One thing that is pretty much always in my refrigerator is almond milk. I love the nuttiness of the plain and vanilla flavors. And the chocolate almond milk? There’s just nothing like it in a tall glass of iced coffee.

And even though I love making many things from scratch, it just never occurred to me to make homemade almond milk until I saw Jennifer’s recipe here on Tasty Kitchen!

It also never occurred to me how simple it is to make it. Literally all you need is almonds and filtered water, along with any flavorings you’d like. In this case, I tried vanilla and a bit of honey.

The main thing is to soak the almonds in water for up to 6 hours, which will soften them and make it easier to extract the flavor from them once they are blended.

But since I’m not a very good planner, I only soaked them for an hour and the recipe still worked very well.

One other option is to use blanched almonds without skins for a very pure color. But hey, I don’t mind beige almond milk myself.

Once your almonds have soaked, combine them along with filtered water in a blender and give them a whirl for a few minutes.

A nice head of foam will start to form and that’s when you can stop and add the flavorings.

I added some honey from my bees here. But you could try stevia or maple syrup or leave it plain too.

Then I added vanilla. Once again, you could skip this or add cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, cinnamon, and so many other things.

Blend these ingredients together for another 30 seconds and then get ready for the filtering process.

Cut a swatch of cheesecloth and layer it into about four layers. Give it a rinse under cold water and squeeze out the excess. Then drape it over the mouth of a pitcher or Mason jar. If you want to help yourself out you can secure it with a rubber band. Pour in the liquid a little at a time, pressing the excess ground almond that gathers as you go.

It will help to scoop away some of the ground almond if it builds up too much.

Your contraption will look something like this. Keep adding until you’ve pressed in all of the liquid.

And there you will have homemade almond milk!

Thanks so much to Jennifer’s for this great recipe! I’ll never have to buy it again.

Printable Recipe

Homemade Almond Milk

by Jennifer on October 7, 2011 in Drinks, Non-Alcoholic October 7, 2011 DrinksNon-Alcoholic

4.00 Mitt(s) 2 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: -

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 6

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Almond milk is so easy to make, and so sweet. It’s a beautiful addition to cereal or your morning coffee.

For this recipe, you need cheesecloth, a big pitcher, and a blender.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Almonds, Unsalted (preferably Without Skin On)
• 4 cups Cold, Filtered Water
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• Optional Add-ins (a Few Are Listed Below) As Desired

Preparation Instructions

1. Soak the raw almonds covered in water for at least 6 hours, and then drain them.
2. Pour the almonds into a blender and add the cold filtered water.
3. Blend well. When you see a froth on the top, stop blending.
4. Add the vanilla and honey.
5. Blend again for another 20-30 seconds.
6. Take the cheesecloth, and fold to ensure it is at least 4 layers thick.
7. Put the cheesecloth on the top of the pitcher and secure it with a big elastic band. Use your fist to push some of the cheesecloth down into the pitcher so that it is not tight on top.
8. Pour the almond mix through the cheesecloth into the pitcher.
9. Use a big spoon to help push the milk through the mass of almond and into the pitcher.

And voila, you have Almond Milk!

Once you cinch the basic recipe, you’ll be eager to try the many possible variations:

For a chocolate fix, add 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder.
For sweeter milk, throw in a 1/2 cup of dates.
For cinnamon milk, add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.
For maple flavour, add 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup.
For a sugar-free option, eliminate the honey and add Stevia to taste.

 
 
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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful books Girl Hunter and Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

 
I’m the kind of person who really likes to snack. I’m talking about a handful of something fabulous every 30 minutes or so. I keep telling myself it’s because I get grumpy if I don’t eat, but really, I just like snacking. There’s nothing wrong with that right?

Granola is one of those snacks that I always have on hand. This recipe is hands down my all-time favorite granola recipe. The coconut seriously takes it to the next level and the occasional bite that contains a piece of dark chocolate is enough to make anyone come crawling back for more.

Here’s the step by step.

First we are going to start with a big bowl of oats.

Chop up some raw cashews into rough pieces and throw them into the bowl of oats.

Chop up some almonds too, and add them into the mix.

Next comes the shredded coconut. If you happen to throw in an extra ½ cup, no need to worry! The more the better.

Next, add a pinch of salt. This will make all the flavors come alive when it’s time to eat!

After the salt, we are going to add some cinnamon. (Doesn’t it look pretty?) Once the cinnamon has been added, go ahead and give it a quick stir with a fork and set it aside.

In a medium-sized sauce pan melt the butter.

Once the butter starts to melt, add the brown sugar and mix it around.

 
 
 

Drizzle in your agave nectar. You could easily use honey, too. Whatever you have on hand. Once you’ve added the honey, give the mixture a good stir and continue to cook over medium heat until the brown sugar dissolve. Once it’s dissolved, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the vanilla while giving it a whisk.

Pour the sugar and butter mixture over the bowl of oats and nuts.

Using a spoon, stir everything together, making sure to try and coat each piece of the oat mixture.

Place the mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and spread out with a fork. Leave little parts in clumps to vary the texture.

Place the mixture into a 325ºF oven and let it bake for 15 minutes. Remove it from the oven and give it a little mix with a fork. This is going to make sure that everything is baking evenly. Go ahead and place it back into the oven.

After another 15 minutes, remove the granola from the oven and give it another stir, making sure to leave some big clumps intact. Place it back into the oven and let it bake for another 10 minutes.

Once it’s baked for the full 40 minutes, remove the granola and let it completely cool. Once it’s cooled, toss in the dried cranberries and dark chocolate chips.

And then go put some into a big bowl, because you’re for sure going to want seconds or thirds.

And there you have it, a recipe for Coconut Granola with lots of fabulous mix-ins that you’ll love. I love this recipe so much, all my friends can expect to get a cute little jar of this as part of their gift this holiday season. And then of course, I’ll make a huge batch as a gift to myself!

Printable Recipe

Coconut Granola

by whatsgabycooking on November 6, 2011 in Appetizers, Snacks November 6, 2011 AppetizersSnacks

5.00 Mitt(s) 13 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 40 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 10

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Hands down the best granola ever!

Ingredients

• 3 cups Old Fashion Oats
• ¾ cups Raw Cashews, Roughly Chopped
• ¾ cups Almond, Roughly Chopped
• 1 cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter
• ¼ cups Agave Nectar (or Honey)
• ⅔ cups Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• ½ cups Dark Chocolate Chips
• ½ cups Dried Cranberries

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, cashews, almonds, coconut, salt and cinnamon and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, agave and brown sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Pour the butter mixture over the oat mixture and stir to combine until everything is well coated.

Spread the granola mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving a few large clumps.

Bake the granola for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and break up the pieces to ensure even baking. Place the baking sheet back into the oven for another 15 minutes.

Remove the sheet pan from the oven and give it one more toss to break up some of the pieces and place back into the oven for the last 10 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let it cool completely. Once cooled, add the chocolate chips and the dried cranberries. Give it a quick toss with a spoon and then package into mason jars or brown paper bags to store.

 
 
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Gaby Dalkin is the young lady behind What’s Gaby Cooking, a food blog that’s bursting at the seams with incredible recipes and food photography. She’s a personal chef and professional recipe developer, and if you follow her on Twitter, you’ll soon discover her two-fold obsession: guacamole and cheese. She has small feet, a large heart, and a smile that can light up the whole building. We’re pretty stoked to have her here.

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