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?
You had me cracking up as I read this – thanks Angela!
I only have a food processor. Any recommendations for that? Thank you in advance!
Hi my mom just bought me your cookbook for Christmas I love it !!
I want to make the coffee shop hazelnut milk but it calls for almonds .I have food intolerance to almonds, is there another nut to sub that ? What would go well with hazelnuts for the milk? Looking forward to making this yummy milk!!!! Tamara
Hi Tamara, I’m so happy you’ve been loving the book so far! For the hazelnut milk, you can omit the almonds altogether and simply use 1 full cup of hazelnuts. Hope you enjoy the recipe when you give it a try! :)
I think a dedicated French press lined with cheese cloth may be a less messy alternative!
Have you used this in coffee? And if you did, how does it compare to the smoothness of store bought. I really want to get away from those hideous little boxes the stuff comes in. Thanks for sharing!
Hello. This recipe looks so delicious! I was very excited to try it. It looked so good that I made a double batch. I soaked the almonds the night before, rinsed them the next morning, and then blended with the other ingredients. I don’t have a nut milk bag so I used a layering of a colander, cheese cloth, and a paper towel. The layers did a good filtering job but it took quite a while for the liquid to drain through. The anticipation was killing me. Finally, it was ready. I added the cinnamon and a pinch of salt and picked out the perfect glass. I poured the almond milk into the glass and paused to take a picture of its’ beauty. I couldn’t wait any longer and I finally took a sip. But, wait. No. What is this? It was bad. Nooooo!!!! Being home alone, I just cried on the inside. Tragedy had struck. Haha. I joke but the almonds had indeed gone bad. I didn’t realize that they need to be refrigerated while they are soaking overnight :(
I love my homemade almond milk and have got into the routine of making it every other day. I mix it with my homemade chai syrup, which is simply delicious. Thanks for the idea of soaking the date, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. I wish someone would give me a vitamix, it’s my dream to own one.
I love making your almond milk. I put the pulp in the freezer. I would like to find recipes for the pulp with the date and cinnamon flavors
Hey Sidney, A great way to use leftover pulp is to spread it onto a baking sheet and dry it out in a preheated 300°F (150°C) oven for 25 to 30 minutes, just until lightly golden in some spots. The toasted pulp can then be used in granola recipes or any other baked goods you see fit. If you have The Oh She Glows Cookbook, there’s a recipe in it for Easy Almond Pulp Granola (page 276) that you might like, too! Hope this helps. :)
I strip the skin off the almonds ,and I use the vitamax blender so I don’t strain it ,is that ok to do so
I soaked the almonds for just over a day and they fermented, as I learned when I made the milk, that it was quite sour. Maybe they should soak in the fridge. Nice tasting next batch, very nice, and very easy.
Just made this yesterday — so easy and SO good! Can’t believe I’d never done it before…don’t think I’ll be buying it at the store anytime soon! I made chocolate chip peanut butter granola bars with the pulp (I left it out to dry for a few hours)! Thanks!
Always allow them to soak overnight in the refrig. changing the water once or twice helps
in the final product. Been making Almond milk for 4 yrs. weekly. I use my Knox Soup maker (Eliminates the use of a blender) .
that makes Almond milk as well. Had a Soy ajoy but the Knox soup maker mashes the almonds much finer for. better end product. Delicious, then I use a fine collander then again through the nutbag. I flavor with 1 tsp. homemade vanilla, a little Stevia,
1/2 tsp. Cassia Cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. Redmonds sea salt. That’s it. I use it daily for oatmeal
and whatever. Lasts about 5-6 days.
To Heather: No need to soak almonds more than 6 to 8 hours. For that length of time, its fine to leave the bowl out on the counter. I get up at 7:00am, get the almonds soaking and make a batch around 2:00 or 3:00pm. I make a batch every week. Stays fresh well over a week. I sweeten with “date paste” (blend medjool dates, cinnamon and vanilla bean). I put about 3 Tbs date paste to the blender with a pinch of salt.
I didn’t have time to read through all the comments so this may have already been addressed. After the almonds soak all night I am supposed to remove those almonds from the water and rinse them. Then do I return them to the same water they soaked in the blinder or do I dump that water and put in fresh water? Thanks!
Fresh water. :)
Hello, must I cook the raw almond nuts before blending or dehydrate them in oven? Thank you
Nope, no need to bake or dehydrate the almonds. You’ll want raw almonds for this recipe!
I just wanted to say that I LOVE this recipe. It is super labour intensive – especially because I had to use cheesecloth (couldn’t find a nut milk bag) but so worth it!!!! The smell alone is to die for.
Ohhh I’m so intolerant in all dairy products that i’m happy I found about almond milk! I LOVE your blog and really appreciate that you have pictures included! Thank you!!!
Looked for best homemade almond milk recipe. This looks like a great contender! I will try it later this week. My big question though (and I apologize if this was already covered in one of the 600+ comments : ): What will the number of grams of protein be per serving? The commercial brands tend to be just a couple. I am hoping to be able to triple that (so that its like dairy milk in terms of acting as a “helper” for getting more grams of protein in a given meal).
Hey Kathy, I’m sorry but I’m not sure of the nutritional info for homemade almond milk. I hope you enjoy it if you make it!
This is by far the best almond milk recipe out there. I wasn’t a big fan of almond milk until I made this one and now I have it every day. The dates are a great idea and the cinnamon and vanilla make it heavenly when added to tea, coffee, muesli, etc. Thanks! I like to add some vanilla extract and a much smaller amount of vanilla bean then recommended here (vanilla beans are EXPENSIVE!!!) to make it more cost effective and just a little bit of bean added adds a lot of flavor for less money. Thank you for putting this out here – now I love almond milk!
First of all, THANK YOU for your amazing blog. Many of your recipes have become staples in my kitchen (vegan banana bread *drool)
Can you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE blog recipes specifically using almond pulp or any pulps leftover from making nut milks?
I have found it very difficult to find such recipes. A lot of sites say you can makes this and that with almond pulp but there is a lack of recipes!
Thanks for the love, Doreen! I’m so happy to hear you’ve been enjoying so many of my recipes. :) As for almond pulp, I have a granola recipe up on the blog that uses it, and you can find that here. And I’ll definitely keep making more almond pulp recipes as an idea for the future!