Recently, a friend was telling me how store bought almond milk really doesn’t have that much actual almond in it. It was one of those things that made total sense, same with all the ingredients (some scary ones) that keep its shelf life for a couple months. So in the spirit of being more of a basic SoCal blonde, I started making my own almond milk!

I don’t think I can ever go back to store bought after mastering this craft. I usually make a batch twice a week, because it only stays fresh for about 3-4 days…and I also go through it faster than that! A lot of my friends have been asking for the recipe so I thought I would share it here in this space! If you have any suggestions or tips on your recipe, drop a comment below!

What you need:

Depending on whether you have a blender or a smaller nutri bullet, you may need to do the next step in batches. With a nutri bullet, I do about three to four rounds.

wishful thinking that my mom hopefully reads this and sees what kind of dilemma I’m in  🙂

Anywho…

• 3-4 cups of almonds (I get mine at Trader Joes or Costco)
• 3-5 pitted dates, depending how sweet you want it. Remove the pits before blending!
• Cinnamon, vanilla, sea salt, flax seed, or anything else you want to add some flavor
• Cheesecloth
• Mason Jar (a few small ones or a large one)

After soaking the almonds overnight, drain the original water used. Using the old water will turn the almond milk brown and not taste good at all. (Not to be confused with the picture below. That is mixed with cinnamon, dates, and the fresh water will turn a little dark from that and the almonds!)

Add dates, vanilla, and another additional ingredients you want. Add filtered water, you want to have enough in there so that it’s easy to strain and you get more milk out of it. This is really up to your discretion and may take a few tries! This picture is a pretty accurate display of how much water I add to each batch. But if you like to thin it out more, just add more water.

After blending for about 20-30 seconds, start pouring the mixture in to a cheesecloth. This will take a few rounds to strain the entire batch. Also be sure to try your mixture when you go through the first round to gage the sweetness and flavor. I like to use a measuring cup to catch the milk so it is easy to pour into a mason jar after.

Yes, we joke about what this looks like as you massage the cheesecloth… go on! Nothing to see here! And if you don’t get it now, you’ll understand when you get to this step and your boyfriend asks what the hell you’re doing…

Voila! You’ve got yourself some kickass almond milk (and a whole new inside joke to laugh about with your friends). I love using my almond milk to make lattes in the morning, or for overnight oats. You may even find your significant other trying to pour some in their coffee…! There’s also the concept of using the ground almonds. I’ve heard of people dehydrating it and making almond flour, or just adding it to smoothies for extra protein. I have yet to get into that project, but if you have any tips let me know!

What do you like to use almond milk for? Leave a comment below!