One post on my blog that gets regular traffic is my no-cook rice milk recipe. I need to update it a bit actually… But in the meantime, I thought I should add a nut milk to my recipe index.
I hadn’t made almond milk for, well, a few years. It’s easy to make, it tastes better than store bought, I can buy the ingredients (simply almonds) in bulk versus ready-to-drink milk in a wasteful Tetra-Pak, it goes well with homemade granola…
But the leftover pulp always stressed me out. When I make almond milk, I also commit to cooking or baking something with all that pulp because how can I possibly waste it, especially during those devastating drought years here in California? I started to dry it out and run it through my food processor to make “flour.” I really like this solution. I either use the flour immediately or store it in the freezer in a glass jar to use later. Now this isn’t the same as almond flour you buy in the store—much of the fatty goodness has been drawn out of it. But the stuff is useful.
To make almond milk, you soak a cup of almonds in water for up to a couple of days. Drain the almonds. Rinse them. Puree them with 2 cups fresh water. Strain the liquid. Drink the milk. That’s it.
UPDATE 06/04/18: Return the pulp to the blender, add another cup to cup and a half of water and repeat the process. This second batch will be more watery than the first batch but still tasty. My daughter prefers the second batch to the richer first batch.
I buy organic almonds. Many almond milk recipes call for “raw organic” almonds but raw almonds basically do not exist, at least not here California, producer of 80 percent of the world’s almonds.
Almond “flour”
I took some lovely pictures of the pulp straining process (not easy with one hand) but sadly, the photos disappeared…
After you remove as much liquid from the pulp as possible, break up the pulp with your hand and drop it onto an ungreased, unlined cookie sheet. Break it up further with a fork. Dehydrate the pulp in the oven at about 225ºF for two hours, or until completely dried out. During dehydration, stir the pulp every 30 minutes or so to break up lumps and prevent it from sticking to the cookie sheet. Run the dried pulp through a food processor. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator or freezer.
When you bake with your pulp flour you’ll have to fiddle around with the recipe a bit—as with all freestyle cooking. For this blog post, I made oatmeal cookies. The recipe calls for 3 cups oats and 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour. I substituted 1 cup of my pulp flour for 1 cup of the all-purpose flour. The cookies turn out a tiny bit more crumbly than they do following the standard recipe. But other than that, they taste delicious. I’m all for rescuing food that would otherwise go to waste but my efforts must taste delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds
- water for soaking
- 2 cups water for pureeing soaked almonds
Instructions
- Place almonds in a jar and cover with water by a couple of inches. Place the lid on the jar and set the jar aside for between 12 and 48 hours.
- Strain the almonds and rinse them very well.
- Add the almonds and 2 cups fresh water to a blender or food processor and blend for a couple of minutes.
- Over a large bowl, place a sieve or colander lined with a fine-mesh cloth. Pour the almond mixture through. Let it sit for about 10 minutes to strain out most of the liquid.
- Gather up the edges of the cloth to form a ball and squeeze out as much almond milk as possible.
- To make a second batch of almond milk, return the almond pulp to the blender, add more water (about 1 to 1/2 cups) and repeat the process. (This batch won't be as rich as the first batch.)
- If you wish to sweeten your almond milk, stir in sugar, maple syrup or honey, etc. To sweeten with a pitted date, return the milk to a clean blender, add the date and puree once again.
- Store almond milk in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to a few days.
Notes
Nuts contain phytic acid, and anti-nutrient that bonds to minerals. That bond prevents your body from absorbing said minerals. So, don't consume the water you soak your nuts in. Your plants can drink it however.
I like to add a handful of shredded coconut to mine and puree with warm water to draw out all the fat (yum!). Oh, and I do 4 cups water per cup of almonds so they stretch a bit more. The milk is creamy and delicious – I even switched my cow milk drinking husband over with this recipe 🙂
Hi Lydia, That sounds delicious. I forgot to mention in the post you can add more water if desired. I meant to do that… Thanks for pointing that out. I’m glad you husband likes it so much 🙂 ~ Anne Marie
We are really missing our homemade nut milks around here while we wait for Cuisinart to replace our two recalled chopping blades. Sadly, my blender isn’t powerful enough to make almond milk, although it works just fine with coconut. I love Lydia’s suggestion to puree a handful of shredded coconut with the almonds. Going to give that a try once my new blades arrive.
Btw, I have freezer jars and bowls full of almond flour I’ve made from almond pulp, but so far, we haven’t liked any of the recipes we’ve tried with it. Your oatmeal cookies look divine. If ever you put up that recipe, do get in touch with me.
Oh right! I am supposed to get a new blade. Thanks for the reminder! I used (basically) the Quaker Oats oatmeal recipe: http://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipe/quakers-best-oatmeal-cookies I put in 1/2 cup brown sugar, not 3/4 and they were still very sweet. Also, I used 2 sticks of butter (not 2-1/2) and 1 cup raisins. I replaced 1 cup all-purpose flour with 1 cup dehydrated almond pulp. They turned out well and are all gone. Wish I had one now…
Ooooh. That sounds good. Haven’t made their recipe in years, since I started buying in bulk. As I recall, the recipe was inside the lid. : )
Yeah I used to have that lid too 😉
Help! I made almond milk but I don’t have an oven to make flour out of the almond meal. How do I use it up?
Someone on Twitter told me she doesn’t strain at all and just pours the milk with pulp onto her granola. She likes the extra crunch. I thought that sounded like a great idea. My daughter has made energy balls with hers. If you google that, LOTS of recipes will pop up. Here’s one: http://www.sweetfreedomblog.com/2012/06/raw-dough-nots.html I hope that helps 🙂
Hi there! I currently don’t have access to almonds (the store was sold out the day I went!), could I make milk with almond flour/almond meal? What would you guesstimate be on proportions?
Hello! A cup of almonds weighs about 8 ounces so I would use 8 ounces of almond meal. Actually, I would use 4 ounces of almond meal and 4 ounces of water. If you make half and don’t like it, you haven’t lost much. If you do like it, you can double the amounts next time. I haven’t tried this so I’m not sure if it will work but I don’t see why it wouldn’t. If you try it, will you please let me know how it goes? Thanks 🙂
Hello – I’m looking for a recommendation on an organic fine-mesh cloth for straining – any suggestions? Thanks!
Hi Linda. I have trouble finding organic fabric but you can buy nut milk bags made of organic cotton from Cultures for Health: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/organic-cotton-nut-milk-bag.html ~ Anne Marie
I’m really excited to try this! I’ve never made it before. I just remembered an amazing cake that you could use your almond “meal” in too if you want another option… Nigella’s chocolate orange cake… it’s super delicious and you use the whole orange (peel and all) in the cake:
http://www.food.com/recipe/nigella-lawson-flourless-chocolate-orange-cake-303266
Also I am new to your blog (found it through Kate Arnell’s) and I am learning so much! Thanks!!
Thank you for the link Suzie! I love that you can use the peel too. That’s like a food-waste feast! Glad you found my blog. Thanks for the kind words 🙂 ~ Anne Marie
First batch made! Thank you!
Hi Leigh Ann. Great. Enjoy! I saw it soaking on IG 🙂 ~ Anne Marie
[…] Zero Waste Chef https://zerowastechef.com/2017/04/05/almond-milk/ […]
Hi! An advice that i was giving by my almons supplier was to v
Blend the pulp more than once. And it works! I make akmond milk for my whole family and after i blend the first time i strain it and then with fresh water i blend the pulp. I blen a total of three times and make two litters with 1 cup and 1/4. The las strain the water is clear with lil white. I add a pinch of salt and its amazingly good. The left over is also way smaller that in the first strain. I recommend doing this because gets more put of the almonds. Its more efficient. The salt is a must since enhance the flavor. Hope it helps! Please share my tip for my was almost life changing milk wise.
Thank you so much for this tip, Diana! I am going to try this this week. It does sound life changing. I love more efficient! ~ Anne Marie
Thanks for all the info about making almond milk! The idea to add coconut and to blend several times sound good too. I would imagine the leftover almond paste would be good in Dream Balls. There are many variations, but here is one: dates, peanut butter or almond butter, almond paste from making milk, cognac, cinnamon, coconut, cardamom. Mash or put in the food processor and make into balls.
Hi Cynthia, thanks for the recipe! My daughter LOVES almond milk and has been making lots of pulp lately. ~ Anne Marie
[…] Lastly, if you made almond or oat milk, don’t waste the leftover pulp after straining! You can use the pulp to make cookies, pancakes, and other sweet treats. I usually make freestyle cookies or pancakes using the leftover pulp. Here’s a link to Zero Waste Chef’s almond milk recipe and how she makes almond flour usi… […]
[…] by the Zero Waste Chef is a recipe for almond milk that I will definitely be […]
[…] out her recipe for more details but here is my […]
Coconut! Sounds like a great idea. I’ll try it.
I needed to comment that I made homemade almond milk with a little bit of vanilla and cinnamon, dried out the pulp and decided to use it for salmon crusted with the dried almond pulp (used lemon juice for the adhesive and then coated it in the almond crumbs) and cooked in my cast iron skillet —- sooooo good!! It had a hint of sweetness that just made the dish, served it with salad withe strawberries, onions, cheddar, etc. It was a hell of a meal. Thanks for this recipe that was reused for something totally different!!
What is the need to rinse the almonds. Is there a reason you can’t use that water they soaked in to blend them in?
From above:
Notes
Nuts contain phytic acid, and anti-nutrient that bonds to minerals. That bond prevents your body from absorbing said minerals. So, don’t consume the water you soak your nuts in. Your plants can drink it however.
With the price of organic almonds doesn’t this get very expensive?
[…] I consistently use for reference when I am making all sorts of fermented, or staple dishes (such as almond milk and tahini) is Zero Waste Chef, started by Anne-Marie Bonnea in California. Her recipes are all […]
I have been researching gluten free cracker recipes and this could be a good way to use up the almond pulp. Have you tried that yet?
You really should indeed be removing the skins due to the phytic acid. All of the other zero waste steps still apply and you will have leftover skins for composting or other use in the garden. 🙂