Almond Milk

As I mentioned awhile back, there came a point in our lives where I just gave up any pretension of sanity, and took a flying leap over the cliff of hippiedom. The whole purpose of almond milk is that it’s already dairy-free, you may say to me, so what could possibly be the point in making your own? Well, because there’s other stuff in that carton, as there is with all processed products. Maybe not the worst stuff in the world, but certainly not the best stuff either. And I’m just here to let you guys know that it’s not as hard as it sounds, in case anyone else is considering joining me and Wile E. Coyote here at the bottom of Crazy Ravine.

 

It’s not strictly necessary to own a Vitamix blender for this, but it does save time. (Hey guys, remember that time that I said I would never buy a stupidly expensive blender? Yeah, I have got to learn to stop drawing lines in the sand.) Put 3/4 cup of slivered, blanched almonds in the bottom of your blender.

 

Add in 2 Tablespoons of honey…

 

…And 2 1/2 cups of hot water. It doesn’t have to be boiling or anything, the heat just helps the almonds break down a little faster.

 

Let it blend for at least 3 to 4 minutes straight, longer if you’re using a regular blender that doesn’t have a lawnmower motor attached to it. It takes awhile to really pulverize all those little almond bits. At first it will look liquidy and grainy, like this.

 

But after awhile it should look creamier, and be throwing noticeably smaller almond bits up the side of the blender, like this.

 

It’s impossible to get rid of every last grain, so you’ll need something to strain the milk with. Cheesecloth works, but I highly recommend a reusable nut milk bag that was designed for this very purpose. Cram the bag inside a large mason jar with the top folded open around the lip, like so.

 

Pour in the almond milk, then pull the strings and lift the bag upwards until the bottom is above the milk but still inside the jar.

 

I’m lazy, so I like to hang the string and walk away for awhile. Except the people who built my house were also lazy, and didn’t put knobs on any of my cabinets. So I open the cabinet door and use the weight of some plates to hold it down.

 

You can leave it for a very long time to drain on its own, or you can leave it just long enough to cool down, and then squeeze the rest out with your hand. Inside the bag you will have what is known as almond pulp, and there’s some stuff you can do with it, including drying it out in the oven and grinding it into almond flour. To be honest, though, I find it’s not worth the effort to recover what ends up being less than 1/2 a cup of almondy stuff. Life’s too short. Here’s another tip: strain the milk with the bag inside out, so the  almond pulp doesn’t get caught in the seam. Then it’s even easier to wastefully throw it down the sink drain when you’re cleaning the bag out.

 

By the way, you know what this almond milk goes great on? Homemade granola.

 

Happy Eating!

 

Almond Milk

3/4 cup almonds
2 TBS honey
2 1/2 cups water