Basic Nut + Seed Milk Recipe

November 11, 2008

Have you tried making nut or seeds milk? If not, you are in for a delicious and healthy treat.

Homemade nut and seed milk is easy to make, high in many beneficial vitamins and minerals, is great for those with lactose intolerance, and those who simply prefer a non-dairy alternative.

Making milk from nuts and seeds is a simple process requiring organic raw nuts and seeds, good quality filtered water, a high-speed blender or at least a good quality one, and a nut bag or fine mesh strainer.

Choosing From The Varieties

Raw almonds (which I used to make the milk seen in the photo above) are a popular choice for making nut milk, but don’t count out the other varieties of nuts and seeds. Some of these choices might be more popular than others, depending on what you like and how you plan to use it. Personal preference aside, any of these options will make delicious and nutritious milk.

Nuts: Almonds, Cashews, Brazil nuts, Hazelnuts or Filberts, Macadamia, Peanuts, Pecans, Pistachios, Walnuts

Seeds: Hemp seeds, Sunflower seeds, Flaxseeds [linseed] , Pumpkin seeds, Sesame seeds, Pine nuts

Flavor and Consistency

When choosing which nut or seed to use to make milk, keep in mind that each yields its own distinct flavor. Also note that the milks consistency will vary depending on the type of nut or seed and the amount of water used.

Rinsing – Soaking – Sprouting

Rinsing the nuts and seeds well before use is an important step to removing any dirt and debris, you don’t want that stuff in your drink.

Soaking and sprouting the nuts/seeds is important to the raw foodiest. Why?

All nuts and seeds naturally contain enzyme inhibitors, which are acidic to the body. Soaking nuts and seeds before use stimulates the process of germination, increases its vitamin content, and neutralizes those enzyme inhibitors that can neutralize our own precious enzymes in the digestive tract.

If you don’t already soak and sprout your nuts and seeds, this is something you might want to consider.

It’s A Matter Of Taste

There are easy and fun ways to enhance the flavor of nut and seed milk and the options and combination of options are many. Here are some suggested seasoning and flavor options to suit your taste.

Pinch of sea salt

Organic vanilla bean or extract

Natural sweeteners: agave, dates, lucuma

Fruits: bananas, strawberries,

Nutritional and flavorful powders

Raw carob powder or cacao nib or powder

These are just some ideas of how you can give your milk added flavor and turn it into something extraordinary and delicious.

Basic Nut Milk Recipe

This drink is great serve as a fresh glass of milk, with or without flavor enhancement, or use it as an ingredient to make a delicious smoothie, or dessert, like ice cream.

1 cup nut or seeds, rinse, sprouted, skin removed (if applicable)
2 cups filtered water

Blend the nuts/seeds and water in a high-speed blender until liquefied and smooth. Pour the milk through a nut bag or through a large fine mesh sieve over a large bowl to strain out the pulp. Strain the nut milk once through a nut bag, twice through a sieve.

Yields approximately 2 ½ cups

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Comments

4 Comments so far

Shernell Cooke on November 12, 2008 Wednesday, 12:57 pm
Great nutmilk ideas ! I love a combination of raw cashews,raw chocolate and one frozen banana. Also a slamin raw smoothie that I love is made with sunflower seeds,raw honey and a banana. I think this is a great post.Sometimes reviewing the basics of a raw diet is helpful because we sometimes forget that easy recipes are sometimes the best ones ! Go Ingrid !

Thanks Shernell! – Sunflower milk is great to used in smoothies and drinks. Yum!
Judy on November 13, 2008 Thursday, 7:18 pm
I’ve never made milk from nuts or seeds. I’ll have to be bold and try it.
Mia Elias on November 30, 2008 Sunday, 8:48 am
I am just getting into raw foods, and I love it! While you highly suggest soaking and sprouting the nuts first, what is the best way to do this, and how long? Thanks for all the great information!

Hi Mia – Welcome and congratulations on getting started with raw foods!

The best way to sprout nuts or seeds is to soak them. Take almonds for example. It is a good idea to soak them not only to stimulate the process of germination, but to remove enzyme inhibitors and any bitter flavors.

Soak the almonds, then drain and rinse them. I add an extra step to this process by rinsing my almonds first, then soak-drain-rinse.

Here is a time range guide for soaking nuts and seeds. Soak + or – the time suggested according to your personal preference.

Almonds 8 – 12 hours
Brazil nuts 1 – 2 hours
Cashews 1 – 2 hours
Hazelnuts or Filberts 6 – 12 hours
Macadamias Not recommended
Peanuts 6 – 12 hours
Pecans 1 – 2 hours
Pine nuts Not recommended
Pistachios 6 – 12 hours
Walnuts 1 – 2 hours
Flax seeds 1 – 8 hours
Pumpkin seeds [hulled] 4 – 6 hours
Sesame seeds 4 – 6 hours
Sunflower seeds [hulled] 4 – 6 hours

Always use filtered water for soaking nuts and seeds.
Karena Thurston on March 28, 2009 Saturday, 11:35 am
I stumbled across your blog yesterday and I just LOVE it. I have to admit I’ve never been into following food dogmas, though I did go gluten-free for about a year. Lately I have been wanting to find easy ways to incorporate more leafy greens & fresh veggies into my diet in some way other than making salads and spending so much time coming up with dishes to put them in and then having to cook. Juice is my answer at the moment. I just stocked up on fresh produce, but after seeing this nut milk recipe I immediately hit the kitchen to whip up some almond milk. What a great idea!! I always buy nuts and then get sick of eating them after the first few days – what a great way to consume large quantities in one sitting! I don’t drink cow’s milk so this is a wonderful fresh alternative. Thank you for all you share!

Karena – Thank you for your lovely comment and congratulations on going gluten-free last year. You sure are on the right track! Green juice and/or smoothies is are easy, excellent ways to incorporate more leafy green vegetables into you daily diet.

I don’t drink cow’s milk either, haven’t since I was a kid. I use to drink soy milk but stopped and now it’s nut milk when I feel like a milky drink or to use in recipes. You can make nut and seed milks. Be open to experimentation, each nut/seed has a different taste characteristic and you may discover you prefer one over the other. You’ll find your favorite(s). Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will visit often.

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