Almond Milk | Staples from Scratch

Almond milk is one of those recipes that is hard to call an *actual* recipe because one of the three total ingredients is water. But this almond milk recipe is the perfect base ratio to add flavor to; it is simple, delicious, tastes like the perfect amount of almond without being overwhelmingly nutty, and you can add to it without changing the process!

I tend to make one to two batches of this per week- making almond milk isn’t time consuming at all, you just have to remember to add water to almonds the night before so they’re ready in the morning. I use this in everything from chai lattes to smoothies and even if I am craving a bowl of cereal!

Almond Milk Ingredients

Almond Milk Method

Add almonds to a jar and cover with two cups of water.

Because I use every part of the almond (we’ll be saving the skins for a different recipe) I like choosing organic, raw almonds. But *technically* any raw almond works well. Soaking the almonds is the most important step of this process and giving them enough time to really soften and release their flavor is key to the perfect almond milk. I love letting them sit for about 12 hours, but you can get away with as few as 6 hours. To test that you’ve soaked them long enough, pinch an almond between your fingers- the skin should slide off easily.

Drain the soaking water and remove the almond skins.

Now, some people skip this step, citing that you’re going to strain the almond pulp afterwards anyways- which is true. However, I find that leaving the skin on results in an almond milk that doesn’t taste as smooth or pure. Almond skins contain tannins, a bitter and astringent compound (you often hear about them in wine) that can change the taste of milk. Plus, removing the skins can be really fun- just make sure you don’t go wild as you squeeze each almond out of its skin! If you add too much pressure the almonds can go shooting across the room or out of your bowl. The easiest way to squeeze is the grab onto the bulbous side of the almonds and press so that the point punctures the skin casing and the almond slides out. Save these skins for Almond Scrap Crackers.

Add the skinned almonds, remaining four cups of water, and salt to a blender and blend until the almonds are the consistency of wet sand.

Pour the almond-water mixture into a nut milk bag (or layers of cheese cloth) and strain the solids from the liquid milk! Make sure to squeeze out as much liquid as you can! Save the pulp for crackers later.

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