Nut & Seed Milk Recipes
There are many nut, seed and grain milk options in the store nowadays. The problem with most of them is that they contain additional ingredients such as preservatives, thickeners and sweeteners. The best and easiest option is to
make your own, and if you have a blender, this is very easy to do. Making it fresh whenever needed is optimal because without the commercial preservatives these milks do not last more than a couple of days on average. The recipes below can be scaled to the number of servings you need.
Almond Milk
Ingredients:
1/4 cup almonds to 1 cup water
Directions:
Soak the almonds overnight or for at least 4 hours. Discard the soaking water and then put almonds in blender with one cup of filtered water. Blend until smooth. Use a cheese cloth or fine mesh sieve to filter the milk through. Enjoy! You can even add a date, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, or ½ tsp pure vanilla extract for flavor.
The nut pulp can be used in baking.
Cashew Milk
Ingredients:
1/4 cup cashews to 1 cup water
Directions:
Soak cashews for at least one hour, then just blend until smooth (no need to toss the cashew water, so you can soak it directly in the blender). Cashews will fully disintegrate so you may not need to filter.
Hemp Milk
Hemp seeds are very nutritious - they are rich in the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid ALA, provide all 10 essential amino acids with easy-to-digest protein (about 5g of protein per cup) and are a good source of calcium and other minerals. Nutiva provides high quality shelled hemp seeds to make your own milk.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup hemp seeds (shelled) to 1 and 1/4 cup water
Directions:
Combine the water and the shelled hemp seeds in a blender. Turn blender on high for 2-3 minutes, or until you reach your desired consistency.
After blending you can sweeten the milk by adding: a couple of dates, raw honey, or organic vanilla. Blend again to mix sweetener. You can drink it thick or strain it through cheese cloth to remove the larger seed particles. The seed pulp can then be used as an excellent body scrub, or facial mask.
This recipe makes 1 and 1/2 cups and will stay fresh for 3 days in the refrigerator in a sealed glass container (use a mason jar). Shake well before each use.