I first tried making homemade almond milk a couple years ago, after many of you told me so many amazing things about it. It’s so creamy! It’s better than store bought! It’s a cinch to make! Homemade almond milk is the best!
And you know what? My first couple tries didn’t exactly knock it out of the park. Two words come to mind: hot mess! I used a cheesecloth and things didn’t go very smoothly, if you catch my drift. I’m sure some of you have a lot more finesse with a cheesecloth, but I did not seem to be one of those people.
This time, I finally took the plunge and purchased a nut milk bag (feel free to giggle). Also called sprouting bags, these mesh straining bags make homemade nut and seed milks (among other things) a total breeze. I cannot wait to explore its many uses.
This time around, my almond milk making process was indeed a breeze.
Here are some step by step photos to show you my process. You should also know that every time I type “step by step” NKOTB starts playing in my head. I don’t even mind it.
We are going to soak a cup of raw almonds overnight or for 8 hours or longer. Sometimes if I’m in a time crunch I just soak them for 1 hour or so and it still turns out fine. Rinse and drain the almonds and pop them into your blender along with 3-4 cups of filtered water (I like 3.5 cups water in this recipe).
Which nuts do you think your body would rather digest – the dry, hard as a rock nuts or the plump, juicy nuts?
Sorry, that sounded all weird and awkward.
My favourite flavour combo is a whole vanilla bean, a couple Medjool dates, cinnamon, and a pinch of sea salt. Oh my lanta. It’s intensely vanilla flavoured with notes of caramel and cinnamon. The secret to an intense vanilla flavour is blending an entire vanilla bean. Just chop it up and toss the whole bean into the blender. You’ll be left with some amazing vanilla almond milk. Of course you can always use vanilla extract or liquid sweeteners too. If using the dates and/or vanilla bean, add them along with the almonds and water. If you simply want to add a liquid sweetener or vanilla extract, you can add them now or at the end. Your call.
Blend for 1 minute on the highest speed. Let’s go TURBO mode!!!!
Turbo mode scares me.
Place your bag over a large bowl and slowly pour in the milk. Thank you Eric for moonlighting as a hand model once again.
A lot of the milk will filter right through the bag without any effort.
But to get all of the milk out, you’ll need to do some gentle squeezing to encourage the milk through. This process took me a few minutes. As you can see in the photo on the right, I was left with about 1 cup of almond pulp.
I rinsed the blender out quickly and poured the milk back into the blender. I do this because I find it easier to pour the milk from the blender into the jar rather than from a large bowl into the jar. If you have a wide mouth funnel feel free to use that.
Check out those tiny specks of vanilla! I blended in a bit of cinnamon and a pinch of fine grain sea salt for even more flavour enhancing. Tell me, what’s better than Vanilla Cinnamon Caramel flavour?
Nothing.
You can use the almond pulp for all kinds of things like oatmeal, hummus, homemade granola, smoothies, cookie or muffin batter, crackers, or you can even dehydrate it and then blend it up to make almond meal. Oh, and you can freeze it too.
Man oh man, it tasted so lovely straight from the blender. I can assure you, it gets even better as it chills in the fridge.
I’ve never been a big milk drinker, but this almond milk had me going back to the fridge again and again and again for little sips. I can’t promise I’m organized enough to make this on a regular basis, but it’s a fun option to have up my sleeve when I’m feeling motivated or just want a special treat.
Vanilla-Cinnamon Almond Milk
Yield
3 1/2 cups (875 mL)
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
Creamy, lightly sweet, and so satisfying—homemade almond milk is a true luxury! My favourite flavour combo is a whole vanilla bean, a couple Medjool dates, cinnamon, and a pinch of sea salt. The secret to an intense vanilla flavour is blending the entire vanilla bean; just chop it up and toss the whole bean into the blender. Not to worry if you don't have one on hand though: a half a teaspoon of vanilla extract will work just fine in a pinch. This milk is delicious served with cookies, cereal, in a smoothie, or simply on its own.
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw almonds, soaked
- 3 1/2 cups (875 mL) filtered water
- 2 to 4 pitted Medjool dates, to taste*
- 1 whole vanilla bean, chopped or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract*
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- Small pinch fine sea salt
Directions
- Place almonds in a bowl and cover with a couple inches of water. Soak the almonds in water overnight (about 8 to 10 hours). For a quick-soak method, soak the almonds in boiled water for 1 hour. Rinse and drain well.
- Place drained almonds into a blender along with the filtered water, pitted dates, and chopped vanilla bean.
- Blend on the highest speed for 1 minute.
- Place a nut milk bag over a large bowl and slowly pour the almond milk mixture into the bag. Gently squeeze the bottom of the bag to release the milk. This process can take a few minutes so be patient!
- Rinse out blender and pour the milk back in. Whisk in the cinnamon and sea salt.
- Using a funnel, pour into a large glass jar and secure lid. Store in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days. I recommend storing in the coldest spot in the fridge (typically the back) rather than on a door. Shake the jar very well before drinking as the mixture separates when sitting.
Tip:
- * If your dates or vanilla bean are dry/stiff, soak in very hot water for 30 minutes before using. Drain well. You can use another sweetener of your choice like maple syrup instead of the pitted dates.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
You might be wondering – If I don’t have a nut milk bag can I use a fine mesh sieve? Yes you can. I did a trial using my sieve. I didn’t find the milk got as smooth compared to using a nut milk bag, but if you strain it several times, it comes out decent. Also, feel free to try a cheesecloth, but I’m definitely not the person to give you advice using that method.
What about the cost?
Homemade almond milk can be cheaper than store bought or it can be more expensive; it really depends on your ingredients. When I see bulk almonds on sale, I like to stock up and buy a big bag. Pop a bag in the freezer to ensure they stay fresh.
To avoid almonds sprayed with the chemical propylene oxide, please see this article and this handy guide to common brands that do and do not use the chemical. If you are concerned about propylene oxide on your almonds be sure to check with your almond retailer to see what sterilization method is used.
Have you ever made homemade almond milk before?
Where do you buy almonds? Any good deals out there in store or online?
I love homemade almond milk but I never know what to do with the pulp afterwards. Might you be willing to do a post of recipes to use with the pulp from making a batch of almond milk?
Wow. That looks amazing! I just discovered how good almond milk was a few days ago and I’m sure this will be a million times better. Gotta try it! Btw, love the soaked vs unsoaked almond pic. Thanks Angela! :)
Thanks for the great recipe. I made this with a hand blender and it worked well also. Going to use the almond milk for the chia pudding – looking forward to breakfast tomorrow. ☺
My first attempt at making almond milk was with a cheese cloth too!! The bag is SO MUCH better!! And, homemade almond milk is the most delicious kind of milk on the planet. Love your post!
Do you know how much fat would be in cup of your homemade almond milk?
how long does this last for (stored in the fridge)?
3-4 days :)
I love it!
I read it with one eye on the recipe and another eye on my cabinet. When I saw “water” I decided that plain water was too boring.
Subbing out one cup of red rooibos tea for one cup of water gave it a really neat little twing.
Angela, OMG this almond milk tastes incredible!! The only thing I did differently was omit the cinnamon, since I really wanted the vanilla to shine through and figured I could always add cinnamon to my individual glass. I mistakenly used room temperature filtered water, so I had to WAIT for the almond milk to chill in the fridge before I could truly enjoy a glass. Everything from the texture to the flavor is 100X better than store bought. I’m so dunking these tonight in your vegan chocolate chip cookies that I have in my freezer right now (dough freezes great!). :)
Funny side note—> I ‘man handled’ my nut bag a little too much and ended up popping a hole in it. My husband found this hilarious, btw as it shot across the kitchen.
My next nut milk plans are for whipping up a batch of cashew milk. Cashew milk + pureed butternut squash + Nooch= cheezy sauce over zuchinni pasta or for a mac n cheeze. Mmmm!
I loved that you highlighted the nutmilkbag with a giggle ;)
Dear Angela,
I just made the almond milk for the first time. Unfortunately, my blender died so I used my food processor. The milk came out watery compared to the Silk brand but I followed your recipe of 3.5 cups of water. I did not have the dates. Do you think it was the machine? Your post said it should be creamy…..
Thanks,
Jill
Do you know the nutritional information for nut milk made this way?
Hi, how long will it last if refrigerated?
it lasts about 3 days. hope this helps!
Thanks for posting this I am making my first batch of almond milk in the morning, I’m excited! Can you tell me how to go about freezing the almond pulp? Can I just throw it in a freezer bag or does it have yo be dehydrated? And if it does how would I do that without a dehydrator? Thanks in advance!
The step by step process really makes it look easy, thank you! Now I don’t have any excuses…Time to stop buying almond milk!
This was delicious! Thank you for the tutorial asking with beautiful pics!
*along not asking!
Do you take the inside out of the vanilla bean or just toss the whole thing in ?
This almond milk was delicious (and easy!) Thanks for the recipe. I wasn’t sure it would work, but I used the almond pulp instead of flour to make pancakes and it was great! They were super light and had that lovely subtle almond flavour!
The jokes in this recipe were even better than the milk (which was delicious.)
Thank you for the laughs!
This date-vanilla-cinnamon combination was abosutely amazing!!
I’ve been making almond milk for a while, but have never actually *loved* the taste of it.
After reading this recipe at first, I was a little skeptical about the sweetness of the dates in the milk, but it turned out to be subtle and complemented the vanilla and cinnamon well.
Thanks for this recipe – I’ll be making it much more often now! :)
OMG. i made almond milk for the first time today — I WILL NEVER BUY IT AGAIN. So amazing! you’re right – so creamy it’s mindblowing.
I would love to make this but can I use Blue Diamond Whole Natural Almonds? I have a full bag and would like to try out your recipe. This is silly, but I am hesitant to use the Blue Diamond because I am not sure if it is safe to soak their almonds. I am pretty sure their almonds have no cyanide in them (since it is illegal in the US to sell/buy them containing cyanide) but I just want to be safe. Soaking their almonds won’t be any different than soaking raw almonds, right?
Hi, I’ve recently started cooking and baking more. And now that I look at food labels more, it sickens me that soooo much of the food I hardly looked twice at, has ingredients that is harmful to our bodies. This almond milk is fantastic. I hope my young girls like it too, since I’ve been trying to ween them off of cow’s milk, using coconut vanilla milk, vanilla and chocolate soy and almond milks. Hemp, goat, and original unflavored milks haven’t been too popular. Thank you!
I make my own almond milk and when soaking them, I add in about 2 T of raw cashews, too– it really does kick it up a notch in terms of creaminess. I don’t add any thing else– just almonds, cashews, and water. Oh, and I didn’t buy a nut milk bag but I did buy some of mesh bags (for less than $3 ea) available in stores now for putting produce into (instead of using plastic bags). They work perfectly and are I believe, less expensive.
Thanks for this great blog!
I tried this recipe and for me I prefer it without the cinnamon. However I get so much of the nut meat left over and I’m trying to use it in recipies. I really prefer to eat the nuts by themselves. Since I make my own almond butter, I tried the suggestion made in one of the other replies. I tried a small batch with just one tablespoon of almond butter blended in 1 1/4 cups water and 1/8 teaspoon vanilla. You can add a little salt I like it and there is not as much nut meat left over to try to use. I ordered organic hemp fabric online and made my own nut milk bags. You can also find them online. Hemp fabric holds up a lot better than the nylon fabric. I have successfully used it not only for straining my homemade yogurt to make Greek yogurt but also for the nut milk. I made separate labeled bags for each so that I don’t mix them up. Enjoy!
This recipe is amazing. This is the best almond milk I have ever tasted. Yum! I used a cheesecloth over a strainer, and gently twisted the top and squeezed the mixture through. It worked great. Thanks!
Thinking Vitamax blenders were the best out there, your pictures of the almond meal made me think otherwise. Maybe if you lower the initial water so more almond pieces hit the blade you would do much better. I always made almond milk in a cheap blender, and I got loads of flavor without using as many almonds as you use, just by getting the meal pieces smaller. And since I used it for cereal, I didn’t have to filter anything. It took 7 almonds for a man’s size bowl of cereal–yep I’m a cheapa$$ :D
Mmmmm!!! I usually have a shot of vanilla in my coffee, this looks like an awesome natural alternative! Yumyum!
I used a nylon knee-hi in place of a nut milk bag. Used sugar and honey for sweeteners, and extra 1/2 of a vanilla bean. Am enjoying a chai tea almond milk latte as I type this. Mmmmm. Many thanks for this recipe. It was a little messy, but excellent results even this first time.
Is it okay to soak the almonds longer than overnight? I ended up not having time to make the almond milk and I’m worried the almonds have been soaking for too long.
This is awesome! Didn’t even know how to go about making homemade almond milk.
Now what can I do with the left over almond pulp? Recipes to use it?
Made this tonight and it is delish!!! Having it for dessert.
Just what I needed! Like you, I’ve never been a milk drinker, but I’ve been making lattes and healthy cacao hot chocolate (no sugar necessary) almost daily since I discovered unsweetened vanilla almond milk; so I decided I should make my own almond milk to keep it as pure as possible- no fillers. Almonds are soaking now! Thanks~
Hi! I have been paleo for almost a year. It’s time for me to venture into more creative foods. I found your blog on making Almond milk. I’m ordering my nut sack (lol) and getting on this ASAP! Just curious, do you have any recipes on here for things you have made from the left over almonds???? I’d love a good grain free granola to make with this! Adorable blog!!! Thank you.
Hi Angela.
Thanks for the recipe!
Everything went smoothly, however, my finished product has a slightly strange smell and aftertaste. Any suggestions?
FYI – soaked for 8 hours (almonds from TJ’s), 3 medjools, half a vanilla bean, cinnamon, pinch of salt.
Thanks in advance.
I made my first almond milk today following your recipe! Delicious!
So easy too. Now I am looking for a recipe on your site to use the almond pulp!
Looking forward to getting your new book!!
I’m so excited to try this recipe ! I will be trying it once I find a nut bag in the stores! I was wondering about the nutrition information an calorie count on the milk? Thank you !
Go to Ace Hardware. Most people have them nearby. They sell the jelly strainer kits like someone mentioned above. You get a bag and the stand. The bag has elastic at the top which is perfect to wrap right over the bowl. It stays in place and works perfectly to strain this milk. I made a double batch this morning and it was delicious – and smooth! Easy peasy.
Just made this milk yesterday. Let it chill in fridge overnight. Had a bowl of cereal and the milk tastes great but it is gritty!? Anyone have this problem? I thought I blended it thoroughly and I used the nut milk bag to strain. Is this normal??
Thanks for the great tutorial! I have always wanted to make almond milk, and now I have and will definitley make it again, it was easy to make and delicious!! I wanted to ask you where you purchased your milk bottle? It looks like a strudy glass bottle, plus I like that it has a lid that you can screw on.
Hi Angela,
Where do you purchase your almonds? I live in Toronto.
I’ve made this a few times now using one of those cooking bags that you use to take herbs out of soup. My almond milk goes bad in less than 24 hours, what am I doing wrong??
If you were going to make almond milk to use in a savoury recipe, would you still put the vanilla bean, dates and cinnamon in the milk?
What do you think the calories are?
This is so helpful! I’m stuck in india for a while, they don’t have almond milk here and i was getting bored of soy milk. thanks for the recipe can’t wait to try it !
I used a old seive, All my left over almonds, all chopped up, will go into the freezer to throw into my next weeks batch of bread. I will freeze them in cupcake pans to use 1 or 2 per loaf of bread.
Great post! Do you think it would work with a food processor instead of a blender?
Hi,
I make nutmilk using a Vitamix and a nutmilk bag, but have one problem.
No mater what nuts I use, when I add the nutmilk to coffee the milk always separates out after a few seconds and I almost end up with black coffee with nutmilk particles dispersed through it.
Do you have an answer to this?
Barry
What is the calcium content for homemade almond milk then? I know almond breeze brand has 45% calcium daily value.. curious to how that compares to homemade almond milk
Do you soak your almonds in the refrigerator or soak them at room temperature?
I soak them at room temp usually. Im sure either is fine!