Being born and raised in the dairy state, having grown up drinking milk, it can be hard at times to be dairy-free. Sure, I love the taste of milk, but my sinuses become instantly congested, so rarely is it worth it. I used to be able to get by drinking store bought nut milk until I realized the copious amounts of sugar and preservatives that were lurking in my nutty cup. Given I love to top my chai tea and morning oats off with milk, I was determined to find a healthy and delicious alternative. To my surprise, homemade nut milk with its creamy, mellow milky flavor, is far superior then the store bought version. My nut of choice had been almonds, until I read this article about almonds taking 1.1 gallons of water per nut to produce. Now, I swap my almonds out periodically for pecans or macadamia nuts, which are equally exceptional.
1/2 cup organic raw nuts
1-5 medjool dates depending on hoped for sweetness
2.5 cups filter water
Optional:
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (adds sweetness)
1 tbsp coconut oil (adds creaminess)
1/2 tsp sunflower lecithin (prevents curdling)
- Place nuts and dates in separate glass bowls and cover with ample water. Let soak over night or up to two days. If you soak over 8 hours, rinse and add fresh water each day. The longer you soak the nuts, the creamery the milk.
- Rinse and strain the soaked nuts and dates.
- Place soaked nuts and 2.5 cups of fresh water in a blender, blending on high for 2 minutes.
- Using a fine mesh strainer and/or cheese cloth, strain nut milk, pressing all the milk from the meal. Nut meal can be discarded or added to oatmeal or baked goods.
- Place nut milk and soaked pitted dates in the blender (and any optional additions); blend until dates have disappeared.
- Place milk in a sealed mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; no preservatives means a short shelf life. Be sure to shake well before pouring.
Makes 2 cups of nut milk.
Just tried the first batch. I didn’t have any dates, so I blended in a frozen banana. It was perfect! Thanks for inspiring me to get back into this!
A frozen banana sounds delicious! In the summer I was using a half banana and frozen mango, instead of dates, with the almond milk; somewhat lassi like.
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