When I first started my journey of eating clean, my friend Shannon sent me a kit to make my own almond milk. I was a serial breakfast skipper and I think that this broke her heart a little. Shannon wanted to ensure that I was covered from a non-dairy alternative in my coffee to easy pre-made breakfasts. (Almond milk is a key ingredient to my now go-to breakfast, Overnight Oats.) I am pretty sure that this was one of the first times that I began using my kitchen since we had moved in to our new home two years ago. I have since played around enough to make a recipe that I love and hope that you will too.
Homemade almond milk is a fantastic substitution for dairy milk; from coffee to baking. Most importantly it tastes great plus is so ridiculously easy to make. It seriously only takes around 10 minutes or so to achieve an awesome dairy-free milk alternative without all of the gross additives like Carrageenan* that might be found in the store bought versions.
Here's what you’ll need
- 1 cup Raw Almonds (ideally sprouted)
- 3 ½ cups Filtered Water
- ½ tsp salt (I recommend Himalayan Pink Sea Salt because of its added benefit of trace minerals)
- Zimtal Nut Bag
And because I was always a sucker for the sweet drinks at Starbucks, I sometimes sweeten the pot with the following:
- ½ tsp Vanilla
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp raw Honey
The Prep
- Soak almonds in salted water, in a covered container, in the fridge overnight (or at least 8 hours).
The Process
- Rinse almonds thoroughly, throw into a blender and blend away.
- Grab a small bowl, line the bowl with your nut bag and pour the liquid through. Remove the bag from the bowl and squeeze the liquid through the bag. (I always imagine this is what it must feel like to milk a cow.)
- Once all liquid contents are in the bowl and you are just left with the almond bits in the bag, pour the liquid back into the blender. (Don’t forget to give your blender a quick rinse in between to lose any almond bits.)
- Add in the natural sweeteners as recommended or to taste, blend and viola, you are done!
- Your almond milk should last 3-4 days in the fridge.
*Carrageenan is a food additive that keeps products and beverages from separating. It can be labeled as organic and natural since it is made from algae. The seaweed is cleaned, extracted, filtered, concentrated, combined with chemicals, pressed, dried, blended, and refined. Still sound organic to you? Research studies link carrageenan as a trigger to inflammation that could be a factor in severe health conditions including cancer, diabetes, colitis, and other GI tract damage.