Homemade Almond Milk with bonus Almond Meal

I am not a big fan of almond milk, but when I saw that I could make my own, I had to try it.  I am honestly surprised at how easy it was to make!  My friends, who like almond milk, loved it!  My daughters enjoyed it warm with a splash of vanilla. The added bonus was, of course, the almond pulp!

I am sure you are saying, “almond pulp… and…?”.  Almond pulp, when dried, turns into Almond Meal/Flour.  The perk is 1 quart of milk made 2 cups of Almond Meal, all for the price of 1 lbs of almonds!

We will be making this more often!

Here it is; my notes are in italics:

Homemade Almond Milk
recipe from Elana Amsterdam at Elana’s Pantry

2 cups plain almonds
4 cups of water, plus 2 cups
1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

In a medium to large bowl add almonds, enough water to cover them (approx 2. cups), and vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract).  Soak overnight.

When ready, drain and rinse the almonds in a sieve – sloshing them around under running water a few times, until the water runs clear (approx. 1-2 minutes).

Place soaked almonds, vanilla bean (or 1 tsp of vanilla), and 4 cups of water into a Vitamix* – I used my Walmart Black & Decker Blender and it did a bang up job.  

Blend on High for 90 seconds. If using a regular blender with a Smoothie setting, and run it until all you see is white with brown specks (approx. 2 minutes). 

Strain milk through a cheese cloth or fine mesh paint strainer bag.   Keep pulp for almond meal/flour (see below)!

*Author recommends

Makes 1 quart, or 4 big cups or 6 small cups.  Store in the fridge, covered, for 4 to 7 days. We put ours into a mason jar 🙂

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Almond Flour out of Almond Pulp

Pour the pulp out of the cheese cloth onto a cookie sheet.  Using clean hands, gently crumble the largest lumps and spread out the crumbs in an even layer.  Turn the oven on to the lowest temperature (mine only goes down to 175*), and put the cookie sheet in.  Cook on low for approx. one hour.  For time to time, using a spatula, scrap and gently “stir” the pulp to ensure nothing sticks.

After 30 minutes, pull the cookie sheet out and feel the pulp.  By now the pulp will start to resemble almond meal and should be slightly wet to the touch.  Stir it and place it back in the oven for another 30 minutes.  Check it again after 15 minutes, touching it to see if it is moist.  If “damp”, return it to the oven for the final 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.  Store in a ziplock bag, or container of your choice, and place it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Use it like you would regular almond meal!

Makes 2 cups.