I've wanted to make my own almond milk for awhile now, just had to get my hands on some raw almonds. I made some and found it so easy and will definitely keep making it fresh. It's always rewarding and refreshing to make something fresh and nutrient dense, and there are so many wonderful raw recipes to make with it. I will follow it tomorrow with a green smoothie using my almond milk.
Raw home made Almond Milk Ingredients
1 cup of organic raw almonds
4 cups of purified water
1 powerful blender (like vitamix …I used an oster that worked great)
1 nut bag (I used a cheese cloth that I wrapped up to make a pouch)
Raw almond milk recipe
Soak raw almonds in water for 24hrs (rinse several times and replace water)
Let sit for a day (called sprouting…when it sprouts the tiny tip pokes out white)
Then peal skins off the almonds (they will slip off with a gentle squeeze)
Blend water on medium for 30 seconds then a minute on high (if you don’t have a high powered blender, you need to blend longer, until smooth)
Pour liquid into nut bag to strain (you can use a cheese cloth or nilon) You can save the pulp for other recipes…if not using right away just seal well and stick it in the freezer
Your raw almond milk is complete!
Variations
I would have added vanilla if I had some fresh vanilla on hand
To make it chocolate milk…add some raw cacao (1-2 spoons or to your liking)
To sweeten add raw agave nectar (should be clear or raw stevia or even some raw honey)
Pinch of Himalayan salt for more minerals and taste
For a nutrition boost and more flavoring you can then add extra ingredients like cinnamon, nutmeg,maca powder etc. Or use as a base for smoothies like I usually do. Also great for cereal.
Note: You cannot purchase truly raw (unpasteurized) almonds from grocers and health food stores. You may only purchase unpasteurized almonds direct from the farmers. The store varieties which are deceivingly labeled as "raw" are pasteurized as per FDA law passed in 2007. They are just not roasted as the others are but they are pasteurized. So they’re the 2nd best thing…not the 1st best. You can buy truly raw almonds online from trusted sellers (like from Earth Shift) or from a grower. Pasteurized almonds cannot germinate so you can’t fully benefit from sprouting. When you sprout a nut you are getting it right before it's ready to grow so it's jam packed with 10 times the nutrients. You will know when they are truly raw because they are white. After soaking for 24hrs you want to sprout them for a day after draining the water. Just let them sit in a bowl after well draining them.
To eat truly raw nuts you “Must” soak them for 24hrs (changing the water several times in the process… this will ensure the enzyme inhibitors have been leached out entirely). This is because raw nuts are actually toxic if not soaked and rinsed. Since the nuts in stores aren’t truly raw, you don’t really have to worry about this. But if you want all the true benefits of real raw nuts you will need to find some online or through growers and go through the soaking process. It's not as much work as it sounds, and well worth it.
You can see the tiny tip is white poking out like a little nob after soaking.
In the lid are the peals of the ones I already skinned
They will very easily slip out of their shell! I lost 4 nuts total as they popped out of their shell and shot onto the floor when I squeezed to hard
I soaked and pealed 2 cups of almonds...but only used 1 cut for the almond milk. In this photo I pealed some and then finished up the rest after the photo
I added 1 cup of almonds and 4 cups of purified water...about all my blender could handle too!
All ready to strain now...I had a cheese cloth that I used here. I make sure it was clean (although it was brand new and never used) I just boiled it in hot water for awhile as I was preparing the almond milk
I folded it in half, then half again and made a little pouch
Then I poured it all in and surprisingly it all squeezed out very fast and easy!
What remained in the cloth was a dry soft clump...some vegans use it as a flour substitute in some dishes
The end result was a pure white almond milk
I would like to have added vanilla but didn't have any
I liked the fact that it had no other ingredients added (just almonds and milk...so makes a great liquid base for my smoothies) unlike the store bought one I use that has other ingredients (but I do love it)
Ingredients of the blue diamond vanilla unsweetened almond milk-
Filtered Water, Almonds, Tapioca Starch, Natural Vanilla Flavor With Other Natural Flavors, Calcium Carbonate, Sea Salt, Potassium Citrate, Carrageenan, Sunflower Lecithin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2 and D-alpha-tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E).
