Homemade Almond Milk {w/a Hint of Coconut & Vanilla}

I LOVE almond milk.  Always have.  Coconut, chocolate, vanilla, plain… I love it all.  Thing is, I recently started noticing that all of these store-bought almond milks I loved had lots of weird ingredients in them.  Something with an x that I can’t pronounce, carrageenan, and whatever else may be lurking in there.  So I decided to start making it myself.  At first, the thought was daunting- I was sure it would be a tedious feat.  I was wrong- turns out it’s crazy easy- so now I’ve been whipping up almond milk storms over here like mad.

Making almond milk is literally just a matter of soaking some nuts, blending them, and them straining them.  Seriously, it’s that easy.  From there, you can get creative with flavorings… maybe you want coconut-almond milk, maybe cinnamon-almond.  I was recently up in San Francisco visiting my sister and came across this amazing juice truck in Hayes Valley (“The Juice Shop” for those up around the city).  They make loads of fresh-pressed juices- all raw, all delicious.  I ordered their almond milk… oh me oh my, I had never tasted anything so good in my life.  It was an almond-coconut-vanilla combo…. I know, nothing too  crazy, but something about it was fiercely delicious. Extra bonus they serve the juice in these cute little glass jars- I’ve been reusing mine for everything on the planet, including this almond milk!   Needless to say, I’m a fan of this juice truck.  As soon as I got home from SF, I started creating with my new-found almond milk inspiration.  All it took was a touch of coconut flakes, some vanilla bean, and a date.  (I often use dates to sweeten things- they’re natural and add a ton of flavor.)  You could easily use honey or maple syrup as a sweetener instead, if you prefer.   This particular blend is VERY subtle- like so subtle you could use it as you do plain almond milk- in coffee, smoothies, or just over ice as a tasty drink.  If you want yours more flavorful and intense, simply double the amount of coconut, vanilla, and date.  For a more fun and spruced up blend, I’d definitely say double away.  🙂

I went through this stuff pretty fast, so since have been upgrading to larger-sized batches.

Try one batch if you want first, but I imagine soon you will be upgrading, too 😉

Below, I’ll show the steps to make plain almond milk first, and then show how to flavor it…

this way you can adjust the flavorings as you wish in the future 🙂

makes approx. 4 cups almond milk

INGREDIENTS

2 cups raw almonds

1/2 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened (plus more as desired, I use THIS kind)

1/8 tsp vanilla bean (plus more as desired, I like THESE)

1/4 tsp salt (I use Himalayan pink salt)

1 medjool date (substitute honey or maple syrup, if preferred)

5 cups water, plus more for soaking

 

*the above measurements make for a subtly flavored almond milk- for a

full-flavored one, double the coconut, vanilla, and date 🙂

DIRECTIONS

Soak raw almonds in a bowl of water f0r 10 – 24 hours

the longer they soak, the more creamy the milk will be

I started this batch in the morning before work, and then made the milk when I got

home in the evening, so it was about a 12 hour soak

You could always do an overnight soak too 😉

The almonds will soak up quite a bit of liquid as they sit…

the exact amount of water you soak them in doesn’t matter- I usually

go for about twice the amount of water as almonds

(You can see above and below how much these soaked up)

Drain the liquid and then rinse the almonds until the water runs clear- this is important!

(Once soaked, the 2 cups of almonds will likely be more like 3 cups- all plump and purty)

In a large blender or food processor, add the soaked almonds and 5 cups of fresh water

  

Blend for about 30 seconds

Using a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer (or whatever else you have)

strain the liquid- I can’t stress fine enough- you don’t want any chunks in there!

Press down on the almond meal (the stuff left in there) to get as much liquid out as you can

There, you now have plain almond milk!  Easy, right?!

   

To flavor it, add the almond milk back into the blender…

  

I used THESE coconut flakes, but any natural unsweetened one will do

 

Scrape vanilla from a vanilla bean with the underside of a large knife (slice it open first)

Half a bean is about 1/8 tsp, depending on how large the bean is…

if you want it extra vanilla-y, scrape the entire bean

Alternatively, you could use extract instead

Add the coconut, vanilla, and date to the almond milk

 

Blend for about 30 seconds, until completely mixed

   

Strain the liquid once again, pressing on the meal to release any excess milk 

   

Using a funnel, pour the milk into mason jars or other bottles you have on hand…

or if you simply can’t wait, just pour and drink

That’s it!

Will keep well for days, not that it will last that long!! 🙂