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Wife Mama Foodie

Making Healthy Taste Good

October 3, 2014

Simple DIY Almond Milk

Have you ever wondered how to make simple DIY almond milk or almond butter? Follow these simple steps to make this on your own.

DIY Almond Milk and Almond Meal or Butter From One Cup Of Almonds!We drink almond milk in our house. To me, it’s one of the most neutral tasting non-dairy milks out there. I’m pretty particular as to how it should taste too. I don’t like milk that is very thick or watery. It has to be just right. I had seen recipes to make your own almond milk, but didn’t try it myself thinking it wouldn’t be very cost-effective. Well, a few things changed my mind:

  • When you make your own milk, you know exactly what is in it. Have you ever seen the ingredient list to the almond milk you buy in the store? Why does it take 10+ mystery ingredients to make something that should just be almonds and water?
  • You can get several uses from just one cup of almonds. Not only do you get almond milk, you can also get almond meal or almond butter from the leftover pulp. Talk about 2 for 1!
  • Nothing beats the taste of homemade. Fresh, homemade almond milk tastes just like raw almonds. It tastes nothing like the milk purchased at the store, which makes me wonder why commercial almond milk tastes so different?
  • There are many variations you can make: chocolate almond milk or chai spiced almond milk, among others! I like my almond milk plain and unsweetened, but I have included several different recipes below if you’d like to give your milk a little flavor! 

Are you convinced yet? Okay, great! Let’s get started!

DIY Almond Milk and Almond Meal or Butter From One Cup Of Almonds!
This is a two part process. The first thing you want to do is soak your almonds overnight up to 24 hours. One of the reasons for soaking your almonds is to remove any enzyme inhibitors, which occur naturally in some raw nuts, so that it is easier to digest. Soaking the almonds also make them softer and easier to blend. In the photo above, you can see the difference between a dry almond and one that has been soaked in water overnight. It has almost doubled in size! 

To soak: Place 1 cup of raw almonds into a bowl and fill with enough water to cover the almonds. Put some plastic wrap over the bowl and place into the fridge overnight or until ready to use. After they’re finished soaking, drain the dirty water and rinse almonds thoroughly.

DIY Almond Milk and Almond Meal or Butter From One Cup Of Almonds!
DIY Almond Milk and Almond Meal or Butter From One Cup Of Almonds!
Place clean, soaked almonds into a blender and add 2-3 cups of purified water, depending on how strong you like the almond taste (I do 3 cups of water.) Blend for a few minutes until almonds have been finely broken down.

DIY Almond Milk and Almond Meal or Butter From One Cup Of Almonds!
Pour blended almond milk into a clean towel or Nut Milk Bag over a bowl and with clean hands, squeeze the almond milk from the almonds. Continue to squeeze until no liquid is left in the almond pulp. If you like it plain, transfer the liquid to a sealed container and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Use within 2-3 days.

DIY Almond Milk and Almond Meal or Butter From One Cup Of Almonds!
DIY Almond Milk and Almond Meal or Butter From One Cup Of Almonds!
DIY Almond Milk and Almond Meal or Butter From One Cup Of Almonds!

Variations:
These variations are for 3 cups of milk.

Vanilla Almond Milk
After straining milk from the almond pulp, transfer milk back to a clean blender and blend with:
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
1/2-1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (You can also use the vanilla beans scraped from 1 pod, if you so desire)

Chocolate Almond Milk
After straining milk from the almond pulp, transfer milk back to a clean blender and blend with:
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1.5 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chai Spiced Almond Milk
After straining milk from the almond pulp, transfer milk back to a clean blender and blend with:
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Meanwhile, spread almond pulp out onto a baking sheet. Break apart the big chunks so that it can dry evenly. Bake on 200F for 1 to 1.5 hours or until dried thoroughly, stirring every half hour or so. Remove from the oven and let cool thoroughly. Put it in the food processor and pulse a few times. At this point you have almond meal to use for baking. Store it in an airtight container until ready to use.

DIY Almond Milk and Almond Meal or Butter From One Cup Of Almonds!
DIY Almond Milk and Almond Meal or Butter From One Cup Of Almonds!You can also make almond butter with the almond meal, but you will need to add a few ingredients. Normally, if you grind raw almonds long enough in a food processor by themselves they eventually release their oils and produce almond butter. These almonds have already been stripped of their oils making the almond milk, so you will need to add oil. I chose to add extra virgin coconut oil, but you could add refined coconut oil if you don’t want the coconut flavor. 

To make Coconut-Almond Butter: Continue to process almond meal in your food processor along with a pinch of salt. Add 3 tablespoons of coconut oil, 1 tablespoon of honey or maple syrup and process until combined. Scrape down sides, if needed. Add water or coconut milk 1 tablespoon at a time and process until almond mixture reaches desired consistency, about 3-4 tablespoons. I also added 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, which is optional. Store almond butter in a jar or an airtight container in the fridge.

DIY Almond Milk and Almond Meal or Butter From One Cup Of Almonds!

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Filed Under: All Recipes Tagged With: Almond Butter, Almond Meal, Almond Milk, Almonds, Chai Spiced Almond Milk, Chocolate Almond Milk, Coconut Almond Butter, DIY, Homemade, Vanilla Almond Milk

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Geoff Stuart says

    July 2, 2020 at 9:54 pm

    Joscelyn , I’m confused. On most comments you reply that the pulp really does have to be dried before making the almond butter, but on 3/14/17 you recommended to MJ to go right ahead and make the nut butter with the wet meal. Can you clarify this for us please?

    Thanks! I’ll be making this as soon as I finish my [overpriced] carton of Almond Breeze!

    Reply
  2. stacey says

    December 23, 2019 at 3:27 pm

    thanks for the recipes. for almond butter from milked nuts: do I have to dry the pulp first?

    Reply
    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      December 23, 2019 at 5:17 pm

      Hi Stacey! Yes, you do have to dry the pulp first. I’ve had several people report that it doesn’t turn out with wet pulp. Let me know if you have any other questions! Enjoy!!

      Reply
      • Grimjow says

        December 27, 2020 at 6:28 pm

        I made butter from wet almond pulp and it can work but takes a while. I added 3 tablespoons of oil and 1 2 of honey. It took about 45 min in the food processor and probably only worked because the heat made it steam so the oil could be absorbed.

        Reply
  3. Andrea says

    August 2, 2019 at 1:54 am

    I like my mylk a little thicker, so I add 1/2 t guar gum to a litre of liquid. I googled up how to make the almond butter with the leftovers. I want that roasted almond taste, so I’ll try toasting the almond meal in a fry pan with some vegetable or coconut oil before re-blending for nut butter.

    Reply
  4. texasgirlfarfromhome says

    March 27, 2019 at 2:27 am

    Do you know what % of the nut oil is released into the nut milk, and what % of the oil is retained in the dried nut pulp? I want to make reduced fat nut flours, and am hoping you can help me out here. Thanks for the great post. Keep up the good work.

    Reply
    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      March 28, 2019 at 12:38 am

      Hi, I’m sorry but I don’t know the percentage. It seems as if most of the oil is released into the milk though, because the leftover flour after drying has little oil/fat left. I hope that helps!

      Reply
  5. Josie Mueller says

    December 4, 2018 at 5:40 pm

    For the vanilla almond milk, do you use grade b maple syrup? Also curious, If i were to try and substitute the maple syrup with agave nectar would I use the same amount, 3 tablespoons?

    Reply
    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      December 4, 2018 at 10:42 pm

      Hi Josie, it doesn’t really matter which grade maple syrup you use, it’s just up to your personal preference. Agave nectar can also be substituted and I would suggest using 2-3 tablespoons to start with, adding more if you’d like it sweeter.

      Reply
  6. Raye Rusler says

    February 24, 2018 at 7:41 pm

    I’ve made 2 batches of almond milk and have all the almond meal in a container so I’m not sure the measurements for making your recipe. About how many cups of almond meal would you suggest using to make the almond butter?

    Reply
    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      February 25, 2018 at 6:18 pm

      Hi Raye! I’m not exactly sure, as I’ve never measured the almond meal, but if it’s two batches worth of almond meal, I’d say maybe double the rest of the ingredients for the butter or half the amount of almond meal for one recipe? You can always add extra coconut oil if needed. Let me know if you give it a try!

      Reply
  7. Irene says

    January 7, 2018 at 4:13 pm

    The left over pulp after a batch of nut milk has been bothering me for a while. I’m trying to cut out sugar so date ball variations aren’t really an option. Then I found your post and I can’t believe I never considered nut butter before! OMG its so good! I used hazel nut pulp (that I’d actually dried before I thought of nut butter) added a bit of coconut oil and roasted macadamia and brazil nuts. A touch of salt and this stuff is incredible! (I used about 1.5 cup of roasted nuts, and 1 cup dried pulp, no water or sweetening required)

    Reply
    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      January 11, 2018 at 3:14 pm

      That sounds so good, Irene! Thank you for sharing your delicious variation! So happy you were able to find a good use for your leftover pulp!! Enjoy!

      Reply
  8. Delphine Pujol says

    December 17, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    I love your post! Thank you for sharing your love of our great healthy food. xx Delphine

    Reply
    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      December 18, 2017 at 7:54 pm

      Thank you Delphine!

      Reply
  9. LL says

    December 7, 2017 at 2:56 am

    Hi, Can I make almond butter from pure almond powder which is used for beverage?

    Reply
    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      December 7, 2017 at 12:44 pm

      Hi! If it’s just ground almonds, it sounds like it might be possible. I’ve never heard of almond powder so I’m not sure. If you give a try, please let me know how it turns out.

      Reply
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    July 12, 2017 at 10:55 am

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    Reply
  11. Ally says

    June 5, 2017 at 8:27 am

    I followed your instructions but for some reason my almond butter looks white and tastes very dry… any thing I might have done wrong?

    Reply
    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      July 20, 2017 at 5:44 pm

      Hi, I apologize, I didn’t see this comment come through. It shouldn’t have been white, unless you use blanched almonds. I’ve only ever used whole raw almonds when making almond milk, so I’m not sure if that makes a difference. If yours came out dry, it may have been that you just needed to add a little more liquid to bring it all together. I hope that helps!

      Reply
      • Val says

        January 12, 2018 at 1:23 pm

        I think that the leftover almond meal most definitely had to be dried before making almond butter. I just wasted 24 ounces of almond meal because I didn’t dry it first. Mine is white too and I used whole raw almonds. Bummer.

        Reply
        • Irene says

          January 12, 2018 at 3:15 pm

          I actually made the same mistake with my 2nd batch of butter (thinking that if I left it wet it be even creamier) so when it wouldn’t emulsify I spread it on a baking tray and dried the whole lot(added Brazil and macadamia nuts) in the oven a little more and viola! It worked. Hope you haven’t thrown yours away.

          Reply
        • Andrea says

          August 2, 2019 at 1:55 am

          Thanks for reporting back. I’ll be sure to dry mine too.

          Reply
  12. MJ says

    March 14, 2017 at 6:29 pm

    Do you have to dry the leftover meal before you make it into coconut almond butter? Or can you use it right after making almond milk?

    Reply
    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      March 14, 2017 at 6:49 pm

      Hi MJ, great question. Since you usually need to add liquid to the dry meal anyway, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work as long as you strain the pulp really well. Please let me know how it turns out if you give it a try! 🙂

      Reply
  13. Thiene says

    January 16, 2016 at 2:56 pm

    Thanks a million, this article is super cool! I’ve felt really bad with dairy so these tips will help me a lot! I cannot thank you enough!

    Reply
    • Joscelyn | Wifemamafoodie says

      January 16, 2016 at 3:27 pm

      I’m so glad you found this recipe helpful, Thiene! I too cannot tolerate dairy very well and almond milk is my favorite! Thanks for your kind feedback!

      Reply
  14. Joscelyn | Wifemamafoodie says

    October 6, 2014 at 8:16 am

    Thank you, Bridget! Decisions, decisions.. Almond pudding does sound delicious. How about chocolate almond pudding?! You’ll have to share that recipe soon 🙂

    Reply
  15. Bridget says

    October 5, 2014 at 10:00 pm

    Thanks Joscelyn for the tip on almond milk! I may use some of my leftover almonds to make almond milk or perhaps almond pudding. Cheers! I loved the writing in this post 🙂

    Reply

Trackbacks

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Hello! My name is Joscelyn and I love to share recipes that are healthy and delicious. Many of them are also free of dairy, gluten, and refined sugar! Pick out a recipe and let's get cooking! Read More…

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