Almond Milk Recipe – The Creamiest Of Them All

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!