Homemade almond milk is easier than you think!

I had a friend in town over the weekend which inevitably meant a jam packed schedule full of playing adventure partner, tour guide and teaching and taking classes at Flex & Flow.

Even with all of that, I also found time to do some of the “normal” weekend things….like get all Martha Stewart on your ass and make some homemade almond milk. I don’t know if I was more inspired by the fact that I’m trying to meal prep more and save a little money, or the fact that I got myself a new cold brewer late last week from Oxo (hoooray!) and felt motivated to have the best damn iced coffee in Portland.

I’ve been saying for a long time that I wanted to start making my own nut milks. When I read the labels on the nut milks in my own fridge, sometimes I feel a little ehhhh about drinking them. I mean, commercial almond milk is widely available, and is fantastically convenient, but it is largely bereft of nutrients, and often contains additives and preservatives.

And even though I’ve always been curious about making my own nut milks, I’ve also been a bit apprehensive. I figured it would be a lot of time spent for very little results. Not to mention, a lot of unnecessary mess.

The surprising thing is…making almond milk is so easy, it’s almost silly. And the mess is minimal…unless of course you go a little crazy milking your nut milk bag. Ha. The jokes. I’ll stop there.

I decided to make a cinnamon almond milk because, hey, I can’t think of anything better than something closely resembling horchata and cold brew.

Here’s what you’ll need

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 4 cups water (plus an extra cup or two for soaking)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, or other sweetener
• 1 pinch of sea salt
• Cinnamon, to taste (I used a little over a tbsp but I LOVE cinnamon)

And now to the milking!

• To soak the almonds, place them in a bowl, and cover with water, and allow to soak at room temperature for 12 hours. You might also want to cover the top with a clean towel or cloth.
• Drain, and discard the soaking liquid. Rinse the almonds several times to remove the anti-nutrients and enzyme inhibitors.
• Throw the rinsed almonds and water in your blender, and blast until the almonds are liquified.
• Next strain them by placing a nut milk bag over the opening of a glass bowl. Pour the milk into the bag, twisting the bag closed, and gently squeezing it to pass the liquid through (kind of like you’re milking the bag). Empty the almond pulp (hello, almond meal!) aside. You can always dehydrate the almond meal for use in smoothies or to make baked goods. (I went ahead and froze my little ball of almond meal to dehydrate and use at another time).
• Rinse your blender, and pour the strained milk back in. Add the maple syrup (or other sweetener), salt, and cinnamon and blend again, until smooth and creamy.
• Store the milk in a sealed container in the fridge. It should last for about 2-3 days.

Having this delicious, cinnamon-y almond milk readily available in my fridge every morning has just made my early morning cold brew that much better!

Have you ever made your own almond milk? And if so, what flavors do you add? Or do you add flavors?

Stay sweaty friends!

XOXO

Jamie