I’ve been posting and enjoying LOTS of brews lately, so I decided it was time to switch it up.
Recently, my household has switched over from soy milk to almond and coconut milk. After finding three pounds of almonds for sale at Costco for only $9.99 (GEEZ I love that place), I decided that it was time to take the plunge and make my own, guar gum-free almond milk.
I based my recipe off of THIS website, but simplified it times a zillion.
First, I soaked 2 cups of raw almonds in 4 cups of distilled water.
Before…
Eight hours after. They recommend soaking it 4-12 hours. I was planning on doing the bare minimum, but simply forgot that they were sitting there on the counter.
After 4-12 hours, put the entire concoction (I used the water I soaked the almonds in to get as many of the nutrients as possible) into a high-powered blender and blend until creamy.
Like that. Yeah. Afterwards, pour the almond smoothie through a cheesecloth (which I had on hand thanks to my homebrewing hobby) and squeeze the bag until dry.
This is the first run-through. I didn’t plan ahead and realized that taking pictures with gritty almond meal-covered hands wasn’t a smart idea for the health of my camera…
Spread the leftover almond meal on a baking sheet covered with foil and bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for about half an hour until dry, then let cool and store in a glass jar or canister. You can use this leftover almond meal as flour or crumbly topping to an apple cobbler, or for other brilliant and delicious dishes. I’m planning on a fruit cobbler myself…
Since I used a MUCH smaller amount of water than they recommend, I put half of the strained almond milk into a small jar to use for creamer for coffee in the mornings. With the rest of the almond milk, I re-cheeseclothed (it’s better to strain it twice to get rid of any potential grainy bits) it into a large jar, then filled the rest of the jar with more distilled water to dilute it into more of a “milk” consistency.
It’s not very scientific, or precise, but from what I’ve tasted, it seems to be delicious. I’ll let you know for sure tomorrow, once I’ve poured myself a gigantic mug of coffee using the new creamer!
On a side note, here’s what distracted me from my soaking almonds – While packing up some boxes, I found these:
My expired “licence” that my brother gave to me when I first learned how to ride a bike. It expired 7-8-95. I should probably get that renewed… “Basic and advanced bike maneuvers” are important skills to have nowadays…
My art: 1995. I really don’t think I need any more words for this.