don’t contain hate speech or spam. We definitely are not censoring comments so that only glowing ones appear, and if you take another look at this post, alone, you will see just how much time we spend responding to the huge number of comments that come in. Again, we apologize that you’ve tried to leave remarks that didn’t go live, and we are certainly happy to publish your question.
Regarding separation – in the years I’ve been making almond milk, I have noticed that this does happen once in awhile. For example, a thin film of water will rise to the top of the mason jar, or the glass you’re drinking it from. No worries. Just give the receptacle a swirl and it will ‘homogenize’ again. Perhaps this comes from water quality, some content in different batches of nuts or some other factor, but I wouldn’t be concerned about it. A little swirl will do the trick.
Thanks for making repeat attempts to comment here, and we’re glad this one made it through.
Mim
Made the milk recipe last night, and it turned out awesome! Thanks!
For the separation, I used a little honey as an emulsifier to keep the milk from separating. Just pour in a steady stream of a tablespoon or so as the blender is doing it’s thing.
Welcome Holly!
So glad this was a success for you. Thanks for letting us know. Happy sipping!
Mim
[...] I thought…what other milks can I make?! This recipe from the Vegan Reader worked deliciously (I tweaked [...]
I bought peeled almonds (they’re easy to find where i live) so skipped the first step in this recipe. added some agave nectar for extra sweetness and had my homemade almond milk within like 2 minutes.
super easy and tasty.
Looks good but I was wondering if you have nutritional info of 1 cup of almond milk based on your recipe? I was wondering how it compares to the commercial almond milk.
Hi VeganGirl -
Sounds like this was a snap for you. So glad you liked this almond milk recipe!
Hello, Allison,
Manufacturers of food are required to submit their products to laboratory testing so that nutritional information can be displayed on their packaging. If it’s vital that you know how your homemade almond milk compares nutritionally to a commercial product, I suppose you could send a sample of it to a laboratory??? It’s not something I’ve ever thought of doing, but you could give it a try. Good luck!
Mim
Just made your almond milk – soooo yummy! I was just finishing off a carton of commercial rice milk but I wasn’t a fan of the flavour – and here in Australia all the alternative milks are so expensive! I have been drinking quite a bit of soy but have been told my numerous people lately that you should only drink very small amounts because of the plant estrogens. So will be alternating with home-made almond milk from now on! Thanks for the article! P.S. My part of the country isn’t very tolerant of veganism. I’m a relatively new lacto-ova vegetarian, but am finding it hard to give up cheese because there’s almost no alternative here. Same with eggs… And most restaurants and cafes barely have a vegie option, let alone a vegan one. I hope we catch up with other parts of the world soon!
Thanks for the info on blanching. I’ve been making almond milk without blanching, just soaking overnight, and leaving the skin. I use the pulp left over to make polvorones, aka Mexican Wedding cookies, Russian Tea cookies, or Sandies. In fact I usually use the Betty Crocker Sandies recipe but roll them into small balls and use different extracts, ie. orange, rum, almond. I’m sure it could be reworked using substitutions. I’ve been considering using coconut oil in its stead. It has to be tasty, right? Some weeks I make batches of coconut milk and soy milk and have made a delicious cake from an old Mother Earth News recipe using the pulps of all three. Otherwise, the chickens down the street get them;)
I love reading your blog, Mim! May it be a post on a simple recipe, or a thought provoking subject, you are nonetheless passionate about it and elaborated it for the rest of us. ‘Reskills’ is my favorite section of your blog, and I hope to read more wonderful posts in this section.
I will definitely give a homemade almond milk a try with your recipe, and have you considered using other cereal grains and beans like oats, sesame, rye, or mung beans for variation?
Welcome MissKM!
Thank you so much for your comment. Yes, the soy debate has been going on for some time now, for two reasons. One is the estrogen issue, and the other the genetic modification issue. I don’t know if Australia sources its soybeans from the U.S., China or somewhere else, but here nearly all soy being grown is genetically modified and believing that any soy is gmo-free takes some faith. Your plan for moderation is likely a good idea!
I have two lovely distant cousins in OZ and we’ve talked about food several times (I was very curious to know what is popular in your country and it was very educational to learn from them.) Most vegan diets here seem to me to be based on a combination of grains and beans, and then topped with lots and lots of vegetables and fruits, with seeds and nuts being thrown into the mix. If you can find a nutritious bean source, a whole grain you like and digest well, and a reasonably good supply of the other things, then you have what you need to try eating vegan.
If certain beans aren’t common where you live, how about lentils and yellow split peas? Both are nutritional powerhouses, with lots of protein, vitamins and minerals.
If dairy is what you find hardest to replace, this is where certain grains, seeds and nuts can be used to take the place of the cheese and milk you’ve grown up with.
The best thing is to see what you like and see what works for you. It’s interesting to read that Australia just doesn’t seem very vegan-friendly to you. With your country’s ability to grow food, this shouldn’t have to be the case. But, vegans make up only tiny percentage of America as well, so I know where you are coming from.
Sincerely wishing you good luck and happy almond milk drinking!
Mim
Welcome, Mazey-
Mexican Wedding Cookies! What a fabulous idea. I can definitely see how that would work with the leftover almond pulp. Your other cookies sounds absolutely neat, too. What fun!
Mim
Greetings, Yvonne!
Thank you for your very kind comment. You’ve brightened my day with your lovely words.
I’m definitely all for experimenting with different milk sources. I know many people love oat milk! To me, different nuts and seeds seem to lend themselves better to either sweet or savory dishes. For example, almonds and rice to me seem sweet, whereas sesames and cashews have always struck me as more savory, having an affinity to things like cheese, gravy, stews, etc. I’m not sure about rye. That would be interesting to try. Rye is sort of a heavy, sour grain, so I’m just not sure what the result would be. The wonderful thing is that experimenting with a small batch of any milk is not expensive, and who knows, you may discover something fabulous that no one has ever tried before. Good luck and thank you again for your inspiring comment!
Mim
I like almond milk, but I also like creamy ice cream. Is there any way to make ice cream like commercial ice cream…only with almond milk? Are there substitutes for the “cream” that are healthy but produce the creaminess I long for?
Hello, Pawpaw63!
Here’s the thing: the creaminess of cow-milk-based ice cream comes from the incredibly high fat content in the milk of cows. Store-bought non-dairy ice-cream typically depends on additives like guar gum or xanthan gum or similar substances to mimic the gummy creaminess of cow milk ice cream…actually a lot of cow ice cream made with lower fat milk has ingredients like these in it for the same reason.
Could you reproduce this at home? I’m just not sure. I’ve never tried making anything at home with additives like these. I guess it’s just one of those things that haven’t been important enough to me to replicate, and I’m just not big on additives, even if they aren’t unhealthy in any way. The only thing I can think of that I eat that’s densely fatty is avocados. Hmmm…avocado ice cream? Well I don’t know how that would work. I do know that in Mexico people eat sweet avocado milkshakes.
Bottom line, you can buy commercially produced non-dairy ice cream which has been made dense and thick with gums and starches, but I’m not sure if you could reproduce this at home. Experimentation is always smart, and I’m wishing you good luck!
Mim
Thank you for great instructions for making almond milk.
I am having some issues with my preliminary attempts. First, I am not getting near the taste or texture from store bought brands (my favorites are Silk’s unsweetened plain and Trader Joe’s vanilla unsweetened). My homemade almond milk is nowhere near as creamy and tasty. I much prefer the store bought still. I will try adding some dates as in some other recepies I found on the web. Is it possible to add any other incredients to improve texture (like lecithin or the weird ‘gum’ additives – not sure if the latter is health, but lecithin is not bad, right?)
Another issue is that the number of calories for the homemade version is several times higher than the store bought. I don’t understand how that could be as the store bought tastes more rich. A cup of store bought is about 40 calories whereas the one I made from store bought blanched almonds was over 100 calories a cup. This is a problem for my calorie restricted diet.
Almond milk is one of my favorite drinks. I feel ridiculous that I cant seem to be able to make it myself.
Welcome, Joseph,
It sounds like you’re not experiencing instant success. You could experiment with additives, or you could try increasing the amount of almonds in the recipe, but remember that factory-made products are engineered to have certain properties of fragrance, taste and a thing they call ‘mouth feel’. Typically, the home cook will be working towards something that pleases them without additives, artificial/natural flavors and etc.
Regarding the calories – did you send your milk to a lab or find a quote about this somewhere on the web? I’d love to know. At any rate, if your stats are correct, then my guess is that the commercial products are using fewer nuts but making up for it with additives that replicate a sensation of creaminess.
Quick tip on lecithin – only use this if you can find certified organic lecithin. Lecithin comes from soy, and 90% of the soy in the United States is now genetically modified (definitely not something you want to put into a healthy drink), and your only protection from accidental consumption of GMO soy is the organic label.
For some people, this recipe works right off the bat. I can’t imagine drinking something that’s creamier than this, but others will need to be creative an adapt the recipe into a finished beverage that is their own ideal.
Please, allow me to wish you good luck. Time spent in the kitchen is always good time when you’re learning to make something from scratch for yourself and your loved ones!
Mim
I have made this recipe several times successfully. I have been using dates for sweetener, since they taste best to me from a few other things I’ve tried. However, after the first time, I went ahead and bought an inexpensive nut milk / seed sprouting bag. I found them on ebay (I’m sure estsy would be a good bet, as well) and bought two, one for myself and one for a close friend, for around $4. The texture is much better when passed through the nut milk bag with its extremely fine mesh, very creamy and not grainy at all, and it is reusable. I think it’s a good investment, and I know you can make them easily, as well, if you sew.
The rice milk recipe on this blog is also excellent. But if you try the almond milk first, you’ll be spoiled, and I had a much harder time getting the rice milk to just the right balance. A little bit of oil, a good pinch of salt, maple syrup, and only a very small amount of vanilla extract seemed to work best for my palette and the friends who tried it. It was very good a vegan pancake recipe I made up.
Greetings Claire!
I have seen those nut milk bags. They are a nifty invention and it’s great to hear you are using yours with such success. Appreciate you sharing your tip with all readers.
Mim
[...] finish off, here is the recipe for the almond milk that we all made together. Campers especially loved it when we added a ½ cup [...]
[...] recipe begins with a recipe for almond milk from the Vegan Reader (a great blog if you’re interested). Â You can make it just before or have some ready in the [...]
I decided to make my own almond milk just to try it, thanks for a great recipe. I use a vitamix and end up with almond “silt” rather than nut pieces! Anyone else experience this? I have to strain the milk a few times because it is unpleasant in coffee and tea. Otherwise I am thrilled to have a milk alternative! Thanks again.
thank you for ALL this information. can vanilla bean be used?
[...] about soy cultivation, processing and the detriments of soy to our systems and our ecosystems. Almond milk is quite good, but once I learned how easy it is to make it, I find it nearly impossible to buy it [...]
First off I just HAD to come up with a sarcastic name for this post. I love the simplicity of your recipe, have not tried making raw almond milk yet though. My son and daughter have cow dairy soy and beef intolerance which can be VERY rough! Whats even harder is my daughter has dysphagia(swallowing problems), aspiration, and GERD. I took her off of formula at 12 months and straight to almond milk(store) and she has done SO much better and now I want to take it to the next level not to mention my son and daughter will drink almond milk over ANYTHING else! So my daughter cannot have anything to drink BUT milk. Store bought almond milk has a thick enough consistancy that it works for her and she doesnt aspirate into her lungs. So I am wondering how should I adjust this recipe? I know you said more almonds but what would you consider to be a good amount? Secondly she LOVES yogurt and can tolerate small amounts of cow yogurt (idk why lol) BUT i would just love to make some almond yogurt for her, do you have a recipe? Her diet mainly consists of solid foods due to her medical issues but I just love the idea of homemade almond milk because I would be using water! I just feel like she isnt hydrated enough
…OH! One more thing. I would want to buy as much almonds as possible at a time so i can use them when she needs the milk cause u never know when she will have a growth spurt and do nothing but drink her milkies! So in doing so how would I store these for a good amount of time? Thank you so much! OH and she loves pb sandwiches but alternative bread is just not good or affordable how can i eliminate this with the use of almond instead?
Welcome Momma2,
I’m so sorry to hear about your daughter’s challenges. With problems as difficult as dysphagia and aspiration, my advice is that you will need to experiment seriously with this almond milk recipe on your own before giving any of it to your daughter. Not knowing just how thick it has to be for her, this isn’t something we can offer you advice about, but perhaps the addition of chia seeds or agar or some other natural thickening agent would be a good place to start with thickening the liquid until it reaches a consistency identical to the packaged stuff you know she can drink??? Just a suggestion. Because of her special needs, you will need to do a special amount of experimentation.
Almonds can be stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator for at least several months (some sources say 2 years but I wouldn’t like to keep them for that long). You could buy some big lidded glass jars and store quite a few.
Regarding bread, unfortunately, there is no recipe for almond bread that can replace wheat bread. If your daughter can eat wheat, your challenge will be to find a bread that does not contain soy lecithin (most commercial breads contain this ingredient or some other form of soy).
I sincerely hope that you can find a skilled and compassionate nutritionist to work with to make sure that both your children are getting adequately hydrated and nourished. Especially at your daughter’s young age, building up a daily diet of adequate nutrition is obviously critical and please allow us to send you prayers for your children’s health.
Mim
I MADE ALMOND MILK TONIGHT!! I went with soaking them and then rinsing with really hot water. Then blended 1 cup almonds w/ 4cups water then strained and blended pulp with 3 more cups of water and it came out a good consistancy for her if i put a slow flow nipple on her bottle
she really likes it but my son does not so i need to make it more rich for him since he is used to the store bought. oh and raw almonds happened to be on sale at our local market so i paid 4.31 after tax for a lb and it will yield roughly 168oz vs paying 3.29 BEFORE taxes for silk almond at 64oz 
really can be a money saver!! oh i was wondering if you had a recipe for almond yogurt and i should have clarified on the bread she can have wheat but not dairy so can i make a bread with almond milk? oh and im sooo eager to make some brown rice milk for myself i love brown rice and really should get away from the cow dairy. TY soo much for the recipe and all of your advice! my little girl fell fast asleep with her homemade organic raw almond milk that mommy made for her 
such a wonderful feeling!!
Hi Again, Momma2,
I am so delighted that the recipe worked out for your little girl. That’s excellent news, and glad to know you can see how much money making your own almond milk will save you.
I’m sorry, but we don’t have a recipe for almond milk yogurt. That’s not something we’ve ever tried to make.
Regarding bread – basic bread as it has been made historically and is still made in places like San Francisco, Italy and France, does not contain milk. Basic bread has just 4 ingredients – flour, yeast, water and salt. We don’t have a recipe to share with you, but look up an honest, simple recipe for french bread or basic wheat bread and you should be able to find hundreds to choose from. Breads that use milk are going for a different finished loaf, but in my opinion from all of the years of my life when I was still eating wheat and making my own bread, the loaves with just those 4 basic ingredients are actually the best.
Hope this helps, and thank you for coming back to let us know that the almond milk recipe worked for your daughter. We’re truly happy!
Mim
I’m looking forward to giving this recipe a try. I think my daughters would have fun removing the outer layer of the almonds once they’ve cooled.
Thank you for including a recipe for using the leftover pulp. I’m wondering if you have any other recipes/uses for it. I can’t see wasting all that good “stuff.”
Welcome Christine,
I’m glad you found this almond milk recipe! I’m afraid we don’t have any other recipes to share at this time regarding using the leftover pulp. We find it to be such a good addition to our family farm’s compost pile, we just haven’t found anything to do with it. But…if your girls eat a hot cereal for breakfast, you might try adding a spoon of the pulverized nuts to it for an extra nutiness. Good luck!
Mim
I have been dairy-free for almost a year now due to allergies. I’ve been searching for an easy recipe for almond milk so I’m glad I found this. I can’t wait to try it (even if it is from a vegan site). Thank you so much! Oh do you know th shelf life or if it can be stored after the canning process without refrigeration?
Welcome NonVegan,
Definitely refrigerate your almond milk. We have never tested it as a non-refrigerated product. It keeps well in the fridge for up to a week, in our experience.
We must confess, we are amused by your ‘even if it is from a vegan site’ comment. We promise, we don’t bite.
Mim
Thank you for the almond milk recipe and the rest of your wonderful
blog. I’ve one comment on how to use the wet pulverized nuts. I used
them to make an Indian dish called tikki. For the paste from 1/3 cup
of almonds: Boil one large potato, remove the skin and mash it
with a bit of turmeric, a teaspoonful of cumin power, a little bit
of cayenne pepper, a handful of cooked green peas, about two
tablespoonfuls of chopped fresh cilantro, salt to taste and the almond paste. Shape into 3 patties and cook in a skillet with little oil and a low flame for about 10 min each side until there is a thin crust. Have with tomato ketchup (or tamarind and mint chutneys).
Welcome Vijay! What a wonderful recipe for using the leftover almond pulp. Thank you so much for taking the time to share it. I am sure every reader who comes to look at the almond milk recipe will be excited to read your suggestion. Many thanks!
Mim
I don’t know if anyone else mentioned this (I don’t feel like reading all the comments) but don’t throw out the skins. They are very nutritious. They have high levels of antioxidants. Toast them or grind them and add them to food and/or recipes.
I am trying to lose weight and I have a severe milk allergy. Is this a very fattening milk. I struggle to lose weight! Any tips?
Welcome Prettyjem4su,
I did some Internet searching for things like ‘almond milk vs. cow milk’ and ‘is almond milk fattening’. I recommend you do the same searches and see what you come up with. The trouble is, so many commercial almond milks also contain sugar and other substances, whereas this homemade almond milk recipe is just almonds and water. You’d need to find someone who has done a chemical analysis of plain, additive-free almond milk and then compare that to any other milk you might be thinking of drinking. Good luck!
Mim
Thank you for sharing this recipe, the almond milk is wonderful and a big hit in my family. But, how can I be sure that the almonds that I buy are organic and chemical free? Many times the word organic is used missleadingly to lure the consumer into purchasing the product. Also, can I freeze the pulverized wet leftover nuts until I’m ready to make the cookies?
Welcome, Olga,
I’m so happy that the almond milk recipe is a hit with your family. It is delicious, isn’t it? In fact, I’m drinking a glass of it right now, myself.
Regarding organics…at this point, if you live in the USA, your best protection in the USDA Organic label. In order to secure this label, companies must go through many processes and much paperwork to qualify. If the label says ‘natural’ or ‘made with organic ingredients’ or some variant of that, it does not mean that it is totally organic. Only the USDA Organic label is meant to indicate that all ingredients are organic. Is this system perfect? No, as you suspected, it is not, but it is the best thing we have in the USA next to growing our own food, in which case we know for a fact whether what we are doing is organic or not. So, when buying almonds from the bulk section of a natural food store, make sure they are labeled organic, and if they are in a package, they must say USDA organic.
You will need to experiment with freezing the nuts, as I am not sure how this might change the texture of them. For example, they could be wetter or grainier when they thaw. Definitely worth experimenting with this. Thanks so much for your kind comments!
Mim
Just made my first almond milk – it only took about 10-min for the 2 cups. Not much bulk when blended with a Vitamix! My 11-yr old liked it with no additions and husband liked it with cocoa, salt and agave nektar. Thanks!
Welcome Louann!
So glad that the almond milk recipe hit the spot with your family. I’ve heard those vitamix blenders are a wonder! Thanks for taking the time to leave your comment about your success with this recipe. Glad to hear it!
Mim
HI–
I’ve tried making almond milk both with blanched and unblanched almonds. If you have a high-speed blender, such as a Vitamix, I strongly suggest leaving the skins on your almonds and straining the milk afterward using a nutmilk bag or possibly cheesecloth (never tried latter).
The skins impart a lot of almond-y flavor to the milk–almost like liquid marzipan in flavor.
Cheers,
Sophie
Welcome, Sophie!
Thanks for sharing your favorite way of making almond milk. To me, the skins leave a bitter taste in the milk, but everyone has unique taste buds! Glad you’ve found the best way for you. Please, come again.
Mim
Thanks for the great sounding recipes. I have converted to vegan (as of January) and use almond milk. Was wondering about making my own due to the various additives. Talked with my diatitian and she said only thing to watch out for is the amount of carbs. I’m also newly diabetic. I’d think the difference in additives would have been the best part of making my own, but she was worried about carbs. I looked up the # of carbs in 1 cup almonds and it’s only 28. Of course, the box of ready-made almond milk doesn’t say how many cups of almonds are used, but if I’m reading the label correctly, total carbs per serving (1 cup) is 2. How many cups of almond milk does one cup of almonds make?
Hi New Vegan,
So, this is a discretionary area. With a cup of almonds, you can fill your blender up to the top with water (typically 6-8 cups of liquid depending on the size of your appliance). So, let’s say you make 6 cups of milk out of 1 cup of almonds. If you divide the carbs up six ways, that would be only about 4 carbs per cup, based on the info you’ve provided. So, that’s not much to be concerned about. Check back with your dietician on this, though. Also, remember that the almonds are peeled, so that might make a difference in the carb count, too, though I’m not sure how much. Also, 1 cup of almonds to 6 cups of water will make a very rich almond milk. You can use less. You could try 1/2 cup of the nuts and see how you like it – at which point, if your numbers are correct, you’d be looking at almost zero. Thanks for coming here with your question. I hope my reply has helped. And remember, regardless of the dietary and health concerns, making the almond milk yourself ensures that you will have the freshest, most delicious beverage…much better than store-bought!
Mim
Thank you all for tremendous suggestions and recipes. Longing to make nut butters but stymied by no commercial grinder. Will try small coffee bean machine.
Weight loss. 2-3 Tbsp Coconut Oil daily. Start slowly with less. Folks should research. Extremely beneficial internally and externally. Use no wheat(read labels.) Coconut and other nut flours work for breads etc. My weight loss 70lbs. Minimal exercise, but still losing. 30 to go. Looking forward to almond milk and “pulp” cookies.
Whole nut storage? FREEZE. Long term okay. No need to defrost before any use. Nut growers advise this and it works. Normal refrigeration not the best answer. Sorry Vegan Reader. I’m an old duck and have been freezing nuts since freezers were invented. Really, it works.
No soy here and everything possible organic. Try it, you’ll like it. Hugs and thanks to all.
Hi NeversoyHL,
Thanks for sharing a bunch of tips you’ve learned as an ‘old duck’. We enjoyed reading your comment!
Mim
Hi everybody,
I cannot find any maple syrup here, since I live in a small Italian village..
Could you please suggest some other thing to have my almond ice cream done?
Thanks!
Welcome Cistolone,
You’ve asked a great question, but one for which we’re not sure of a good answer. In America, there are many alternative choices to cane sugar – maple syrup, sorghum syrup, agave nectar, etc. I’m afraid we’re just not acquainted with what might be available in Italy. Sorry not to have an answer for you. Perhaps one of our readers will.
Mim
Is it possible to find Date Palm Sugar in Italy? That may help Cistolone
Soaking helps get rid of the bad enzymes. Then rinsing them.
My recipe
1 cup (heaping) soaked Almonds
3 seeded Medjool dates
Dash of Cinnimon
4 cups water
Blitz in my Vitamix 1 minute.
Strain through nut milk bag.
Forgot. A pinch of sea salt
Sorry if someone has already stated this…
I soak the almonds in hot water for about 30 minutes rather than soaking overnight, then strain that water off. I pour in some more fresh water to cover while I’m working with them. The almonds have softened a bit and the skins come right off. Squeeze a nut and it just shoots right out of the skin.
I’ve made almond milk with and without the skins. I prefer without the skins. It does taste different to me.
[...] I came across The Vegan Reader. Â I love this blog for a myriad of reasons, and one is their almond milk recipe. Â It is great to drink or to use in recipes. Â I had this before I had store bought, and store [...]
Hi! Can diabetics eat the recipes above. I have been looking for ways to help my Husband with his diabetes. He is stubborn and likes the in-the-box microwave food. Also, I am not a good cook! In fact when my Husband and I were married he said, “Honey, I love you very much and I want to come home to our house after work and see it still standing! Please do me a favor, don’t cook for me.” So, I need lots of help because I would like to make him a meal that would knock his socks off! Thanks.
Welcome, Pepper,
I don’t have personal or professional experience with this, but check out this page on this website:
http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/ask-the-expert/ask-the-dietitian/archives/how-does-almond-milk-fit-into.html
Hope that helps and good luck making your meal!
Mim
If you have a dehydrator and a food processor, you can make good use of the almond pulp meal left over after making almond milk.
I soak the almonds overnight, discard the water and put the nuts and fresh water into the blender to make the almond milk. I strain it through a nut bag to remove all the pulp meal, and I store the fresh almond milk in a quart mason jar in the refrigerator. The leftover pulp I put into my dehydrator with the fruit roll liner put in and dry at 97 degrees F for 4-6 hours, then store in another quart mason jar.
To use, I put the dehydrated pulp in the food processor to make it into almond flour. I use the almond flour to make macaron cookies and biscotti. The homemade almond flour works well to make macarons. I also add almond flour to my wheat flour homemade pasta dough for extra nutrition and texture.
Hope that gives some ideas on how to use the almond pulp that’s left from making almond milk.
Welcome Llyynn,
Wonderful tips! Thank you so much for sharing them. I’m sure many readers will give these techniques a try.
Mim
Mim,
I know this post is nearly 3 years old but I thought I would comment. I have been making almond milk and cookies from the pulp for quite a while now. My favorite is mixing walnuts and almonds together and flavoring with ground cinnamon and ginger. Makes a good ice cream base too. I found your site looking for a good rice milk or Horchata recipe.
I’ve been on a similar journey trying to be more self sufficient and eliminating finished products from my pantry and relearning how to do what our grandparents did before everything became “convenient” AKA chemical laden junk. I’m looking to start a small organic farm in the next 4 years.
As far as making Nut Butters you can look to a thrift store for an old table mount hand crank grinder. I have both my Mom’s and my Grandmother’s and both have a selection of grinding discs for different applications. One of those is for NutButters and some will have it embossed in the casting. It takes a little elbow grease with the hand crank but once it gets going is not that much work. Almonds may need to be soaked or roasted before doing this I’m not sure. I haven’t made any nut butters yet but remember the disc. I think it would have to be ground first into a gritty pulp with one of the bigger grinding discs say for breadcrumbs to get a coarse almond meal and then use the nutmeat disc.
Anyway I have been checking out your site and really appreciate all the info and just wanted to say hello.
Mark
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