How to Make Nut Milk with Vitamix (Cashew & Almond Milk)

HOMEMADE VEGAN NUT MILK WITH ALMONDS AND CASHEWS

Drinks, Milk, Recipes | January 14, 2017 | By

Are you disgusted with how flat most nut milk tastes? Me too! Rebel against flavorless store-bought vegan milks by making your own! With only 5 ingredients, you can’t go wrong with this easy-peasy recipe! This vegan milk also foams like cow’s milk, perfect for latte art!

homemade nut milk ingredients

If you hadn’t noticed:
The plant-milk market is huge.

Sometimes I catch myself staring, eyes glossed over, at the 8 feet of non-dairy milks at the store.

We vegans now have soy, almond, coconut, hemp, cashew, flax, sunflower, and even pea milks to choose from!
(My boyfriend Cameron thought I said “pee” milk when I told him.. No! Pea with an “A”!)

With hundreds of options, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. One way to simplify the decision? Make your nut milk at home!

Furthermore, if you buy bulk nuts on sale, homemade vegan milk is usually cheaper! If that’s not a reason to hop on the DIY nut milk train, I don’t know what is! 😉

Even more importantly, our household was blessed with an espresso machine this christmas (*internal screaming*!).

Squeezing out homemade nut milk made from cashews and almonds!

Homemade Nut Milk: The Secret Vegan Baristas Have Been Hiding

After Cameron and I started playing with our new espresso machine, we quickly noticed how horribly plant-based milks foam. Apparently cow’s milk is the “holy grail” of latte art, but it’s effing nasty!

After hours of research (plus some trial & error..), I discovered a little known barista secret:

Homemade nut milks foam and “stretch” (fancy barista term I learned) like cow’s milk!

No, seriously! Store-bought nut milks perform horribly, but homemade produces a beautiful amount of micro-bubbles! (What the milk needs for beautiful art).

Not only does foaming help with appearance, but it also brings out the natural sweetness of drinks. It’s awesome because you can avoid adding extra sweetener to drinks!

We’ve honestly used the steam wand of our espresso machine more than the coffee part! The reason? We love adding frothy milk to our favorite teas (especially matcha!).

Poured homemade vegan nut milk made from cashews and almonds

Barista or Not, You Can’t Beat This Vegan Milk Recipe!

Obviously, this milk does more than get foamed for lattes!

We have made three batches of this nut milk within a week.. it’s that good! Cameron puts it in smoothies, I’ve been baking with it, and we’ve used the nut pulp to make dog treats for Athena! Talk about no-waste! Also, you save on all the cardboard and plastic usually associated with the store-bought version.. Yay!

Lastly, I am a huge fan of blending cashews with almonds! 100% almond tends to be overwhelming on flavor.. I still want to taste my drink! The cashews help buffer the flavor, all while adding an intense amount of creaminess to the vegan milk!

Homemade Nut Milk (Cashew and Almond)

Are you disgusted with how flat most nut milk tastes? Me too! Rebel against flavorless store-bought vegan milks by making your own! You really can’t go wrong with this easy-peasy recipe! This vegan milk also foams like cow’s milk, perfect for latte art!
Prep Time4 hours
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time4 hours 10 minutes
Course: Nut Milk
Cuisine: Vegan
Author: Nick @ ServingRealness.com

Ingredients

  • 2 cups raw almonds
  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • 6 cups filtered water
  • 1 big pinch of salt
  • 1 vanilla bean pod or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)

Instructions

  • Soak your nuts for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight
  • Rinse and drain
  • Transfer to large, high-speed blender (Vitamix, for the win!)
  • Add the water, salt, and optional vanilla
  • Turn on high and blend until completely smooth
  • I let mine run for up to 5 minutes, as adding a touch of heat helps prevent separation. Feel free to stop yours as soon as it's smooth
  • Pour into nut milk bag, over a large bowl to catch milk
    nut milk bag
  • catching dripping milk from homemade nut milk recipe
  • Tie or twist the end of the bag, and SQUEEZE
  • Keep going until the nut pulp starts to feel dry, and isn't releasing any more liquid
  • Transfer milk to sealable container
  • Keep in fridge for up to two weeks

For Nut Pulp

  • Don't throw away the remnants! The nut pulp works wonderfully in baking (I especially love making dog treats with it!)
  • To dry, bake on the lowest temperature possible for a couple of hours, turning every 30 minutes or so
    nut milk pulp leftover from making homemade vegan almond cashew milk
  • Mine clumped up a little too much, so once it was dry I used a cheap coffee grinder to make a flour
  • Store in a sealed container

Notes

Keep refrigerated (duh!). Nut milk will last anywhere from 1-2 weeks. Some separation is normal, shake it up before serving!

This homemade nut milk goes especially well with my chocolate mint scones from last week (to no surprise!).  😉
Chocolate mint scone with homemade nut milk, match made in vegan heaven!
Get the recipe for those here!

2 Comments

  1. Jennifer Atkins

    March 1, 2018 at 8:07 pm

    Have you ever tried making it from bulk Almond meal? I don’t even soak it overnight. Any tips on making it taste more like the store bought for my hubbie? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Nick Abell

      March 2, 2018 at 12:35 pm

      That sounds intriguing, I’m gonna have to give it a try! Unfortunately, I don’t have any tips to make it taste more like store-bought (I much prefer the taste of homemade! 😉)

      Reply

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