DIY Nut Mylk

Making nut milk or 'mylk' is very easy and rewarding! You can choose any nut or seed of your preference, adjust your milk to how creamy or sweet you like. The taste of fresh nut mylk is far more delicious than any store bought I have ever tried!

Provided below is a list to show some of the many possible nuts to use and how long to soak each. Once nuts are softened by soaking they are blended with water to make milk, the milk is strained through a nut milk bag to remove the pulp (the skin and fibre from the nuts) Easy as that!

I am partial to cashews to make milk because it is extra creamy and has a naturally sweeter or less bitter flavour than other nuts. Also because cashews are softer the soak time is short and I don't have to strain the milk out of the pulp, I simply soak the nuts long enough and blend them into the milk. If I get to the end of my nut milk, there may be some thicker sediments at the bottom which I just add into my smoothie and it makes it extra creamy! 

I also really love the taste of walnut or hazelnut milks! But you can create milk from almost any nut or seed so get experimenting!

Compared to buying commercially made plant based milks
Making your own nut milk tastes amazing, its creamy and fresh and full of flavour!
It is more cost effective than some over priced store bought varieties
It is less wasteful if you can reuse the pulp and not taking home cartons or plastic bottles you will then have to recycle
You can ensure the quality of the nuts used
You can control the other ingredients added to your milk

Many almond milks and other nut milks contain thickeners and stabilizers, refined sugars (organic cane sugar), carrageenan(a carcinogen) all of which have their adverse effects to health, and these are just simply not necessary!

I do enjoy almond milk but I stray from using a ton of almonds as the amount of water required to grow them is huge, its actually crazy. I do try to consider sustainability of the planet with my food choices as much as possible. 

I also avoid soy mainly due to its hormonal effects

To the Nut Mylk Making..

It is very important to make sure to use fresh, raw, unsalted nuts. Organic if possible.

Nuts and Seeds you could use and their suggested soak time: 
Cashew 4  hours
Almond 8-12  hours
Hazelnut 8  hours
Walnut 4  hours
Pecan 4-6  hours
Macadamia 8 hours
Brazil 8-12 hours
Pumpkin seed 8 hours
Hemp seed 4 hours
Sesame seed 6 hours
- soaking is required for the nuts to blend easily into a creamy milk, for simplicity feel free to just soak your nuts/seeds over night and don't worry about the hours

Optional Sweeteners:
1-2 pitted medjool dates, 1 tsp maple syrup, 1 tsp raw honey
or a few drops of stevia or monk fruit extract for a zero sugar sweetener

Recommended but Optional Additions: 
a pinch of sea salt and a pinch of vanilla bean powder or 1/2 tsp vanilla bean extract

Other fun Additions to try:
1 tsp fresh or ground turmeric
2 tsp matcha powder
1 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tsp maca poweder

My go to is a simple cashew milk with a date, sea salt and vanilla bean. 
I like to use 1 cup of nuts to 3-4 cups of water for a 1 quart bottle of mylk.  
I definitely recommend adding a pinch of sea salt to balance the flavours, and a pinch of vanilla bean powder for a soft vanilla taste.
I may use a date or a tsp of maple syrup but sometimes I don't use any sweetener with cashews as I already find them quite sweet.
This ratio of nuts to water is perfect in my opinion for smoothies and coffee. 

Feel free to reduce the water for more of a creamer consistency or add more water for a thinner or larger amount of milk.
It may be best to use less than you think as you can always add more at the very end. 

If using hemp seeds you may only need 1/2 cup of seeds per 3-4 cups of water

Note: hemp seeds and cashews do not require straining out the pulp as they do not have a tough outer shell.

How to: 
1. Chose your nut or seed and soak 1 cup of nuts and your 3 cups of fresh cold water for the suggested minimum time or over night, if you want to use a date or two for a little sweetness include this in your soaking
2. Add soaked nuts to blender with the water, an optional but recommended pinch of vanilla bean powder and a pinch of sea salt, add your sweetener and other additions if using
3. Blend until very smooth (2-6 minutes depending on your blender), give it a taste and adjust before straining, you may decide to add more water or salt etc
4. Strain your milk into a large measuring cup through a nut milk bag or cheese cloth, to separate the pulp from the milk
5. Store strained milk in a sealable glass jar or bottle for up to 5 days in your refrigerator
Enjoy your mylk on its own, in smoothies, coffees, matcha, golden milk, tea, soups etc

Make use of your leftover nut pulp if you can. 
Some options include - drying out the pulp in the oven at a low temp to use in baking as flour which may be added to cookies, breads or crackers.
Add pulp to smoothies or veggie burgers, homemade dog treats etc.

This is a bulletproof coffee made with my homemade hazelnut mylk & it was heavenly!