Bite Of Minnesota: Homemade Almond Milk

When I first started on this food journey, I lived in the suburbs and was writing a vegan and vegetarian food blog. Since I rarely cooked anything with meat in it, I became so much more creative with vegetables, grains, beans and nuts.

I got really into the DIY movement, and my pantry grew from a small assortment of pasta and canned tomatoes to something that resembled a mini-grocery store. I had a solid selection of flours for baking, grains and beans for veggie burgers and a variety of nuts for things like almond milk or cashew cheese. I spent the weekends testing out new ingredients and going on hours-long cooking sprees.

Fast forward a decade and not much has changed. I now have a walk-in pantry, so you can imagine the amount of ingredient hoarding that is going on. I still go on hours-long cooking sprees, especially on Sundays (hello, fellow meal preppers!). But, I realized there are things I no longer make on a regular basis, like almond milk. Somewhere along the way I started buying it but could never get used to the slightly metallic taste.

Recently, I was reminded of how easy it is to make almond milk from scratch and dove right into making a batch.

I soaked the almonds overnight and then whizzed them in the blender for a few minutes with water, dates, vanilla and cinnamon. I used it in my iced coffee that morning and fell in love with the creaminess and slight sweetness, thanks to the dates.

Seems like I need to make almond milk more often!

My almond milk recipe is below for those who would like to try it at their own home.

Homemade Almond Milk
(Makes 5 cups)

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
5 cups water
3 Medjool dates, pitted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch sea salt

Directions
Soak the almonds in water overnight. Drain, rinse and place in a blender along with five cups of water and the remaining ingredients. Blend for several minutes or until very smooth.

Place a strainer over a large bowl. Line it with a clean flour sack towel or layer cheese cloth. Pour in nut milk mixture and let drain for 15 to 20 minutes. Gather ends of towel or cheesecloth and squeeze to extract all of the liquid. Discard solids.

Store almond milk in a sealed jar or pitcher and refrigerate for up to one week. Shake well before using as sometimes the ingredients can separate. Be sure to stir well if using in hot coffee.