Homemade Almond Milk and Almond Meal

 

When I learned that almond milk is actually very easy to make, I wanted to make it at home.  Problem is I have to wait until the raw almond is on sales so that I can stock up.  If not, making the almond milk at home can be more expensive that buying the non-GMO Silk's almond milk.  The above is what I made with 1 cup of raw almonds, it only lasted for two days.  Only my two girls have a small glass of almond milk with Milo in the morning and my husband and I only use it in our morning coffee, so frankly we don't drink a lot of milk to begin with.  We drink water throughout the day, milk is just for breakfast.  I can certainly stretch my dollar by adding more water.  I saw that some add up to 8 or 10 cups of water per 1 cup of almonds.  That would be cheaper than buying but to me it would be very diluted.  I used 3 cups of water and I still find it quite bland when compared to store-bought (the next time I would try 4 cups and stretch it to 3 days).  Nevertheless, nothing beat homemade as the ingredients are only water and almonds.  Store-bought one added a lot more stuff in their ingredients list which I would gladly avoid if I can.  

If you like, you can actually season your almond milk with sea salt, raw honey, agave, pure vanilla extract, dates, etc.  But I just want to keep mine plain.  Homemade almond milk does separate, so shake well before use.  Or if you can afford it, I think 1 cup of raw almonds to 2 cup of water is the best ratio.

Methods:

Soaking the almonds for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Strain the soaked almonds and use the nutrients rich soaking water to water your plants.

In a blender, add 3 cups of filtered water, then the one cup of soaked almonds.  Use liquefy and blend until the almonds are fine and milky.  Pour into a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl.  Use a spoon to press out as much milk as you can into the bowl.  Strain the almond milk again into a glass jar.  Keep refrigerated. Best consume within 3 days.  I read that it can last up to a week, but I never try it.  With this much, it shouldn't last long at all. 

Almond Meal/ Flour

Put the leftover almond pulp on a lined Slipat or parchment baking sheet. I used foil and it stuck to the foil, so foil is not recommended.  Spread it out. Bake in preheated 200'F oven for 2.5 hours and leave it in the oven overnight.  Or until dried.

Then process until fine in a food processor.  Store in an air-tight container.  I put mine in the refrigerator just in case.  Use it in your baking.  I am planning to make gluten free cookies or cake with this almond meal, will see how it goes and will share the recipe if it is successful.