Almond Milk + A Recipe

I tried almond milk, once, from a box that told me it was all natural, all good. I buckled. It lied.

I grew up watching my Greek YiaYia make things by hand, fresh, as much as possible, so, I’ve never liked too many food things from a box, anyway.
Most things can be so easily prepared at home and taste so much better, not to mention so much better for you, by leaving out all the additives.

I saw a nice muesli recipe that called for almond milk and thought, today is the day I make my own.
In two minutes, I found an easy recipe. Seriously, there was nothing to it.

• First step is to soak the raw almonds for several hours, or overnight, in just enough water to cover. I used 2 cups of almonds.
• You can add a split vanilla bean it at this stage, if you want flavoring.
• Drain the liquid and keep the vanilla bean.
• The skins will easily slip off the almonds by pinching them. Skins on or off, your choice.
• Add clean water to a blender, the ratio is 1 part almonds to 4 parts water.
• Add the vanilla pulp. You can also add agave, or dried pitted prunes/dates, to sweeten the milk – I did not in these images.
• Puree everything to a foamy liquid, and let the mixrure sit for a little while longer to allow as much flavor from the almonds to infuse the liquid.
• Use cheesecloth, or something similar, to sieve the milk into a clean container, squeezing as much liquid out as you can.
• The almond milk can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 days.

The leftover almond puree can be dried, and used as almond meal for baking.
I spread mine out on a clean baking sheet, placed in the oven at 170 degrees Fahrenheit, for about a half hour.
I let the vanilla bean dry and added that to a jar of unrefined sugar to make vanilla sugar.