Vanilla Almond Milk

When you grow up with people in your family who are lactose intolerant, I feel like you learn alternatives to dairy quickly. Most people know of Lactaid which was definitely the go to option in my house growing up back in the day, but as the food industry has evolved, so have the options for people whose tummies aren’t friends with diary products.

So I feel like when almond milk became a “thing”, my house was one of the first houses on the block to know about it. I’ve always loved almond milk. It’s such a good option to have instead of dairy and my oh my how the flavors have changed since almond milk first became a big thing on the market.

Naturally I would want to figure out a way to make my own almond milk. Not just to have control over the ingredients that are going into the milk but also to save on the cost. The only thing I could never figure out was how I would make straining the almonds efficient. And trust me, the first time I did this, it was not efficient and it was super messy and I got super frustrated by the whole situation.

But then my friend introduced me to this thing called a Nut Milk Bag. Total game changer. I started with good old almond milk and then tried to make lavender almond milk, but have settled on vanilla almond milk. It’s way easier to make than you think, the key really is making sure that you don’t over soak the almonds because they can go rancid if they sit in the water for too long!

Vanilla Almond Milk

2 cups raw, unsalted almonds

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Filtered water

Grab a big bowl and put your almonds in it. Cover the almonds completely with filtered water, cover the bowl and let it sit overnight on your kitchen counter. The next day, drain the water, put the almonds in your food processor or blender, add in your vanilla extract and then cover your almonds again with fresh water. The more water the better so the milk have can more of a milky consistency.

Blend until the almonds are processed completely, grab your almond milk bag and the container you’re going to store the milk in, and strain the almonds through the almond milk bag into the container. Store in fridge for 5 days! Enjoy!