Homemade Maple Almond Milk

I am a HUGE almond milk fan.  It's my favorite non-dairy milk. My husband recently sent me an article about store purchased almond milk stating "now I see why you make your own".  I do buy almond milk from time to time but once I realized how easy it was to make, how good it tasted and how much money it saved I switched to making it every week. Sure almonds (especially organic) are expensive but you can get a lot of almond milk out of 1 cup of almonds. Store purchased almond milk contains a lot of water and some ingredients you may not want and defiantly don't need. Today I am sharing my favorite recipe and tips on making it.

Homemade Maple Almond Milk
1 cup raw Almonds
5 cups filtered, cold Water
4 Dates, pitted
2 tsp pure Maple Syrup
1/4 tsp Pie Spice Blend (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves, etc)

Soak your almonds in cool, filtered water for 8 to 24hrs (you can soak for less than 8 hours but I have found this yields less milk). Add the water to your blender (I use the measurements right on the blender. Drain and rinse your almonds well.  Add the almonds and remaining ingredients to your blender. Whizz up your milk.  Blend for about 1-2 minutes for a high powered blender (like Vitamix, Ninja or Blend-tec) or 5-6 minutes for a regular blender. Line a bowl or pitcher with a nut milk bag (can be found at most grocery stores). Slowly pour the mixture into the bag. Lift up the sides of the bag and gently squeeze the milk from the almond pulp into the bowl or pitcher. This may take a few minutes. Set the pulp aside (I use mine in Granola quite often or add to other baking recipes).

Store your milk in a glass, covered pitcher for easy pouring and to preserve it's life. Perfect for topping cereal or oatmeal, in coffee, in baked good or just a tall refreshing glass to drink.

YUM!