How to Make Homemade Sprouted Almond Milk
I’ve had homemade almond milk on my to-make list for quite some time now, mainly because of it’s health benefits, but also because I love making my own food. It’s unlikely you are reaping all the glorious dairy free benefits from a conventional nut milk and who wants to enjoy a dairy milk alternative without getting allllll the nutrients it has to offer?
Reasons why you should make your own milk:
The possibilities are endless and it’s so easy! If you don’t like almonds, you can use cashews, walnuts, oats, coconut, hazelnuts, pecans, you name it.
You aren’t consuming any unnecessary ingredients that don’t serve you. Most conventional almond milks (and even some organic ones) have some type of preservative or hydrogenated oil added for texture and extended shelf life. Typically, these are genetically modified. Anything genetically modified is not found in nature and is no bueno. FUN FACT: 80% of all processed food in America contain GMO’s….gross.
It tastes better. I’m serious, for my first batch of sprouted milk, this stuff turned out DELICIOUS! So creamy and smooth with a hint of sweetness. Perfect for adding to smoothies, coffee, oatmeal, or even on it’s own.
It’s low waste and actually more cost effective, especially if you use the leftover almond pulp and make it into almond flour! All you have to do is dehydrate the almond pulp in the oven on 175F for 1-2 hours depending on the volume. Since I made about 4 cups of almond milk I left it in the oven for a little over an hour. Then cool, blend and store it in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.
It’s more nutritious. It’s truly a LIVING food. Sprouting your almonds makes them more bioavailable to the body. Although it may seem a bit time consuming (3 day period of soaking/sprouting) it is definitely worth the effort. There’s just something about making my own food that brings me a great sense of peace and enlightenment.
Soaking and Sprouting
Soaking and sprouting nuts is the single most easy way to ensure you’re reaping all of the benefits that nutritious nut has to offer. When you sprout your nuts you are increasing the enzyme activity significantly more than just soaking them. This increases the bioavailability of the nutrients in the body, making it easier to digest and minimize bloating. Unsoaked/unsprouted nuts contain phytic acid which inhibit enzyme activity. If you are short on time, soaking is still perfectly fine, you just may not be getting as many of the nutrients as easily as you would sprouting them. Be sure to look for organic, raw, unpasteurized almonds otherwise there is no point to making your own. This is because conventional almonds are fumigated with POP or propylene oxide gas which is a carcinogen. Keep in mind that even if you buy raw almonds, you are still running the risk that they are pasteurized which makes them un-sproutable. Amazon has some that work great for sprouting that I will link below.
What You Need:
Wide mouth quart sized jar
Nut milk bag
Tea cloth or sprouting screen
Strainer/colander
Small bowl that fits the strainer
Large bowl
Ingredients:
Yields: 4 cups
1 cup organic, unpasteurized almonds or nut of choice https://a.co/d/aQ2yXft
Large pinch of sea salt
Filtered water for soaking
3 ½ c. filtered water
1 Tbsp. honey, maple syrup or sub 1-2 dates (I used maple syrup)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. sea salt
Directions:
Step 1: Put almonds in glass quart jar with a large pinch of sea salt and enough filtered water to submerge them. Cover with a sprouting screen or tea cloth and soak overnight (or minimum of 8 hours). Rinse the nuts and add another large pinch of sea salt and enough water to cover. Soak for another 8-12 hours. Then drain the water and rinse them well again. (If you won’t be sprouting your almonds, skip to step 3.)
Step 2: Place the small strainer inside the small bowl. Invert the jar of almonds into the strainer and place on the counter. It’s okay if you have a sunny kitchen, they love the sun! Leave inverted for 24-48 hours so they can work their magic sprouting. Every 4-6 hours, rinse the almonds and place it back in the small strainer (letting it go 8 hours while you sleep is fine but try to rinse more often during the day). Rinsing less often can possibly cause bits of mildew to start growing. You can tell they’ve sprouted due to the cracking in the shell/skin from the stem trying to work its way out.
Step 3: Once they’ve finished sprouting, give them another good rinse. Peel the almonds if you want ( I didn’t do this) Then place the almonds in a blender with the 3 ½ c. filtered water and blend on high for 1-2 minutes. Place a large colander inside a large bowl and line the colander with a tea towel. Pour the almond milk into the nut milk bag to strain out the pulp. Squeeze as much of the remaining almond milk out into the bowl as your strong self can handle.
Step 4: Pour the almond milk back into the blender and add the maple syrup, vanilla extract, and sea salt. Blend for 10-15 seconds to incorporate. I made the mistake, as most of you may have seen in my IGTV video, to pour all the water and almonds into my food processor at one time- which was way too much liquid for the size of my blender. Anyway, I separated it out into two rounds, that way things didn’t overflow. Then all you have to do is pour the milk into a clean glass quart jar and store in the refrigerator for up to a week. The milk will naturally separate in the fridge, so shake that thang again before drinking! Also, since it is a LIVING food, understand that it will not have the same shelf life as a conventional almond milk. This is also the beauty of it, because it is so nourishing for your precious body. Enjoy it. Soak it all in. Reap all the benefits. Let me know if you guys try this recipe because it is definitely one to enjoy over and over again.
Recipe is originally from @barerootgirl thank you for so effortlessly sharing this beautiful process!
Cheers!