With only four ingredients, this homemade almond milk is free of thickeners & additives commonly found in store bought brands.
I really love almond milk. It’s low in calories, and mixes great with protein powders and coffee as an alternative to cows milk if you’re sensitive to dairy or following a plant based diet. Much like my homemade peanut butter and homemade mayo recipes, the inspiration for this healthy homemade almond milk came from ridding my diet of the additives in the store bought version. Most almond milk contains a form of thickener- such as guar gum. Any additive ending in “gum” is added to thicken a product-but studies suggest these may lead to digestive upset & disruption. Whether or not that’s true, I prefer not to ingest it. Thus, my homemade almond milk was born.
What goes into almond milk…and do I need any special ingredients?
This recipe is extremely straightforward and user friendly. You don’t need to know how to cook to make this, all you need is a blender or food processor (and to remember to soak your almonds for a few hours). The cost to make is about the same to buy- and you get to brag to your friends that you make your own almond milk.
Healthy Homemade Almond Milk Ingredients:
- 1 cup of raw whole almonds
- 4-5 dates – omit if you don’t want it sweetened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 cups of cold filtered water
Step one towards making your own healthy homemade almond milk….soak the almonds!
The first time I made this, I soaked my almonds for about four hours. The end product turned out great, and I couldn’t tell a difference between that version and my next batch where I soaked them overnight. After four hours they should look like the image below. It will look like someone poured saw dust into your bowl. Rinse them with cold water, drain & set aside.
Next, add 5 cups of cold water, 4-5 dates (I use 5), 1 tsp of vanilla, & your almonds to a food processor or blender. I use a food processor, because I love them. Process on high for around five minutes or until the mixture looks like the second image below. Prepare a bowl with a kitchen towel draped over it. Pour the liquid into the towel, and squeeze all of the liquid out of the almond sediment.
Transfer the liquid into a pitcher (or however you’d like to store it) and refrigerate. Once the almond milk is cold, pour a glass and enjoy it!
This almond milk paired with my homemade peanut butter cups makes for a delicious & healthy dessert after a long day!
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Healthy Homemade Almond Milk
Equipment
- Food processor/ blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw whole almonds
- 5 dates pitted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 cups water
Instructions
- Soak almonds in water overnight, or a minimum of four hours.
- Add to a blender or food processor 5 cups of clean filtered water, along with the dates and vanilla. Rinse off almonds with cold water and add to the blender.
- Blend on high for five minutes, when the blender is shut off there should be small pieces of almond at the bottom and the liquid should appear white.
- Drape a clean kitchen towel over a bowl, and pour the mixture into it. Squeeze all of the excess liquid through the towel and into the bowl to separate the almond pieces.
- Transfer to a pitcher, refrigerate, and enjoy!
