Chocolate Almond Milk

I love chocolate almond milk. I don’t love how much I pay to get my fix from Pressed Juicery. So, today my friend and I decided to make almond milk from scratch. I made it in two batches so that I could experiment to find the best combination of ingredients. The first batch left me feeling underwhelmed and googling the nearest juice bar. Thankfully, I figured out the right ingredients for the second batch and it turned out perfectly. Drink up!

P.S. If you’re not a chocoholic like myself and want vanilla cinnamon almond milk, this recipe works for that too!

BEST FOR– times you’re thirsty but also kinda hungry and want a sweet, healthy, & filling treat! Really good post-workout!

MUSICAL PAIRING- “American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

INGREDIENTS
(serves 4)

1 cup almonds, soaked 8-12 hours (see notes section if in a time pinch)
3 cups filtered water
3 tbs. unsweetened cacao powder (see note if can’t find this)
4 Mejool dates, pits removed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Soak the almonds in water overnight (or 8-12 hours).  See the notes section if you don’t have this amount of time. The almonds should be soaked in a bowl that allows for an additional inch of water above them. I really should have taken a before and after shot so that you can see what a difference in size and color it makes, but since I didn’t you’re just going to have to trust me that the soaking is necessary.

Once the almonds are done soaking and you’re ready to use them, simply strain them and you’re ready to start making your almond milk!

Add drained almonds to blender. Add filtered water, dates, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Blend on high for about 1 minute. There will be chunks of almond left and that’s okay.

Get a large bowl or glass (I used a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup). Pour the almond milk from blender through a nut milk bag over the glass. I would recommend pouring in half, then squeezing the bag for 30 seconds to a minute to get out the excess almond milk stuck in the pulp, then repeating with the other half. It’ll feel kinda like milking a cow (or what I imagine milking a cow feels like) and that’s totally okay.

Once you’re sure you’ve squeezed all the almond milk out of the nut milk bag, pour the almond milk from your large bowl/glass into an airtight container. I used this. Refrigerate and enjoy for 3-5 days!

NOTES

• I alluded to this earlier, but maybe you decided to make almond milk on a whim and don’t have time to soak almonds overnight. You can boil the almonds in water for 1-2 hours which does the same thing as soaking them overnight. I say apparently only because I haven’t tried this and can’t personally verify it.
  
• I also brought up the idea of cinnamon vanilla almond milk. Simply don’t add the cocoa powder but do everything else the same and you’re golden.
• Don’t have a nut milk bag or airtight container? I didn’t either but I bought this bag and this jar.
• Try this with your left over almond pulp!