Raw almond milk recipe couldn’t be made any easier for plant based lovers using raw almond and then blitz in a blender with water.
Here is another ‘nut milk’ to add to the collection. This time I went ahead with whipping up a batch of raw almond milk. What can I say about this dairy free milk? Well it certainly exceeded my expectations by a long stretch of the imagination.
My first encounter was in spring/summer time last year, this was around the time when I was getting used to my vitamix which was given to me as a gift. My first attempt was a catastrophic failure for a lack of a better word.
I sucked at making something SO simple – the ratio of water to almonds was unbalanced and silly me forgot to soak the darn things which resulted in a course nut milk.
Needless to say I wrote almond milk off as a bad omen and avoided it like the plague, not knowing I was at fault, not the actual milk.
The other day I was catching up on some YouTube videos and came across an almond milk recipe. I immediately saw where I went wrong with my method and literally dived into my kitchen to make a pint of milk.
Raw almond milk is DELICIOUS, granted it’s more expensive to make than coconut milk but my homemade almond milk recipe is the bomb dot com.
Achieving that creaminess to raw almond milk
If you want your milk to yield creaminess then an emulsifier is required. Yes, this step does revoke it from the realm of ‘raw food’ BUT the results are truly divine.
Emulsifing raw almond milk with sunflower lecithin
Now were onto the subject of emulsifing, this step is of course optional. I used this Sunflower Lecithin, it’s non GMO, solvent free so no hexane or acetone was used during processing and thankfully no side effects in comparsion to soy lecithin. Sunflower lecithin is the fatty substance extracted from the gum of dehydrated sunflower seeds.
The health benefits of sunflower lecithin
Many people add lecithin to their diet because of it’s ability to support brain function and aids muscles and the nervous system. Unlike soy, fewer people experience unwanted side effects or allergens, which explains why many people favour sunflower lecithin.
Do I have to use sunflower lecithin?
No, you don’t! Although I remain content with drinking my nut drink neat (additive free). Based on my own research, I see no harm in adding a teaspoon every once in while to prevent the fat and water from separating.
Plus it bonds the entire flavour and texture together.
The health benefits of raw almond milk
Aside from the creaminess this milk has a high portion of vitamin e which is needed for the immune system, retina and the largest organ – the skin.
We’re talking about antioxidants galore – firm skin, scars elimination, brain function, low cholesterol, Alzheimer’s – there’s something for almost every ailment.
How to make raw almond milk
There’s really no rocket science to making almond milk especially if you have made nut milk before. The formula for most plant based milks is the same.
I do recommend allowing the nuts to soak overnight to yield a creamier texture. Also if you don’t have a high speed blender like a vitamix or blendtec, then it’s even more important to soak the nut so they break down completely.
When blending the raw almonds use approximately 4 cups of water to create your milk
A cheese/muslin cloth or nut milk strainer is handy for separating any remaining pulp left over for blending the nuts and water together.
You can use the pulp to make brittle or simply add it to a smoothie.
Once the milk is created, this is the time when you would add your lecithin, vanilla, nectar and pink salt
More plant based milk recipes
Let’s get crackin in the kitchen.
** an affiliate link is included in this post
Raw almond milk recipe (vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 cup of almonds
- 4 cups of filtered water can use non filtered
- 1 tsp of vanilla
- 1 tsp of coconut nectar
- 1/8 tsp of Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tsp of sunflower lecithin optional
- **1-2 cups of water for soaking
Instructions
- Soak the almonds in a bowl with water overnight. The longer they soak the creamier the nut milk.
- Drain off the water and rinse the almonds a few times.
- Add the almonds with the 4 cups of water to a blender and blend on high speed until the almonds pulverise into a fine meal. The milk should be a porcelain white colour.
- Use a cheese cloth to strain the milk into a jug, squeezing out all excess liquid and discard the pulp or reserve to make almond flour.
- If adding the sunflower lecithin, add to the freshly squeezed almond milk along with the vanilla, coconut nectar and pink salt then run everything through the blender again to emulsify.
- If you're not adding the lecithin, adjust the previous step by stirring in the other ingredients.
- Store in a mason jar in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.
Do you have a breakdown of how many calories this almond milk would end up being?
A batch would be roughly 327 calories.
I was so excited about using the sunflower lecithin to keep my almond milk from separating. I used honey as sweetener, no salt and I think 3:1 ratio water/ almonds. I removed the skins from the almonds . These are the only differences that I know of. I wished that I had a Vitamix bit I used the Ninja blender ; oh! 2 T of lecithin powder. Do you know why it separated? 2- 3 hrs.
Hi Kim.
I’m sorry to hear that. How long did you blend the almonds with the water for? I’m guessing if you stopped the machine quickly then the almonds wouldn’t have had the opportunity to break down in full. You can also try using warm or hot water instead for the water/almond ratio, that should make a difference. Anymore problems let me know and I will assist you further.
Almond milk one of my favourite milk..What do you suggest I do with the left over Almond meal?
You can do a number of things; make the pulp into energy balls, dehydrate it into flour, use the meal to add extra protein to your smoothies, whip into nut butter or simply add to baked goods.
This looks beautiful Charla! It’s interesting that you need to add the lecithin to emulisfy it. I did a bit of googling and found that almonds are already high in lecithin so I would’ve thought that might do the trick. In any case, it looks like the lecithin you’ve recommended is not harmful at all to good health!
Thanks Jolie, just to clarify the lecithin is not a requirement to emulsify, as the almond milk doesn’t separate from the water. On this occasion, I found when experimenting with the nut milk that the sunflower lecithin boosts the creaminess. It’s totally optional and it won’t collapse on itself without it.
Pls show what’s is coconut nectar
Hi Kim. Coconut nectar is the sap extracted from the coconut tree. I recommend it because it is a low GI index sweetener. You can buy it from Amazon from or from maple syrup or agave nectar as an alternative.