homemade almond milk made at a fraction of the cost of the store bought variety
We use a lot of almond milk at home, particularly in breakfast smoothies. While I normally purchase almond milk from the supermarket I decided to give it a go myself at home. After some research I quickly discovered many different suggestions in regards to the process.
The first step is a simple process of soaking almonds overnight to remove enzyme inhibitors and activate the almonds. I was surprised at the contents of the water after this process, the container was filled with a cloud of white sediment. This process also softens the almonds which assists in blending. Some people suggest adding sea salt, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar at this point but I used plain water.
Whether to remove the skin off the almonds is a personal preference. I did remove them this time however I don’t think it would make a difference to the end product. My plan is to leave the skins on next time for a comparison. The left over almond pulp can be used for crackers so the skin would add some extra fiber.
I had a nut bag sitting in my cupboard from a Christmas gift pack my husband purchased for me a few years ago from the Tenina online store. Unfortunately they no longer stock them but they do have some amazing nut milk recipes including a Salted Caramel Brazil Nut Milk – Yum! If you don’t have a nut milk bag to strain the mixture you can use a pair of knee-high stockings.
During my research I came across the healthy blender recipes website which has some great suggestions to naturally sweeten your almond milk as well as flavour it with strawberries or cacoa.
ingredients
- 100g almonds
- filtered water
directions
- Soak the almonds overnight, discard water and rinse thoroughly. Remove the skins if you wish.
- Add the almonds to a high powered blender with 800ml fresh water and blend for 2 minutes. (Thermomix 2 minutes, speed 8).
- Strain the mixture using a nut bag (or alternative), squeezing all the liquid out of the pulp.
- You can add the leftover pulp back to your blender and make a second batch or keep it aside for future recipes. I popped mine in the freezer.
If you are looking for smoothie recipe that uses almond milk have a look at our green smoothie recipe.
