Creamy Almond Milk

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:58 am

Creamy Almond Milk (makes 48 oz.)

1 cup whole natural almonds (not salted or roasted)

Cover almonds with water covering about 1 inch above. Soak overnight.

Blanch almonds: Drain and place almonds in pot, covering with water. Bring to a boil and boil approximately 1 minute. Drain and rinse. Peel skins from almonds - they will pop off easily. Note: this is not necessary, but makes a white milk and is easier to strain.

Place 1/2 cup almonds in blender. Add 2 cups of water. Blend on highest speed for 2 minutes. You will have about 1¼ cup of almonds after they soak. Use ¼ cup for the third batch, still adding 2 cups of water.

Strain milk using a fine strainer lined with tulle or nylon organza, depending on how finely you want it filtered. I use a nylon paint strainer bag first, then strain it again with nylon organza. Tulle and nylon organza are available at fabric stores.

Remaining pulp may be frozen or dehydrated and blended into a fine flour. It can be used in other recipes such as muffins, breads, cookies or pudding.

This milk is very creamy and needs no other flavoring or sugar. Trader Joe's sells 1 pound of whole natural almonds for about $4.39. Costco and Sam's Club sell 3 pounds for about $10. The milk can be made thinner or thicker by using more or less water.

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:50 pm

Gloria, this is interesting. I will have to try it as I don't really care for the rice milk in my cold coffee in the afternoon. Too bad I didn't read this sooner. I was at Sprouts (similar to Trader Joes) this morning and could have gotten the almonds.

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 3:07 pm

After reading your recipe again I am wondering if a coffee filter would work, and then do you use a blender or food proccessor. I have both and wonder which one works better for this.

I did find 1 1/4 cups of raw almonds in the pantry and have them soaking. Will try making it tomorrow.

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 6:38 pm

Hi Charlotte,

I use a blender and it works fine. I have a food processor, but haven't used it for the almond milk. The blender seems easier to pour.

I tried using a coffee filter, but it didn't drain as well as the tulle or the pellon. If I didn't have to worry about fiber, I would use the tulle. Cheesecloth would probably work, too, but I don't think it's as fine as four layers of tulle or one layer of pellon.

I'll be interested in how yours turns out. Good luck!

Gloria

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 9:12 am

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I tried making it and ended up with nice almond milk. I guess what I don't like is the gritty feel to it. I let it settle and use only the top of the container for drinking. The bottom with the settlings in I will use when I cook hot cereal. I'm glad I tried it. Probably won't make it again but thanks Gloria for the information.

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 1:53 pm

Thank you for the report. I'm impressed that you tried it. What did you use to strain it? I don't get the gritty feel to it, but I use nylon organza to strain it. The straining is the most time-consuming part, but necessary if you want most of the pulp gone.

If you don't like to drink it, you can use it for baking, which is how I primarily use it. I also use it in cereal. I don't drink it by the glass, so maybe mine has grittiness too, but because I don't drink it, I don't notice it.

Gloria

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Sat Aug 28, 2010 10:19 am

I tried the coffee filter because I was too lazy to dig through my sewing supplies to find pellon. The straining was the part that got too me. Way too slow. That's when I poured it into a fine kitchen strainer and kept putting the pulp from the strainer back into the blender. I tried anyway. I have the leftover pulp frozen and will use it in my hot cereal when I get back from Wisconsin.

My sister in Denver buys almond mild. Wait til I tell her I made it. I know she will want to try it. Because she does not have patience, I will discourage her from trying it.

adelie · Post by **adelie** » Sat Aug 28, 2010 12:41 pm

I've tried a lot of straining methods and coffee filters are way too fine. They clog too quickly. One tip I found searching on the internet was to use paint strainer bags. I found a pack of two at Lowes for about $1-2. They're just fine mesh nylon bags with elastic at the top so I can secure it around the top of a tall container. The mesh size is fine for me for most of the different "milks" I've tried making without clogging to badly. The good thing with it being nylon is that you can squeeze it without changing the mesh size much like some of the cloth bags, so if it does clog, you can do a little coaxing to empty out the current contents without causing a big blowout. On the rare occasion when I want a finer mesh, I'll use the paint strainer bag to do the bulk of the job and then use one of the finer cloth options and they don't clog as quick. I find the paint strainer bags clean up easier too - yes, they're reusable as long as you're only using them for food.

Karen

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sat Aug 28, 2010 12:57 pm

Karen,
Good suggestion - I never thought of paint strainer bags.

I actually use a four-strainer method:

bottom strainer - a molded fine plastic mesh strainer,
third layer - nylon organza (I lay it inside the bottom strainer)
second layer - another identical molded fine plastic mesh strainer
first layer - tulle (laid inside the second fine mesh strainer)

The first layer with the tulle catches all of the larger pieces. I use a wooden spoon to press out more milk, and then I squeeze the tulle and remove the second strainer.

Then I tackle the sediment in the nylon organza by using a wooden spoon again to press out the liquid.

The bottom strainer usually doesn't contain any sediment because the other three strainers have caught all of it.

My milk doesn't have any grittiness using this method.

Gloria

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Sat Aug 28, 2010 1:00 pm

I know if I would have put on my thinking cap I could have come up with a solution like yours. I must have been trying to do too many things at the same time that day.

I just took a break and lined my kitchen strainer with one of my husbands sheer old white handkerchiefs and poured the milk I had in the refrigerator through it. The liquid passed through very quickly and removed all the settlings from the bottom. Now I have a nice finished product. I squeezed out the handkie, rinsed it out and hung to dry. I have done that before. I don't know why I didn't think of it when I was straining it the first time.

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:42 am

Just made my first batch this morning!

Of course, by the time I read this recipe, I had already gone astray. I soaked the almonds for 24 hours before measuring, so my proportions may have been different. Soaking makes them much easier to peel, but not as easy as blanching. But I love the taste of them soaked...

I approximated Gloria's proportions, and am letting it sit unstrained for the moment. I strained one cup through a fine nylon mesh strainer that's meant for tea, so I could have a taste. YUM!!! I'm leaving the house at 8am tomorrow, will be home around 1-2pm. I'm bringing nice cold almond milk to sustain me. By then I think it will have settled quite a bit, so will strain more quickly.

I soaked more almonds than I think I need, so I'm going to freeze some, pre-soaked (along with the pulp from Batch #1). Maybe that will make them even easier to peel - it's worth a try.

I also made a smaller batch with hazelnuts for my husband. They're harder to peel - will definitely blanch them next time. It smells heavenly, but I haven't tried hazelnuts themselves yet, so don't want to risk it.

Thanks for the great recipe. So much tastier than store-bought, as useful as that is - and no mystery ingredients.

Best,
Sara

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:41 pm

Sara,

I'm so excited that you've tried the recipe!

I don't worry a lot about measuring the amount anymore. I fill a pint-size wide-mouth canning jar with the almonds, soak them in water overnight, and blanch the next day. I measure the skinned almonds in half-cups and blend with 2 cups of water. I didn't know why they were sweeter until I read your post about the sprouting process making them sweeter. It makes sense to me. I love this milk. It is so much tastier than any other almond milk I've tried, plus, contains just one nutritious ingredient (besides water). I even made it in Hawaii and here at my daughter's. I just pack my almonds and strainers. With the addition of a blender, I'm ready to make delicious milk.

Gloria

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 5:38 am

I hadn't even thought of the travel advantages! I can see how you've already 'outgrown' the need to measure - it's so easy and you're right, incredibly delicious. I'm off to teach a class this morning, and I know the almond milk will be the perfect thing. When I get home, I'm going to experiment with the pulp... I have some half-baked ideas I'd like to get fully baked!

Love,
Sara

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 8:32 am

I have tried using a paint strainer bag, but wasn't happy with the amount of pulp left in the milk. Recently, I was in a hurry and decided to use the paint strainer bag first. Once the bulk of the pulp was removed, it was much quicker to pour the milk through a layer of nylon organza placed inside a strainer to remove the remaining pulp. My milk is just as smooth with this method, and it is much easier to strain it.

Gloria

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 8:49 am

Great idea, Gloria.

My dog got hold of the bag I had bought online, in an unguarded moment... I've been pondering my next move/tools. I do have a paint-strainer bag, and I bet the fine-nylon tea strainer I have would work as a 2nd step.

Excellent idea, thank you!

Sara