This Homemade Almond Milk is a healthy non-dairy milk substitute. It is super easy to make, and guaranteed 100% better than store-bought. No preservatives added and the best of all, you get more real Almond milk. Once you try making your own Almond Milk, you will know immediately why it is better than store-bought. I was actually surprised how creamy it turned out, it cannot even be compared to the store bought.

I have a mission to try to make different kind of non-dairy milk substitute. I had done the Oat Milk which I shared in my blog few months ago. Here are what my feedback on homemade oat milk

Oat Milk

• Taste: It doesn’t have as much taste even with using less water. Normally, the recipe calls for 4 cups of water to 1 I used 3 cups of water to 1 cup of rolled oats
• Price: Cheaper and budget friendly. I large bag of rolled oats coast about 3.00 CAD and if I am lucky, they sometimes have it On sale for 2 for 5.00 CAD. That’s a lot l oat milk in 1 bag of oats 
• Serving: I bag (1kg) of rolled oats yields about 33 cups of Oat Milk for a price of 3.00 CAD
• Consistency: The consistency of oat milk is lighter, not as creamy as cashew milk but it is good enough as non-dairy milk substitute 
• Preparation: Oat milk can turn out to be slimy of not prepared properly, but it takes few minutes to make it and you can do without soaking. No need to a lot too much time in making and waiting for it to be available for use.
• Usage: Oat milk are sensitive to heat so using it for cooking in direct heat is not recommended 
• Calories: 1 cup contains about 129 calories

Almond Milk

Now it’s time to make Homemade Almond Milk and see how it compares to Oat Milk. I was extremely please on how my Almond Milk turned out and here is my feedback 

• Taste: it taste really great especially with a little vanilla flavoring and light sweetener. It taste 100% creamier and better store-bought Almond milk which tends to be watery.
• Price: Almond is a LOT more expensive than rolled oats. The one that I bought was 9.99CAD per lb (1 kg will be about 20.00 CAD) as compared to 1 bag (1 kg) of rolled oats for 3.00CAD. 
• Serving: I kg of raw cashew yields about 21 cups of Cashew Milk for a price of approximately 20.00 CAD
• Consistency: I find that the consistency is a LOT creamier than oat milk. It’s creamy and milky. 
• Preparation: This requires more preparation time as Almond needs to be soaked at least 8 hours to overnight to get it really soft. You need to plan ahead when making Almond milk. I had the Almonds soaked overnight before using it.
• Usage: I tried heating this up directly on stove top to make homemade hot chocolate and it did stand the heat. The mixture did not get thick like when heating up oat milk. I also find it a more satisfying milk substitute that I can drink on its own and feel happy about it.
• Calories: 1 cup contains about 230 calories

What are the Ingredients for Homemade Almond Milk?

• Raw Cashew –  Do NOT use toasted ready to eat cashew that you can buy in poaches or containers. Toasted almonds are dry and a lot of moisture had been removed already in the process of toasting. You will not get a creamy cashew milk form it. Use only raw cashew, there’s no substitute to this. 
• Water – I get the cashew mixing and grinding, you have to add a liquid, and that is water in this case. A very cheap, almost no cost ingredient. 
• Vanilla Extract – although optional, I really like the taste that the vanilla extract adds to the cashew milk. Feel free to omit it if you don’t like the cashew milk flavored. If you decide to use one, make sure to use only pure vanilla extract for a nice strong flavor. 
• Salt – a pinch of salt helps enhance the taste of the cashew milk. Do not add too much as you don’t want a strong salty taste. When you start tasting the salt, then you added too much already. 

How to Make Almond Milk

Start by rinsing the raw Almond. Transfer it in a bowl and soak it in water for at least 8 hours, overnight is strongly recommended for a softer Almond that is easy to blend. This is why planning ahead is the key to making homemade Almond milk. Once soaked, remove the the water and rinse the Almond. Transfer the Almond in a blender and add water and flavoring (I using any). Blend until smooth and creamy. Some recipe skip the straining process, but I personally like to do it or a smoother Almond milk. Try straining it the first time, if you don’t get much pulp then you can skip the straining next time time you make it. If you get a lot of pulp, then you have to strain in when you make it again. The amount of pulp you get depends how high powdered your blender. 

Should I Strain Homemade Almond Milk?

The answer depends on how high powered the blender you are using. Some recipe online do not all for straining, I assumed this was because of the kind of blender use when making Almond milk. High powered blender tends to break the Almond into a super fine almost liquid consistency that you do not have to strain it, and even if you do, you will likely get a small amount of pulp. If you are using a not so strong blender, like me I started making my Almond milk using my single serving smoothie blender. I ended have getting a lot of pulp so straining it was mandatory. Try straining it the first time, if you don’t get much pulp then you can skip the straining next time time you make it. If you get a lot of pulp, then you have to strain in when you make it again.

Nut Bag vs. Cheese Cloth, Which One is Better?

A nut milk bag is basically a specially shaped fabric bag, that you strain your blended raw almond/cashew/coconut/oat milk through to remove any pulp or fiber that remains.

• Usage: This is specifically designed to strain liquid, and so the weave a really fine thus giving a clearer and smoother milk after straining.
• Ease of Use: Since this is a bag, it is easier and less messy to use. Just pour the liquid and let it drip without worrying that some liquid will overflow on the side.
• Price: The only thin is that nut bag are a lot more expensive, I bought mine for 10.00CAD for 3 pieces of different size.
• Durability: The nut bag have a stronger fabric weave. I find it to last longer in the long run.

Cheesecloth is a loose-woven gauze-like carded cotton cloth used primarily in cheese making and cooking. They come in different grades from from open to extra-fine weave. The finer the weave, the less pulp will come-through when you use it for straining non-dairy milk.

• Usage: Cheese cloth are designed primarily for cheese making and cooking that requires straining. It comes like a sheet of cloth instead of a bag.
• Ease of Use: It is not difficult to use cheese cloth, although not convenient as nut bag. You have to make sure not to over fill the cloth as the liquid could come out on the side when you tie it up
• Price: Cheese Cloth are a lot cheaper and it does the job of a nut bag. I bought mine for 2:00CAD.
• Durability: The cheese cloth have a more gauze like cotton fabric which I find more prone to wear and tear.

Recommendation: I personally like using nut bag for long term use. But if you find it too expensive, the cheese cloth will do the job as well. If you do not have a cheese cloth, you can also use a very fine sieve/strainer.

Where to Use the Almond Pulp?

You’ll have about 1/4 – 1/3 cup of oats pulp after straining it. Do not throw it as you can still use it. 

• Add it when cooking rolled oats for breakfast, it makes the consistency thicker and creamy, after all it’s oatmeal so why not mix them together. 
• If you making a creamy soup, or saucy soup or stew, you can use it as thicker, bonus of additional fiber in your meals
• Blend it with your smoothie. I like to mix it when making any of my Oats Smoothie. 
• Add it to cookie batter, like when making Oatmeal cookie. It makes a nice soft oatmeal cookie. Sorry, I don’t have the recipe for that.

Where Can I Use Almond Milk?

I like to use this non-dairy milk for smoothies, chia pudding, rice pudding, breakfast cereals, oatmeal and baked products like cakes, cupcakes and brownies.

Can I Make it Without Flavoring?

Yes you can. You can make it plain and unsweetened and just add the sweetener when you use it. I personally like adding flavoring and sweetener when making it because it makes a huge difference in taste. My most go to flavoring is pure Vanilla Extract, but sometimes I also use soaked dried dates for a more creamier taste and texture. I also add a pinch of salt to enhance the taste but should not have any salty taste in the milk. If can taste the salt, that means you’ve added to much. A pinch is about 1/8 teaspoon nothing more.

Important Tips in Making Almond Milk

• Soak: Do not skip the soaking process as soaking helps soften the cashew. Soft cashew produces more “milk” and creamy texture. This is mandatory, soak at least 4 hours, overnight soaking recommended
• Use a Nut Milk Bag: Nut milk bag have a very fine texture which catch the oat pulp quite well leaving you only clear smooth oat milk. If you do not have a nut milk bag, second option is a cheese cloth, you might need to strain the oat milk twice to get it to a clear final product.
• Gently Squeeze: Let the cashew milk drain slowly without squeezing the nut bag too much.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Raw Almond
• 3 cups ice COLD Water
• pinch of Salt (optional)

Flavoring:

• 1 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract
• 2 tablespoon Honey or Maple Syrup (can be substituted with other sweetener but the measurement will vary, adjust as needed)

Instructions:

1. Soak: Soak the raw Almonds at least 4 hours, overnight recommended.
2. Rinse: Rinse the soak Almonds and transfer in a blender
3. Blend: Pour the ice cold water in the blender and add the soaked Almond, pure vanilla extract, honey and pinch of salt. Blend the mixture until smooth. You will see foam forming in top, that is normal. Taste and adjust sweetness as desired.
4. Strain: However smooth you think the consistency, there’s still fine Almonds pulp in the mixture. Have a large bowl ready to catch the Almond milk. Pour the blended Almonds into a nut milk bag and let it drip into the bowl. Do not squeeze too much to avoid pushing the pulp out. Squeeze lightly just until the Oat milk are out.  
   • Alternatively, if you do not have a nut milk bag, you can use cheese cloth or a very fine strainer.
5. Chill: Transfer the Almond milk in an air tight container and kept refrigerated up to 3 – 5 days.

Nutritional Information

Nutritional Information was calculated using Veryfitwell Recipe Calorie and Nutrition Calculator. For details about Nutritional Information in this website, please read the Disclaimer page.

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