Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk
Saving money by making your own vanilla almond milk is easier than you think. Just soak raw nuts overnight, drain, add dates, vanilla & cinnamon, blend, strain and stir.
Why Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk is so easy to make:
- Almond milk only requires buying raw organic almonds and four other ingredients. Soak the nuts overnight in water at room temperature. Drain, add fresh water, vanilla, cinnamon a couple of pitted dates to sweeten and blend with a high power blender. Strain out the solids, which takes just minutes, and there you have it- almond milk.
- The only special equipment you need is a high power blender and cheesecloth.
- You do not need to do any baking. Just soak the nuts overnight to soften them so they pulverize better in the blender.
- This nut beverage last 3-4 days on the fridge, so this recipe is for a small batch. No waste.
- See Below for ideas on using the nut pulp.
Why make your own Vanilla Almond Milk?
I thought I would share a recipe for something that seems “green” at the grocery store, but really is not.
You may be buying an oat or almond beverage these days instead of traditional milk. Hunky Hubbie and I love the stuff. We put it in our cereal, coffee, cakes, and smoothies. But, it turns out almond milk uses tons of water to produce on a commercial scale and has a massive carbon footprint. But compared to dairy cattle, almonds use about half as much water. Now, I love a glass of cold milk with cookies as much as the next person, but if I can make one little change like adding homemade almond or oat milk to my cereal or smoothies-it helps the planet.
Ingredients to make Vanilla Almond Milk:
- raw almonds
- water
- vanilla
- medjool dates
- cinnamon
Equipment needed for this Recipe:
- High Powered Blender: I use this one from Ninja
- strainer or fine seive
- cheesecloth- buy here or look for it in the equipment section or baking aisle of your grocery store.
- bottle with an air tight cap- I use these, but any large bottle will work. Great way to upcycle your glass bottles.
How to re-purpose ingredients from this recipe:
Other Vanilla Recipes to try:
- Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake
- Plum Galette with Vanilla Bean Créme Fråiche topping
- Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Vanilla Mascarpone Cream
- Vanilla Sauce for Bread Pudding
Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 4 cups fresh water
- 2 large pitted Medjool dates
- 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Soak almonds overnight in a bowl or large jar filled with water. Drain after 8 hours and rinse the nuts.
- Place drained almonds in a high power blender with 4 cups of cold fresh water, dates, vanilla and cinnamon. Process on high for 2-3 minutes. The mixture will be thick and creamy.
- Place several layers of cheese cloth over a fine mesh strainer and place that over a large bowl (see photo). Pour the nut mixture through the cheesecloth. Gather up the corners of the cloth and squeeze the mixture to release all the the “milk”. Set the solids or “almond meal” aside for later use. * See chef’s notes about ideas for the almond meal.
- Pour the almond milk into a bottle with a stopper and chill.
- The almond milk will last 3-4 days in the fridge. Shake well before using.
