Making almond milk at home is super easy. The total amount of work involved is less than 10 minutes and the benefits of homemade almond are numerous. For one, you get to control what goes into the almond milk. You control the sweetness and flavoring. And there are no chemical additives in home made almond milk. All thats in it are almonds and water and whatever flavoring you choose to add. Pure and simple.
I like adding Indian flavors like cardamom when I make almond milk at home. It reminds me of the traditional badam kheer – which is a heavy smoothie of milk, almonds, cardamom and saffron. In this recipe, I’ve lightly sweetened the almond milk with dates. You can leave it out for unsweeted almond milk or add sugar instead of the dates.
If you have a Vitamix, its the best way to make almond milk at home. It blends the soaked almond into a creamy puree in no time. If you don’t have a Vitamix, use whatever powerful blender you have. Or enter the Vitamix giveaway below for a chance to win this awesome blender!
When you are done making the almond milk, you will have almond meal as a by product. Don’t throw it away. Its good stuff! I save the almond meal in a zip lock bag or tupperwear and add a little to my breakfast smoothies. Others like to dehydrate the almond meal, and freeze it for use in cookies etc.
Home made almond milk will keep in the fridge for about 5 days.
Homemade Date Cardamom Almond Milk Recipe
Makes about 4 cups
Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
1-2 cardamom pods
4-6 seeded dates
4 saffron strands. Optional
Method
1.Soak the almonds in plenty of water over night, about 8 hours.
2. Drain the soaked almonds, and put them into a blender (I used my Vitamix), along with 3 cups of water. Add the cardamom and dates to the blender.
3. Blend on medium-high speed till all the almonds are well blended into a homogenous puree, about 2 minutes.
4. Line a fine mesh strainer with two layers of cheese cloth. Place a bowl under the strainer. Pour the pureed almonds into the strainer, gather up the cheese cloth into a ball, and gently squeeze till all the almond milk comes out.
5. This first extract of almond will be thick. Add more water to it to dilute it to your preferred consistency.
6. If you wish, you can make a second extract – scoop the almond meal in the strainer and put it back in the blender. Pour 1-2 cups water and blend. Strain the second extract of almond milk through the strainer. This extract will be thinner. You could also use this thinner second extract to dilute the thicker first extract.
7. Sprinkle saffron strands, if using, on top of the almond milk.
8. Home made almond milk will keep in the fridge, in an air tight container for about 5 days.
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I would make a smoothie.
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Not very original, but nothing beats fresh almond milk in a blender.
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Thank you for the giveaway !
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I can’t wait to make a green smoothie! My regular blender just doesn’t do a proper job of pulverizing the greens – and no one wants spinach chunks in their smoothie!
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I have always wanted a Vitamix. I’m going to make that homemade almond milk ASAP!!!! I adore cardamom, it is an amazing and under appreciated spice.
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Well, that recipe looks delicious – I think I’d try that. And also all kinds of smoothies!
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I would make almond butter first.
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I would make a smoothie
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I would make a green smoothie and then everything else!!
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I heard that the Vitamix will grind grains/nuts. I want to use that feature to grind nuts to put in smoothies or on oatmeal.
mpwhelanpeng2000 (at) yahoo (dot) com
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I would make almond milk.
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This almond milk sounds delicious! Since my blender is non it’s last legs, I would love to win the Vitamix!!!
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I’ve been wanting one of these bad boys for way too long now! Oh, and your almond milk, it looks so creamy, unreal! Makes me want to take a great big sip and get a nice milk mustache on my face!
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Why not start with this awesome Veggie Belly almond milk recipe? Sounds perfect.
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Sala, you have an awesome blog going! I love the photography too. Gives a whole new meaning and dimension to food. Your blog is extremely well articulated and presented. Keep up the good work and of course, your infectious enthusiasm!
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Can the Vitamix be used as a juicer? To make say carrot juice or celery juice? If so, it would hugely benefit the 3 senior citizens and one octogenarian in my family!!!!
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The first recipe I would try is a cashew cream. I’ve never been able to get it smooth enough with a food processor, but I know a VitaMix can do the job!
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I would make a green smoothie for me and my husband right away
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We make smoothies twice a day, everyday! A Vitamix beats a Ninja any day of the week.
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The flavors in this look amazing! Would love to try this!
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I would make the Almond milk first.
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smoothies would be the first stuff i would make…
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I’d make almond butter.
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A smoothie!!
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I would have my boyfriend make hummus! We can tweak it exactly to our liking. Light years better than from the store!
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I would make cashew milk in addition to almond milk.
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I’d make almond milk – my current blender simply isn’t up to that task.
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I would use the vitamix to make yummy food for my 7 month old daughter ! And lots of green smoothies…..and idlis, dosas, etc.
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Sala,
thanks for the opportunity to win a Vitamix!
Definitely THIS recipe would be the first thing I’d make. I had no idea it was so easy to make your own almond milk! And I love the addition of cardamom. Such a complex and delicious flavor.
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I would make green smoothies with lots of fruits and veggies.
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A definite dessert alternative to satisfy that sweet tooth!
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Awesome!
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For me it would be Chikoo Smoothie!
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I’d do a side by side comparison of cashew cream made in the vitamix versus my old blender.
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My family and I love smoothies!
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Ohh, how I’ve wanted a Vitamix for so long! This recipe for homemade date cardamom almond milk looks like a perfect way to break in a new blender. I’d also attempt to make soups and smoothies!
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I would definitely make soups first!
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Green smoothies, homemade ice creams and so on..
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If I win this giveaway, I would make raw desserts!!
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Ofcourse, “Homemade Date Cardamom Almond Milk”!!!!
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Ofcourse, dates, cardamom & almond milk!!
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I would make a pureed soup!
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Nut milk or nut cheese, probably. Thanks for doing the giveaway!
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Love this recipe..didn’t know it was this easy to make it. I would love to make this and other south indian coconut gravies..
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Hi there,
This looks great. Any ideas how many grams in a cup? Am not very familiar with cup proportions as we tend to use grams here in the UK. I would love to try making it. Pity the competition does not include UK entries ;o( maybe another time. Best Torie
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I would really love to try this almond milk recipe if I had a Vitamix !!!! It looks delicious
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I would LOVE to win this Vitamix! So great that you are giving away a Vitamix! They are AMAZING for breaking down the cell walls of food so you can absorb the nutrients. Great contest!
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OMG your fridge is SOOOO neat. I am such a packrat! My fridge is a mess!!!
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I would love a Vitamix! The first things I would make would be nut milks and nut flours!
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I would make almond milk
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mmm First thing out of the Vitamix (if I won!) would be this almond milk. I do use my food processor but keep wondering if I would get less texture / more creamy milk if I had a souped-up blender. I love love cardamom and I’m going to use that next time instead of the usual vanilla + cinnamon.
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I would make smoothies and salad dressing and banana ice cream!
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A vitamix has been on my wish list forever.
If I am lucky enough to win I would start making all my baby food.
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Thanks! I would love to try this!
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I’m going to make an awesome breakfast smoothie!
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I would love to have this to make my own coconut butter
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The First thing i would make if I one would be a Coconut, Pineapple Banana Smoothie. Then Pumpkin soup. The Almond milk recipe looks pretty fabulous too! Thanks for the opportunity fingers and toes crossed!
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I would make hummus and smoothies!!:)
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I have wanted a Vitamix for the longest time and Would definitely make Almond milk first
Thank you for the giveaway
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I have wanted a Vitamix for the longest time, will surely make Almond milk first.
Thank you for the giveaway !:-)
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I’d use the Vitamix for hummus, gazpacho, smoothies…
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I would make a green smoothie. Mine are not so smooth in a Magic Bullet. Thank you for the chance
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J’adore les laits de noix, avec un vitamix c’est ce que je ferais en premier.
Merci!
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I would make all kinds of soup!
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The first thing I would make is a green smoothie
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Soup, soup and more soup!
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love to try milk and banana shack
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I always love to make and try healthy recipe and this one is my favorite
Lemon+Kale+Spinach+Apples and Celery
it is nice and healthy and good for weight loss
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I would love it to make smoothies and margaritas
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Mmm, this looks amazing! I love making soup purrees in my blender, but with a Vitamix my first recipe would be a raw, zucchini/tahini salad dressing that my regular blender can’t quite handle
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An awesome green smoothie!! thanks so much for this incredible giveaway!
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We make smoothies almost daily in our house. I know we’d use it to get really nice silky smoothies regularly!
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I’d make smoothies!
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I would make nut butters! First, almond and then pistachio.
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I would make smoothies for my kids. I bet a Vitamix makes the smoothest smoothies ever.
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i would make smoothies with rasberries and banana
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The first thing I would make is a strawberry and banana smoothie.
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I will make hot soup!
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I will make fresh sambar paste!
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The first thing I would make is an Orange Cream Smoothie
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thanks!
I love to try cocktail carrot with orange may be add some lemon !
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avocado milkshake just amazing
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Avocado Smoothie
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I don’t have a vitamin, but I would totally use it to make dosa batter!
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Preethi Reply:
March 11th, 2014 at 4:06 pm
I meant vitamin!
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Preethi Reply:
March 11th, 2014 at 4:06 pm
Autocorrect is the bane of my existence :/
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The first thing I’d make is Kenji’s vegan nacho sauce! (Or should I pretend that it’ll be an awesome green smoothie?)
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The first thing that I would make is dosa batter!
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I would love to make the rice & coconut crepes~
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I make all kinds of smoothies
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I think the first thing I would make is dosa batter!
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Over weight & getting inspired by trying a blending diet. Vitamix is so expensive so thanks for this chance to win & get healthier. The first thing I would try is some vegetables. I don’t eat enough daily & hope a blender mix with vegetables will be terrific
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Looks so good
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I’d make your neer dosa recipe! Thanks for your blog!
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I love Watermelon
so will try to make any cocktail the most important thing it’s include Watermelon
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The first thing I’d made is a strawberry blueberry smoothie
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I would make a green smoothie.
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Strawberry and Milk Shakes
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I would make a banana berry smoothie.
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Would love to win this! Crossing my fingers!
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I heard the dosa batter turns out really good in Vitamix.. I will try to make the batter:)
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thank you
my fav. is Banana and peanut butter
it taste like milkshake but it’s different it’s more yummy !!
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