Malted Almond Milk

Let’s be clear: I love dairy products.  I enjoy milk, yogurt, cheese (so much cheese) and ice cream on the regs.  I’m lucky to have a body that seems to tolerate milk products, a happenstance for which I (and Ben & Jerry & the like) are quite grateful.

Lately, though, I’ve been playing around with nut milks – in my cereal, glugged into a smoothie.  I even used almond milk in some pancake batter awhile back and it was, decidedly, a good decision.

Almond and cashew milks are my favorite nut milks, and they’re both pretty easy to find at the grocery store.  Still, I’ve been reading some things about common additives, particularly carageenan, which seems to be hard to avoid in store-bought nut milks (and dairy products in general, actually), so I figured I’d take a stab at making my own.  (I’m in good company, too — turns out my friend Tracy (she probably definitely wouldn’t call me a friend but I listen to her podcast so feel like she’s mine) posted her own recipe for homemade almond milk just this week!)

Turns out homemade almond milk is easy peasy!  All it takes is almonds, water, and maybe a little sweetener, if you like.  I’ve seen versions that use maple syrup, honey, dates, agave, vanilla extract… sky’s the limit, really.  I decided to use malted milk powder, which is slightly sweet, and ultimately put the dairy back in my non-dairy milk alternative.  Dairy nut milk.  It’s a thing now.  Get onboard!

Malted Almond Milk

The best tools for homemade almond milk are a high-powered blender and a nut milk bag.  A NUT BAG.  (This is a real thing).  I don’t have a nut bag because I am not a nut bag, so I used a regular old fine strainer lined with cheese cloth.  (If you happen to have a nut bag, good on you.  Nutbag).

Feel free to swap the malted milk powder for a lesser amount of honey, maple syrup, agave, etc…

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) raw almonds
• 3 cups water (plus more for soaking)
• 6 tablespoons malted milk powder

Directions:

Put the almonds in a large jar, and cover them with a few inches of water.  Let the almonds soak in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, drain the almonds, then place them in a high powered blender or food processor with 3 cups of fresh water and the malted milk powder.  Blend well until the mixture is smooth and frothy, at least 2 minutes.

Strain almond milk through a fine strainer lined with cheesecloth, pressing the milk through to a large measuring cup (you can save the leftover almond pulp, spread it on a sheet pan and bake it dry to use as almond meal, if you like).

Chill the almond milk before enjoying straight-up or in smoothies, granola, puddings, etc.

Makes about 4 cups.