Almond milk. It sounded super daunting to me too, but trust me you guys - this is EASY. It also tastes a trillion times better than the store bought stuff and doesn't have all that added chemical crap. I'm no mathematician, but I'm 96.3% sure it's cheaper too. Mic DROP.
I'm going to walk you through the whole process to show you JUST how easy it is and because I'm such a visual learner - maybe you are too? Don't want all the fluff and images? Just scroll down to the bottom and print yo self out the recipe. You'll be missing out though. Just sayin.
First thing's first: pour 1 cup of almonds in a glass bowl and cover with water. Soak overnight. This is probably the hardest step, because you have to remember at night. Ya know, when you're a zombie.
By morning the water will look pretty nasty and the almonds will too. Have faith.
Because no one likes nasty stuff, rinse those babies off in some nice, cool water until they glisten and shine.
Enter: an obviously photoshopped diamond bling shimmer star on the sunshine-kissed almonds...
Secret ingredient time!! I think everything tastes better with just a *touch* of sweetness, so when I was working at getting my almond milk juuust right I thought of coconut water. Turns out I'm a genius, but does that really come as a surprise?
Pour 1/2 cup (4 oz.) coconut water (without pulp) into your blender. This feels like a good time to mention that I haven't tried making this without my Blendtec. I LOVE my Blendtec. It was an investment, but I use it at least once a day - it's so worth it. I'm sure the same goes for a Vitamix or other high quality blender.
Fill the blender with 3 1/2 cups cold water, so you have a total of 4 cups liquid. 1/2 cup coconut water + 3 1/2 cups water.
Throw the clean, glistening almonds in the the coconut water/water mixture.
I don't even know why but this might be my favorite picture of them all. The calm before the storm...
If you have a Blendtec, I use the 'Whole Juice' setting, but just basically blend those babies to smithereens, whatever setting/however long it takes. Just DO IT.
It'll be kind of frothy on the top, like this:
A friend told me the same thing I'm about to tell you before I tried making almond milk and I decided I could do without it. You'll need a Nut Bag. Yes, a Nut Bag. LISTEN TO ME NOW: Buy a dang Nut Bag. It's fun to randomly throw out the phrase 'Nut Bag' into conversations anyways, so if anything - just get it for that. But seriously - you NEED one. It makes all the difference. I got mine here.
Pour the almond mixture into the nut bag with a big bowl underneath to catch the liquid. Fun fact: you can throw the nut bag in the washer when you're done and reuse it. Ahhhh-mazing.
Gently pick up the bag and begin squeezing in a downward motion, beginning at the top of the bag...
Keep squeezing...
The goal is to get every last bit of liquid out, so twist and squeeze like you mean it!
When you're done you'll have a bunch of almond bits left in your bag - this is almond meal and don't you worry - I'll tell you what to do with that too! Nothing goes to waste!
Look at your beautiful, creamy almond milk. You've officially reached domestic god(dess) status. I applaud you.
Carefully pour the almond milk into a clean (preferably glass) container and refrigerate. I definitely recommend waiting until it's nice and cold to drink/eat.
I've read varying opinions about how long the almond milk will last in the fridge, but I haven't had any go bad yet. I'd say for sure a week and maybe up to 10 days or so? OH!! And separation is totally NATURAL. Just give it a good shake before you pour :-)
Now, the almond meal. The first couple of times I made almond milk, I wasn't sure what to do with it and hated the thought of just throwing it away...
Thankfully one of my friends hooked me up with this awesome tip: pour the almond meal onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet...
Press it down a bit and then stick it into a 170 degree oven for about 3 (ish) hours, or until it's dried out. I've made gluten free granola and pancakes with it and they were both delicious!!
