Homemade Almond Milk

[SashimiMark]

Just finished my 2nd attempt at making almond milk. Thanks for giving me this idea, MountainGirl. This is definitely more economical than buying almond breeze, though I DO love their unsweetened vanilla.

I bought a one pound bag of raw almonds at Trader Joe's for I BELIEVE $4.26. It may have been a tad more than that, but definitely around that amount.

I soaked the entire pound of almonds in pure water for about 24 hours. I meant to only soak them for 12, but kind of forgot about them. The extra 12 hours didn't seem to harm them in any way. I then rinsed the almonds with pure water.

I then mixed them in a blender, 1 cup at a time, with 3 cups of pure water. I ran the blender on high for about 30 seconds. I then took a mesh strainer, lined it with a cheesecloth, and drained the contents of the blender into a bowl through the strainer, bundling up the slides of the cheesecloth and twisting it to wring out all the milk. I then put the remaining almond pulp in a ziplock baggie, and repeated the process 3 more times. I poured the milk into two containers. One I flavored with sf vanilla syrup, the other sf kahlua syrup.

I didn't measure exactly how much almond milk I got out of this, but I used a total of 12 cups of pure water. That doesn't net a HUGE savings... 1 quart of almond breeze is $1.99 at Trader Joe's, where as I got 3 times as much milk out of a $4.26 1 pound bag of almonds, or $1.42 per quart. But I think it tastes a lot better than almond breeze. Plus, I have a LOT of almond pulp left.

And speaking of that pulp, anyone got any ideas for what I can make with it?

[cleochatra]

Dry the pulp and grind it into almond flour for your favorite low-carb recipes.

[MsFancyPants]

You can use that almond paste in any baked goods, or in low-carb pancakes or waffles, just about anything that sounds like almonds would be a good added flavor. I ground my almonds in my coffee grinder and forgot to rinse it out before I ground coffee, and the flavor from the almond residue was pretty good in my coffee!

[MountainGirl]

I use the almond pulp (which is the fiber) in my protein shakes and I add it to baked goods such as breads.

You can also dry it and use it in any type of meal, for added fiber and protein.

[LC Angie]

Oh, that sounds so good! I am afraid of almonds, I keep thinking they will stall me. Have you guys had any problems??

[squeezy]

This sounds so fun! I can drink some almond milk, not every day, without it causing a stall, but for the time being the only nuts that don't stall me are macadamias.

What if you incorporated the almond pulp into some kind of coconut bark/mud? Oooh, and flavored with amaretto or something..

[SashimiMark]

Great idea, guys. Especially adding it to coconut mud. That's an awesome idea. I'll try that tonight.

[Molly Mae]

Mix it with something.....should be good to eat mixed in a shake...give it a nutty taste I would think.

Molly loves almonds. She cracks open the shell and eats them that way. I buy them at Christmas and freeze them. I call them Christmas nuts because all the grocery stores have bends of nuts and I buy them by the sack full and freeze. They are great and just as fresh.

[SashimiMark]

I ate some of the pulp before freezing it. It tasted pretty good, just like that. I may also try to make some crackers out of it.

[SashimiMark]

I've been making almond milk for a while now, and it's going really well. But how the heck do you figure out how many calories are in this stuff? Or the fat? or other nutrients?

[b_lou_who]

I use the unsweetened plain original counts for almond breeze when I make mine. No idea how to count it otherwise.

Calories in Almond Breeze Unsweetened Original - Nutrition Facts, and Healthy Alternatives - The Daily Plate Calorie Counter

[MountainGirl]

Hi Mark,

I use the almonds + water = yield in milk.
IOW, 1 cup raw almond, plus 6 cups water equals 6 1-cup servings.
Now, the fiber is removed into pulp, so if you strain the pulp, then deduct the fiber.

I've been NOT straining the pulp but using it in the milk. I use it in my protein shakes with the pulp, so I get the fiber as well.

[tea cup]

When you say "pure water". What does this mean? Is it like a gallon container of distilled water?

tea cup

[auntiesocial]

Originally Posted by LC Angie

Oh, that sounds so good! I am afraid of almonds, I keep thinking they will stall me. Have you guys had any problems??

Angie, I hear that nuts stall a lot of people. I incorporated nuts into my diet this week and am still losing. Granted, I only had two very small portions (like, 1/2 an ounce) on 2 days this week, but I seem to be fine. It's one of those YMMV things, and I know I have to be diligent on portion control because I freaking LOVE nuts (like, I could eat a whole can in a sitting... but that probably WOULD stall me..lol).

[MountainGirl]

Originally Posted by tea cup

When you say "pure water". What does this mean? Is it like a gallon container of distilled water?

tea cup

Hi Tea Cup,
No, not distilled, but purified. I don't consider tap water a good water source and many communities use chlorine and chemicals.

Whatever good, clean purified water you have would be best. We use a gravity water filter.

[Sandi76]

Ok dumb question, what on earth do you use almond milk for?

[SashimiMark]

To drink. I find it very refreshing. And sometimes, I'm just not in the mood for water. I also use it in my lattes. And it's fantastic poured over a bowl of Cinnamon Pork Crunch.

I make one batch every week from 1 pound of raw almonds. This gives me 12 cups of almond milk. Typically lasts me about 4 days before it's gone.

[MountainGirl]

Originally Posted by Sandi76

Ok dumb question, what on earth do you use almond milk for?

Hi Sandi,

I use it for cooking, baking, drinking - basically anything I would use milk for.
It is delicious and healthy. I make 6 cups about every other day - 1 cup raw almonds to 6 cups pure water.

[TaDa!]

Loooove the almond breeze unsweetened chocolate ... but now you have me thinking of getting out the blender Mark!!

You know I have been buying a 32 oz (2 lb) package of plain almonds for baking at Market Basket for $6.99 - they are Mariani brand and are in the bins displayed at the front of my store ... I can't vouch for the freshness compared with the Trader Joe's ones - and I do know this matters - when I lived in the Middle East, I used to buy really fresh ones and they actualy tasted juicy.

Also, the Mariani ones have the skin on - are the ones you buy "blanched", i.e. without the skin? Anyhoooooooo I know you probably are in a reasonable distance from a Market Basket and thought I'd let ya know!!

Pauline

[SashimiMark]

Nope, the ones I buy are raw with the skin. I really like the almond breeze brand as well, but the homemade stuff just tastes incredible. There's no comparison.

[pocahontas]

Originally Posted by TaDa!

Loooove the almond breeze unsweetened chocolate ...

Me too! It makes my egg creams and coffee taste like mocha's. Hmm.........I will have to try making my own sometime to see which I like better.