Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
water for soaking nuts
3-4 cups water
2 pitted dates (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon (optional)
Nut Bag, cheesecloth, or other fine tool for sifting
Directions
Soak the almonds in water overnight (24 hours is even better).
Drain the water from the almonds and discard. Blend the 3-4 cups of water, almonds and dates until well blended and almost smooth. Blend on high speed for about 3 minutes. (You don’t need a Vitamix for this; a regular blender with a good motor will do!)
If you want a thicker nut milk, check for sweetness and flavoring ingredients, add more if necessary, and blend for another minute or so. If you prefer the consistency of regular whole cows’ milk, add more water and blend for another full minute. Taste, add whatever ingredients need a boost, and then blend for another 30 seconds.
If you’ve added a vanilla bean for flavor, let the milk sit for about an hour, then blend it again for 10 – 15 seconds before straining. Otherwise strain it immediately into a container lined with several layers of cheesecloth or a nut bag.
You may need to push some of the pulp aside after about 10 minutes to make room for pouring more of the nut milk through.
After about 20 minutes – when the pulp is still moist but no milk is dripping through the strainer — draw up the edges of the butter muslin and carefully twist them together at the top. Squeeze the pulp gently to extract the milk, taking care not to let the pulp itself squeeze out.
Homemade raw almond milk will keep well in the refrigerator for three or four days.