Let’s talk about making almond milk at home. You may think this is an absolutely crazy notion. I mean come on, why would you make your own almond milk when you can easily buy it in a carton at the grocery store for no hassle?
The hard truth is that making almond milk at home is actually more expensive than purchasing it at the store. Plus, it takes a fair bit of time to craft almond milk in your Vitamix blender. This is not the same as smoothies, which are infinitely more affordable to make at home rather than purchasing them from the local smoothie shop.
But I am here today to tell you all about why you should absolutely make your own almond milk at home using just a few simple ingredients and your powerful Vitamix blender.
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Why You Should Make Almond Milk at Home
There are a lot of reasons why you should try making almond milk at home. Even if you don’t want it to be a regular thing, it is definitely something you should try and experiment with. Try it once and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to try it again.
You will notice your homemade almond milk is way better than anything you have ever purchased in the store. Almond milk made by you is more luscious, it is thicker, and it is exploding with flavors you never thought imaginable. This tastes nothing like what you purchase in the store.
And don’t even get me started on the color. Homemade almond milk is the brightest and most vivid white you have ever seen in your life. Plus, the ingredients are basically just water and almonds. This is a natural recipe that you can enjoy every day by adding some homemade almond milk to your coffee or other recipes.
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That’s right, homemade almond milk is 100% the best thing you can add to your coffee. It really brings out the flavor, and it is much better than using milk from a cow. If you are a fan of cream in your coffee, or milk, homemade almond milk is going to give you an extremely rich and creamy coffee experience. Even if you like your coffee black, it may be worth a squirt of homemade almond milk just to try it.
And that’s not all you can do with your awesome homemade almond milk. It works excellent in smoothies, you can use it for breakfast cereal, it goes well in all of your baked goods and other recipes, and it is a remarkable replacement for milk. You will never have to use ordinary milk again, and chances are you won’t want to buy almond milk from the store ever again either.
Now let’s get cooking!
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How to Make Homemade Almond Milk
This is a pretty straightforward recipe. In fact, the only ingredients you need are 1 cup of raw almonds and three cups of water. This is extremely natural, and it does not get any better than this in terms of health and flavor. There are no added preservatives, and no added nothing!
However, you will need two specialty tools. You will need a powerful blender, preferably a Vitamix, and you will need a special filtration bag for filtering your almond milk. This is a necessary tool and if you don’t have one, you can easily order one online or pick one up at your local store.
For preparation, the first step is to soak all of your almonds in water for 8 to 12 hours. That’s right, you need to soak your almonds in water for about half a day. I recommend doing this at night before going to sleep so that you can get started on the actual preparation of the almond milk in the morning. Just don’t forget to set a timer!
Once your almonds are soaked for 12 hours, you will need to strain them with a normal strainer. Then, while the almonds are still inside the strainer, go ahead and rinse them under cold water for about 30 seconds. This will complete your preparation of the almonds. They are now ready to be transformed into milk.
Now for the recipe. This won’t take longer than five minutes.
Step one is to add your soaked almonds into your Vitamix blender. Next, add the 3 cups of water. Now you are going to blend the entire mixture for about 45 seconds on a high-speed setting.
Once the mixture is blended, this is where the filtration bag comes in. You will need to pour everything into the filtration bag and squeeze the juices out of it into a container. You will have to do this by holding the filtration bag and slowly draining the contents of your blender into the bag, squeezing the delicious almond milk from the mushy mixture that was just blended.
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Making Almond Milk with Vitamix: Final Thoughts
You may notice this is a fairly small portion. This will leave you with a single container full of almond milk, or about 3 cups. The only issue with this is that you can only keep it stored fresh in the refrigerator for about four days, so making a big batch is risky. It will then go bad very quickly. If you want your homemade almond milk to last longer, I suggest freezing whatever you don’t need immediately.
The reason why almond milk from your grocery store lasts longer is that it is filled with special preservatives that allow it to live for longer periods of time when refrigerated.
As another note, don’t throw away the pulp. You can use the leftover pulp in the filtration bag for baking and cooking. This mushy pulp is still full of lots of goodness, and there are many recipes where you can use almond milk pulp for cooking yummy treats.
As for the filtration bag, I said it before and I will say it again – it is necessary. You can’t make homemade almond milk with a cheesecloth. It just doesn’t work. Spend the extra bit of money and get the filtration bag, you will not be disappointed.
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