Making your own nut milk is easier than you think.
I have taken a liking to nut milks lately. I find them smoother and richer than regular cow’s milk and they add a dash of extra aroma, a subtle nutty taste to my coffee or tea.
What’s more, they get a long very well with my tummy.
It wasn’t long ago that I gave up drinking milk completely. I am still a person who is obsessed with cheese and yogurt but I am happy to find an alternative to drinking cow’s milk, an alternative that works really well for me.
After cruising around the aisles of alternative milks, I settled on a combination of cashew and almond milk. Despite to the convenience of putting a bottle of nut milk in my shopping cart, I prefer to blend up my own whenever I can.
I should admit though, sometimes I find it hard to make stuff from scratch. Well not because that it’s hard but just because I THINK it’s hard.
Some sort of procrastination, right?
To make nut milk from scratch is that kind of preparation; one that sounds daunting despite the fact that it is really not. It mainly asks for 2 ingredients, well 2 and half if you count salt, and a blender that you are comfortable with. The rest is just about being present, by all means
I believe simplicity is one of the strongest paths leading to distinctive and flavourful results.
So this is the recipe that I always use for my almond and cashew milk; free of any kind of sweetener, preservative and additives.
Almond / Cashew Milk
A smoother and richer alternative regular cow’s milk an extra dash of natural aroma, a subtle nutty taste for your coffee or tea
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw almonds or cashews, soaked overnight in a cool place*
- 4 cups water, preferably filtered and more for soaking the nuts
- 1 pinch of salt **
Directions
- Step 1 After the nuts have soaked overnight, drain and rinse them.
- Step 2 Place the nuts in your blender with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Blend on high speed for 2 minutes
- Step 3 Add the remaining 2 cups and continue blending for extra 1 minute. The blending time depends on the speed of your blender so let the consistency of the milk be your guide. It should be smooth and when you taste it you should not find it gritty.
- Step 4 If you are using almonds and making almond milk, strain the liquid through muslin or linen cloth, or several layers of cheesecloth into a bowl. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
- Step 5 If you are using cashews and making cashew milk, you don’t need to strain.
- Step 6 Pour the nut milk into an air-tight storage container or a glass jar and place in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Step 7 While you are making almond milk you’ll end up with about 1 1/2 cups of pulp. Do not throw it away. That will be some of the almond meal that you would be use in your next baking project.
* Seeds and nuts are great source of healthy fats as well as significant amount of minerals but they contain phytic acid, which prevents the absorption of minerals such as magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium and calcium. Soaking the nuts overnight, which is also called activating, decreases the amount of phytates, increases the efficiency of absorption of the minerals.
** Adding a pinch of salt not only helps with the taste but also creates more homogenized mixture as it works as an emulsifier.
A basic recipe like this would also give me flexibility to create any flavour I crave for at that moment, whether I go for sweet or savory.
Enjoy…
