Almond Walnut Dairy Free Milk

I prefer to prepare almonds and walnuts for consumption by soaking them in filtered water for 8 hours, and I'm pretty specific about it. From what I've gathered from published articles, cookbooks and textbooks, people have varying theories, with 2 - 8 hours being the most common time frames. If you are new to making dairy free milk check out the tips at the end of recipe for more specific information.

 

3/4 cup whole raw almonds

1/4 cup whole raw walnuts

1 small pitted date

3 cups filtered water

 

Combine ingredients in 4 cup covered container such as before you go to bed, or eight hours in advance of preparation. Allow to soak in cool dry place for eight hours.

Remove/strain nuts from soaking water, and place in blender.  Add 3 cups fresh filtered water. Cover blender and gradually increase speed to the highest setting, processing for 1 minute.

 

Place nut milk bag in 4 quart container and pour contents of blender into the nut milk bag.

 

Hold the top of the nut milk bag with your left hand and, starting at the top, bring your right hand down the bag, gently compressing, and harvest your milk. I find treating the bag like an accordion fan works better than twisting and squeezing. With minimal effort your milk will be strained within a minute.

 

Rinse your blender and all equipment immediately, to save yourself from difficult to clean messes.

 

Yield: 4 cups milk

Prep Time: 1 minute

Soak Time: 8 hours

Processing: 3 minutes

Storage: Refrigerate and use within 3 days

Some general tips and information: For milk preparation, after soaking the nuts I drain them and  prepare with fresh filtered water in my Vita Mix 5200 for 1 minute. On this point too, recipes vary widely  from 1 to 4 minutes.  You want to have the almonds at an almond meal state when you stop, so when you see sand-sized bits of almond whirling around in the blender, you are done. Please note that my Vita Mix is fantastic. You may have a better model or one that is not as powerful, so you will need to find your own "sweet spot" as far as blending time. If in doubt but you feel the milk warming, you can feel free to stop!

 

As for straining the nut milk, I use a 4 quart container and an extra large food grade nut milk bag.

 

For storage of the finished product I use a four cup mason jar.

 

Nut milk is naturally perishable so you want to refrigerate it, if not drinking or using immediately. If, like me, you over process the ingredients while figuring out your blender, and the milk is warm, let it cool before straining, and then let the strained milk cool completely before refrigerating.

 

As you are cleaning up, wonder a bit how they get that nut milk to last on the grocery store shelf, and what happens to that container it's in once you've thrown it away. Follow up with some research or a call to your garbage company for proper recycling information if so inclined. It makes the whole process that much more satisfying and educational.
 

Modified from my previous publishing prior to 2016