Homemade Almond Milk

A couple years ago, I got really sick of buying almond milk in the aseptic cartons. As a Fort Collins Nutritionist and dairy free consumer, tt seemed like we were going through a couple cartons of almond milk a week and all of the packaging and associated cost seemed wasteful. Almond milk is delicious, good for you, and a great alternative to dairy milk for those like me who need/want to reduce or eliminate the dairy in their diet. So. . . I started making it myself. Almond milk is easy to make, it makes an awesome breakfast recipe addition to hot or cold cereal and smoothies, is easy on your food budget, and is loaded with real food nutrition. Give it a try!

Homemade Almond Milk

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup raw almonds

4 cups water, pure

1 Medjool date or 1 tablespoon honey (opt.)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla (opt.)

Pinch sea salt

Directions:

1. Soak the almonds in water for 2 to 8 hours– the longer the better.

2. Drain off the soak water then add the soaked almonds, water, date, vanilla, and sea salt to a blender pitcher.

3. Blend on high speed until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour through a nut bag (see photo), cheese cloth, or a fine mesh strainer and squeeze out all of the liquid.

5. Store your fresh homemade almond milk in the fridge for up to one week. Shake before serving.

BONUS: The leftover almonds are essentially almond meal and can be stored in the fridge until you want to use it. You can use it as almond flour in recipes like Almond Snickerdoodles, Pumpkin Pie with an Almond Crust, Apple Cinnamon Muffins, or combine to make the topping for a delicious fruit crisp.