I love raw milk. But many times we run out prior to our next delivery, or can’t get it at all. During those times, if I want milk I make this, since even organic unhomogenized pasteurized milk bothers my stomach.
See also the variation below for Almond-chocolate milk, yummy.
The recipes below were adapted from Sally’s ‘Almond drink’ recipe. Please see her original recipe on page 593 of Nourishing Traditions.
Almond Coconut Milk
Rating: 4 forks (key)
Difficulty:
Easy
Page in NT: 593
Yield & Notes:
Makes 1/2 gallon
Ingredients:
- 2 cups raw almonds
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- filtered water
- 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (an additional half cup is optional)
- 1/4 cup whey (optional – only if you want to ferment the milk)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- optional: 1/8 cup raw honey or grade B maple syrup, or Rapadura (See page 536 of Nourishing Traditions for a guide to natural sweeteners)
- 2 teaspoons dolomite (inexpensive and natural calcium source)
Preparation:
- Place the almonds, the 2 tsp sea salt and cover with filtered water in a bowl. Leave them to soak 7 hours or overnight. Drain the almonds into a colander and rinse.
- Place the soaked almonds into a blender or food processor. Add the 1/2 cup coconut and 1 quart of WARM water. Blend the almonds, coconut and water together for a few minutes, then let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
- Drain the ‘milk’ off of the almond-coconut meal into a bowl, using a tightly woven strainer or cheesecloth, or paper towels over a colander. Do not throw the almond-coconut meal away because you will be using it again to make milk. The ‘milk’ that is now in the bowl is the ‘whole’ milk.
- Place the used almond-coconut chunky meal back into the blender and add another quart of WARM water (optional: add a half cup more coconut if desired). Blend the mixture together for a few minutes, then let it sit and steep for at least 5 minutes.
- Drain this next milk batch into the bowl, this is the ‘skim milk’. Now you can put the two milks together or enjoy the whole milk separately, it’s up to you. I put them together.
If you put both milks together:
Place both milks in a half gallon jar, and add the whey (if using), vanilla, dolomite, salt & sweetener. Shake to mix. Refrigerate until cold before using, or leave on the counter for 2 days and let the whey do it’s magic. The layers will separate in the fridge upon standing, but just need to be shaken before each use.
This milk will last in the fridge up to one week (if not cultured), and up to one month if left to culture.
Variation: Almond-chocolate milk
also add 1/4 cup of dried unsweetened cocoa (I use the Rapunzel brand). You may want to use more sweetener, so add more to taste.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Is this comparable to the Almond Dream? I am wondering if it would be cheaper to make my own! What was your price on this? And how much exactly did it make?
Hi Selena… I haven’t had the almond dream brand, but I’ve had other brands and this homemade version tastes much better (my opinion though). This recipe makes as much as a half gallon (if you do the two ‘milkings’ as I detailed in the recipe. I think the white color of this homemade milk is due to two things:
1. the coconut makes it ‘creamier’ and adds whiteness.
2. Commercial almond milk is light brown, I don’t think they soak the almonds so the skins color the milk. In this recipe, you drain the brown soaking liquid, which has all of the anti-nutrients in it (and bitter taste). Then you rinse the almonds. Even though there are skins left, the resulting milk is not brown.
This milk is good too because you can sweeten not at all (maybe for cooking), just a touch, or more if it’s for a treat. I buy almonds and coconut in bulk from Azure Standard so it’s inexpensive. I have used as little as 1 1/2 cup of almonds and 1/2 cup of coconut with good results. I don’t know what it would be like without the coconut at all, I suspect it would not be as good. If you find out anything new please post and let us know! thanks…
I have all of these ingredients on hand and it may be a week or so until I’ll be able to get more raw milk! Thank you. I’m so excited about your adventure, as I’m less than a year into learning/applying NT myself.
Allison… that is great! I love it when I have ingredients on hand to make something.
Please let us know how it turned out and if you ‘tweak’ the recipe in any way so that we can all learn…
Is it worth saving the almond-coconut meal or has all the nutrients been drained out? I’m thinking maybe for cereal or even dried in the oven to make crispy nuts.
Also, I found that I had to do this in two batches because the quart of water was a bit much for my 12-cup food processor and it made a nice little mess. : )
I did it in my blender and it turned out great. This recipe is a keeper for me! In the past I’ve made non-NT almond milk, sweetened w/ honey. It tasted more like the milk left from Honey Nut Cheerios. I tried (1/4c.) sucanant this time and it was more neutral, enjoyed by most! I wonder about the nutrition of the meal as well but save it to throw in granola bars. I figure it at least still has fiber!
Dh is a former soy-milk drinker and is thrilled to have a yummy non-dairy alternative now.
I just tried it with a little blackstrap molasses for sweetener and it’s DELICIOUS!
Allison & joli… so great that the almond milk turned out good! I like the idea of putting the leftover meal in granola bars. I kept mine for a week and couldn’t figure out what to do with it, and then threw it out.
Now I am kicking myself. I could have at least put it on the compost pile! I like sweetening the milk with the maple syrup, but not too much, just a touch. Joli, how much molasses did you put in per quart?
I didn’t measure it but I’m guessing maybe a couple teaspoons? It definitely changes the flavor but if you like molasses you’ll like this. It also changes to a creamy coffee color.
I just found your blog today and I’m so glad I did! You are one brave woman. I have made soaked almond milk before but never with the coconut. I’ll have to try it as it sounds like I might taste richer. Have you used this at all in coffee? Does it taste coconutty?
I have used this in coffee, it’s of course more watery than cream or half/half, and tastes slightly of coconut. But it’s not a very strong coconut flavor, if I remember right. The ‘milk’ tastes pretty light when you compare it to whole cow’s milk (which is more of a snack in a glass yum yum). The coconut does make the milk richer though and much better (and more nutrition) than plain almond. thanks for your comment…!
Hi,
I made this & lacto-fermented it: have you tried it that way? This is my 1st time eating anything lacto-fermented, wow it has quite a “twang”! It’s too sour for me to drink straight- except maybe a tablespoon of it. Since LF foods are supposed to be good for you, I’m taking it “medicinally”- a little bit in our smoothies. I’ll probably blog about it this week & link back here. To use it as a beverage, I’ll stick to the non-LF form of it
Hi Lisa… yep I have tried it lacto-fermented. It was a bit sour like good kefir or thinned yogurt would be though, not overly sour. It must have been because my kitchen was cold or something. Great idea to use it in a smoothie though! And that would be great to have a link back from your post, thank you! Yeah the non-LF form of it should be good… I mean we can get LF from so many other foods. The LF would only be to make it last longer in the fridge. But then why? This milk always seems to disappear in my house anyway!
I tried this a couple days ago (yes I already had all the ingredients) and it has turned out VERY good! Surprisingly good (though I am not sure why I am so surprised!) I guess because the Almond Breeze, even the chocolate flavor, was kind of thin, and this is rich and creamy (I did the two batches in my VitaMix and combined them). I did add the chocolate, and some stevia for sweetening. And I saved the dry crumbles of almond and coconut and put them in the freezer for now. Not about to throw out THAT good stuff! Just not sure what I am going to make with it just yet. Pancakes. Yes, I’ll make pancakes!
All this talk of granola bars, anyone found a food recipe. I make a soaked oatmeal granola that my kids have grown to like but it would be great to hve a granola bar for traveling (summer outings and all). Thanks. So enjoying the blog. Made the gingerale and now planning on making this.
There is a good one in NT that I hope to do soon… With coconut… stay tuned! I’m also going to make the granola out of Sally’s Eat Fat Lose Fat book.
Hi, I just tried your recipe in my Vitamix, but I wonder if I blended it too long, or if the Vitamix is too powerful and blended it too fine? The almond/coconut mush from the first batch is not separating, and when I finally put it in a cheesecloth over a colander, it is dripping tiny amounts of “milk” but is still mostly a thick mush. Anyone else have trouble with that? How long do you usually have to strain/drip the first batch to get all the milk?
Thanks!
Charity