A lot of people can’t tolerate dairy or don’t want to drink/eat it for a myriad of other reasons.  Because of that, may people turn to milk alternatives, such as almond milk.   Store bought almond milk is 90% water and often contains preservatives and other things in it such as carrageenan.  Homemade almond milk is cheap, quick to make (we’re talking 5 min) and completely free of preservatives.  Plus the taste is AH-MAZING!

I make this is smaller batches because it is only good for 2-3 days (since there are no preservatives)

The best part? The basic recipe only requires two ingredients!

• Filtered water
• Almonds

So without further ado, here are the instructions.

 

Place almonds in a mason jar or a bowl and cover with water.  Let sit overnight or for up to 24 hours in the fridge.  The water will turn a little murky, but that’s completely normal.

 

Rinse almonds in a colander.  You can peel the skins off of the almonds if you like, but for me that is just another step that takes extra time.  Peeling the almonds doesn’t really change the flavor.

Place almonds and fresh water (not the water that the almonds soaked in) in a blender and buzz on high until the almonds have been liquefied. I use a 1:2 ratio of almonds to water.  I have a Vitamix and  it takes less than a minute. A regular blender will still work, you will just need to run it longer. If you want it to be a bit sweeter, you can add vanilla extract and a couple of pitted dates, or maple syrup.

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Once the almonds are finished in the blender, strain the liquid through a fine mesh  or milk nut bag.

 

Voila!

 

Side Note:  Before people throw their arms up and shout “I can’t afford a Vitamix!”, please note that my blender was a $20 yard sale purchase and is about 20 years old (according to customer service and the serial number). It doesn’t look pretty, but it’s still going strong.  Yard sales and craigslist are a great way to pick up used, quality kitchen tools.  If at first you don’t see one, keep looking.  They do pop up every now and then. In fact my friend just scored a brand new Blendtec for $75 on our local craigslist!

 

 

 

Recipe:

 

1 cup of almonds (raw or cooked-no salt)

2 cups of filtered water

vanilla extract (optional)

2 pitted dates (optional)

 

 

Place almonds in a jar or bowl, cover with filtered water soak for 24 hours in fridge.

Drain almonds and rinse in colander.

Place almonds in blender and add 2 cups of filtered water.  Add optional vanilla extract and dates (or some other sweetener)

Blend until smooth.

Strain through super fine mesh, cheese cloth or a milk nut bag into storage vessel of your choice (I use a mason jar)

Will keep in fridge for 2-3 days.

Done. Enjoy!

 

Almond Milk Latte- Yum!