Homemade Raw Almond Milk Recipe

By Diana Paez, August 26, 2013

You’re going to be surprised by how easy this is. All you need is almonds, water, a nut milk bag and a blender.

You can find the nut milk bag on Amazon: http://amzn.to/17Zi2V7

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds (not roasted) preferably organic
2 cups water, plus more for soaking
Sweeteners like honey (1tbsp) or vanilla (optional)

1. Soak Almonds in filtered water for 1-2 days. The longer they’re soaked, the creamier the milk will be.

2. Drain and rinse almonds with a strainer.

3. Put rinsed almonds in your blender and pour in fresh water (add sweeteners, if any). Blend on high speed.

4.  Strain the almonds: Line the strainer with opened nut bag, and place over a measuring cup or wide mouth jar. Pour the almond mixture into the strainer.

5.  Press all the almond milk from the almond meal: Gather the nut bag around the almond meal and twist close. Squeeze and press with clean hands to extract as much almond milk as possible.  You should get about 2 cups.

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Refrigerate almond milk. Store the almond milk in sealed containers in the fridge for up to two days.

Using the Leftover Almond Meal: The leftover almond meal can be added to smoothies, puddings or oatmeal as it is. I use it to make my raw vegan cookies! Dry almond meal can be kept frozen for several months and used in baked goods.

Why make your own almond milk?

If you notice the ingredients list on store bought almond milks, you’ll see all these extra oils, preservatives and added ingredients that are not so good for you. Plus, the almonds they use are not soaked, meaning they contain tannic acid and an enzyme inhibitor in their brown skin (this protects the nut until the proper levels of sunlight and moisture allow it to germinate). Since the nut does not release its enzymes until those conditions have been reached, eating almonds without removing the inhibitor limits the nutrients your body can absorb and makes the almond difficult to digest. By soaking almonds, you provide the moisture that makes the almond shed its skin and release its enzymes. The process works with most nuts and seeds.

Enjoy!