Making your own nut milk is very easy and its even kid approved!
I have learned a few tricks along the way that I will pass on to you. First, I by the raw almonds in bulk from our farmers market. They can be pricey, so I tend to buy a large amount when they are on sale. Second, make sure you have a good quality Ultra Fine Cheesecloth
Things you will need:
A fine mesh strainer
A bowl or pitcher
A big plate or baking sheet for the leftover meal
A blender ( I actually did mine in smaller batches with a magic bullet)
Ingredients:
2 cups raw almonds
4 cups water (you can play around with the water depending on if you want a thicker or thinner result)
1 tsp vanilla extract (I use crushed vanilla bean
Soak almonds overnight
Rinse the almonds until the water comes out clean.
Blend the almonds, water and vanilla in a blender for about 2 minutes. Then have your cheesecloth, strainer and bowl ready for the “milking”
Squeeze the meal inside the cheesecloth until no more liquid comes out. This takes a bit of muscle.
Once all the water is out, dump the meal onto a plate or baking sheet. This is what you are left with.
Don’t throw this meal out. It can be dried out in the oven and used in place of flour. It is also gluten free. I set my oven to 200 and bake it for about an hour. It will make your house smell like yummy almond cookies. Before using as flour, I would suggest that you process it into a finer, flour like consistency.
To store the milk, choose a bottle that you can shake because the milk will separate. It can probably keep well for about a week in the fridge although mine never lasts that long. 
Happy drinking! If you are looking for a way to use up the leftover pulp, you can try my Grain Free Energy Bites.
You can also watch a video of me doing this below.
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I have made almond milk numerous times, one tip I have is strain it in batches. It makes it so much easier. You can also make cashew milk. Only soak cashews for 2 hours (no more) and you will have a creamy dreamy treat!
I am going to try cashew milk! My husband loves them. I do strain in batched because I have a teeny strainer and it get’s messy otherwise. I have learned that the hard way. I made a HUGE mess the first attempt I had. Plus, when I wrote this post, I did not have the vitamix and used a magic bullet. Took much longer.
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After you rinse the almonds and are suppose to blend what water are you suppose to use to blend it with. Is it the water that the almonds were soaked in or just water from faucet?
After you soak the almonds, drain them with a strainer and rinse. Then, use fresh water to blend them with. I use the water I get out of my fridge.
What recipes do you have for the left over almond meal?
I have a recipe publishing in the next few days that uses “meal.” In the recipe, I used leftover hazelnut meal, but you can easily sub almond. It’s a recipe for energy balls.
Great video Melissa! I have to admit that after reading about cheese cloth I was slightly scared away (just being honest here), but after watching the video (you make it look SO easy), and hearing you say you can use it over and over, I am re-excited about trying to make nut milks! You are right — it’s just about impossible to find any without carageen (sp?) and of course many have lots of sugar. I’m sure I’ll let you know when I actually do it!
Glad you liked the video. It really is easy as long as you get organized from the beginning. I want to film some more, but it’s hard to get the kids out of the house sometimes. I think the next one I film will be for making broth. That is so super easy too.
Great video! Almond milk is a new favorite at our house. One question for you: How long do you bake the almond meal to dry it out? I’ll check your site for recipes to use the almond flour…very excited about it!!! Thanks a million for posting your video. Soooo easy and delish…who knew??
I bake it at 215 for 2-3 hours. I just keep checking on it until it is mostly dry.
Thanks so much :0)
I tried something out of curiosity to see what happened. I normally use the vanilla bean and dates when I make the almond milk, but this time I left them out until the end. After I put the almonds and water in the vitamix and strained them through the nut bag, I poured the almond milk back in the vitamix along with the dates and vanilla bean (I cut it from 2 tsp to 1 tsp) and ran it again for a minute or so and the flavor was so much stronger with less. I have been thinking that at least a portion of the dates and vanilla bean were caught in the nut bag.
Good to know. Yeah, I imagine they were. I can smell vanilla in the pulp as it’s drying out.
Melissa, I just made almond milk for the first time and it’s awesome. I made three separate batches, one batch with 1 1/3 cup almonds to 3 cups of water but I found that it is a little too watery tasting. So batch #2 I made with 2 cups of almonds and 3 cups of water and I like this ratio much better. The almond taste really comes through. Batch #3 was 2 cups almonds with 3 cups water and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and wow, does that taste good. When my husband and my children come home today from work and school, respectively, I will let them taste all 3 batches and let them decide which is better. I am off to bake the almond meal now. Thank you for the video, and the recipe.
Awesome! I love almond milk too! If you can, try it with the ground vanilla beans sometime. They make it taste so good and sweet without any sugar.
Are you using a vita mixer? Could I just use my food processor? Who sells your recommended cheese cloth? I would not know a bad cloth to a good one. Who sells the powdered vanilla extract? Where do you buy almonds in bulk inexpensively? 20 quest I know!!! Thanks for the video
I did use a vitamix, but I used to use a magic bullet. I linked up the cheese cloth I use in the post. I bought it off Amazon. If you don’t want to do that, I would look at Bed Bath and Beyond and make sure it is an ultra fine and strong cheesecloth. I have tried using a cheap one and it was awful. If you use your food processor, you might have to do a smaller batch. Not sure if it will work though.
I also linked up the extract in the post. I get it on Amazon, because I haven’t been able to find it anywhere else.
Are you using a vita mixer? Could I just use my food processor? ? Where do you buy almonds in bulk inexpensively?! Thanks for the video
I buy my almonds in bulk at whole foods or sprouts.