Almonds: From Milk to Flour

After a little research and a few trials here at home, I’ve found that making your own almond milk is actually pretty simple and absolutely delicious! The best thing about it, in my opinion, is that you control the level of sweetness and other additives.

The process is very basic: Soak 1 cup of almonds overnight until they are nice and plump. Drain the water and blend the almonds with 4 cups of fresh filtered water.  I typically blend for about 3 to 5 minutes until I am sure my milk is nice and thick.

Place 2 paper towels, a coffee filter or cheesecloth into a colander and set the entire set-up on top of a wide mouthed, large pitcher. Pour your blended mixture into the colander. This filter contraption is designed to catch the almond pulp, but allow the milk  to drain into the pitcher. Once it’s done draining you can lift the pulp in its’ filter and squeeze the excess milk into the pitcher. Save the almond pulp! It can be dried to make a nutritious flour. I line a pan with parchment paper before spreading the pulp to dry. (I tried it without the parchment paper and it stuck horribly to the bottom of the pan!)

Your almond milk is done!

My hubby loves it just like this – no sweetener or additives. Me? I prefer it with a tiny splash of  homemade vanilla extract and a drop or two of stevia extract. It’s said that the milk will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator, but I’ve never managed to put it to the test. I consider myself lucky if it lasts 4 minutes around here!

Dry out your almond pulp in a warm oven for a few hours and use it in your favorite almond flour recipe (it makes a fantastic pie crust!) or sprinkled on granola. Yum!