Make a Splash
April 9, 2010 at 3:38 pm | Posted in Baking / Cooking, Food | 59 CommentsFor all the choices available in the non-dairy milk arena today, I find it truly dismaying that there isn’t more of a focus on flavor. That’s not to say that many of these options don’t taste great, or that I don’t buy all sorts of soy, almond, oat, hemp, and rice beverages regularly. My complaint is how unadventurous most manufacturers have become, afraid of upsetting our simple and undeveloped palates, perhaps! Whereas even the mainstay, Silk, previously had offerings of a chai and mocha variety, their numerous colored cartons are now largely limited to the standard: Plain, vanilla, and chocolate. I love a good vanilla soymilk over my cereal, and I’ll take a tall glass of chocolate soymilk with my cookies any day, but after a while, these same staples just get boring.
Thirsting for something a bit more fun, a recent sale on strawberries was just the inspiration I needed. It’s hardly an original idea, but the results were just so refreshingly tasty, it seemed like a shame not to share. Not too sweet, but creamy and bursting with fresh berry flavor, it absolutely hit the spot. Best of all, it takes next to no effort, and leaves plenty of room for creative interpretation. Trust me, this is only the beginning- Imagine adding ginger or mint, or swapping out the strawberries for blueberries, or… Well, you get the picture!
Strawberry Almond Milk
1/2 Cup Raw Almonds, Soaked for 8 hours or overnight
1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds
4 Cups Cold Water
2 Cups Hulled and Sliced Fresh Strawberries
2 – 4 Tablespoons Agave Syrup
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Pinch Salt
Thoroughly rinse and drain your almonds before tossing them your blender, along with the chia seeds and water. Give it a quick pulse to combine, and then let it sit for about 10 minutes for the chia seeds to start re-hydrating. Then, turn it on to high, and allow the mixture to blend for about two minutes. Pause, add the strawberries, agave, vanilla, and salt, and blend for another two minutes, or until completely silky smooth. Strain the resulting milk through a fine mesh sieve or nut milk bag, either discard the solids or save them to bake with, and store the almond milk in an air-tight pitcher in the fridge for up to a week.
Makes about 6 Cups
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Actually, I prefer plain non-dairy milk (and, when it comes to soymilk, I want the unsweetened kind that contains nothing but soybeans and water). As for flavoured non-dairy milks… there’s just too much stuff in them and they are often too sweet. So, although I don’t agree with your general lament, I do appreciate the recipe as making my own flavoured non-dairy milk is perfectly fine with me! (Especially strawberry… never tasted a good, strawberry-flavoured non-dairy milk product!)
Comment by MG— April 9, 2010 #
I don’t even like non-dairy milk for sippin on but your post and super delish photo makes me want to make a batch right now!!!
Comment by SweetKaroline— April 9, 2010 #
Oh waouw Hannah very nice picture, i like this effect ! Yumy yumy delicious drink ♥
Comment by Veganpower— April 9, 2010 #
I love this idea! I’ve been dreaming of concocting some sort of banana Chai almond milk but had no idea how to go about it.
Amazing photograph too :)
Comment by Sarah B @ Bake + Bike— April 9, 2010 #
I LOVE strawberry milk so much! I actually made my own version a few weeks ago that was quite similar to yours, only without the chia seeds and vanilla extract. I also didn’t strain it, but it was still very tasty and refreshing. I will try your recipe soon! :)
Comment by Jessie (Vegan-minded)— April 9, 2010 #
Love that picture!!
Comment by Megan— April 9, 2010 #
I’m not non-dairy, but that sounds delicious enough that I just might make it!
Comment by Megan— April 9, 2010 #
WOW..this is such a wonderful capture.
-Sasi
Comment by sasi— April 9, 2010 #
what a nice photo! looks delicious too :)
Comment by snookydoodle— April 9, 2010 #
The flavoured soy milks here tend to have so much sugar, they don’t agree with me, so I tend to avoid trying new ones.
Comment by Fiona— April 9, 2010 #
Sounds wonderful!
Great shot too! That must have been hard! :D
Love
Comment by sydneysunray— April 9, 2010 #
Cinnamon, raspberries and maple syrup! At least in the US you have all these different varieties of “milk”. In Australia, it’s still hard to find anything beyond rice or soy milk. And one of the main companies jsut discontinued my favourite soymilk flavour, the “Soyaccino”
Oooh, maybe I should try a coffee flavoured version of this then?
P.S. That strawberry-in-milk actions shot is AMAZING.
Comment by Hannah— April 9, 2010 #
That’s a fabulous photo and the recipe sounds just excellent. I like just plain almond milk, too, but have never made my own. I will definitely have to try this.
Comment by CherylK— April 9, 2010 #
Sounds delish!
I’m curious how many “takes” it took to get that photo! It’s scrumptious!
Comment by Jain— April 9, 2010 #
I remember the Silk flavors. Those were delicious. And yeah almond milk should definitely expand upon the number of flavors that it offers. Three just aren’t doing it for me. Love that you took matters into your own hands! This looks delicious.
Comment by Joanne— April 9, 2010 #
I just recently created some delicious and easy strawberry flavored milk myself!
Mine requires: 1 3/4 cup vanilla soy or almond milk + 3 or 4 frozen strawberries. Blend in a blender until nice and smooth. Enjoy!
If you are using plain flavored soy or almond milk, just add a tablespoon of agave nectar to the mix… Turns out perfect every time!
Comment by Amy Love— April 9, 2010 #
I have been wanting to make Almond Milk for Melody. This recipe is perfect. Anything with fruit added in is a plus for me. She is so picky about food.
Comment by Oiyi— April 9, 2010 #
Yummy! You’re right, our tastebuds in this country are pretty limited with the flavors available in the mainstream.
xo
Eco Mama
Comment by Eco Mama— April 9, 2010 #
I loooove when VitaSoy has the chocolate-peppermint flavour around Christmas. So yummy! Probably a good thing for me that it’s only available for a month or so, though – I am addicted to it for the time that it’s around.
Comment by Jennifer— April 9, 2010 #
I just started drinking almond milk! I do agree that sometimes the flavors are lacking, but I generally do prefer just boring old original for cereal lol. Although now the strawberry is very very tempting…hahaha.
Comment by Sara— April 9, 2010 #
Wow, what a great idea. Can’t wait to try!
Comment by Tree— April 9, 2010 #
what an awesome photo! and that milk sounds like a delicious treat :)
Comment by Shannon— April 9, 2010 #
I never had that gross strawberry milk as a child, but all of a sudden I’m craving this!
Comment by Elinor of Pride & Vegudice— April 9, 2010 #
Yes – awesome pic Hannah! Were you able to drop the strawberry AND take the pic all @ once? Curious :-)
Comment by vegansprout— April 10, 2010 #
Lovely picture and recipe! And I just happen to have all those ingredients on hand…..
Comment by Yaelian— April 10, 2010 #
I love the splashing photo!! I have a friend who is recently diagnosed with Cron diseases (not sure if I write this correctly) and I am thinking that she might be able to have this as she cannot have diary at all. Looks delicious for sure!
Comment by Simone— April 10, 2010 #
Amazing picture!
Comment by Hannah— April 10, 2010 #
I got caught up by the organic strawberry sale. After months of apples, I am ready to break my seasonal eating thing with strawberries. My special sweet beverage is coming up on Thursday but this one looks awesome. Going to try it with frozen strawberries- a bit of a frappe if you will!
Comment by Meghan Telpner— April 10, 2010 #
What a stunning picture! This sounds perfect for summer. Mmm, strawberries!
Comment by Mihl— April 10, 2010 #
Yum!!
The other day @SilkSoyMilk sent out a tweet asking what the next flavor of their new almond milk should be… I tweeted back that it should be coffee, chai, or hazelnut! I couldn’t make up my mind because all varieties of flavored almond milk just sound so good — and now I’ve got another (homemade!) one that I want to try! Thanks for the recipe!
Comment by eatavegan— April 10, 2010 #
This sounds absolutely wonderful. Now I just need to get some chia seeds! Hannah–that first picture is STUNNING. I mean, REALLY breathtaking!
Comment by Fuji Mama— April 10, 2010 #
strawberry almond milk! how brilliant! i bet other fruits would work well, like peach! now you’ve got my wheels turning. :)
Comment by allisonmn— April 10, 2010 #
Great job with that picture!
Comment by ivorypomegranate— April 10, 2010 #
I personally am in love with So Delicious Cocunt Milk. However, this strawbery almond milk sounds qite yummy and a perfect refresher on a hot day ( I live in AZ so I always love a drink to cool me down)
Comment by Elisha Sandberg— April 10, 2010 #
Love this! Hi, I’m Sarah, the health and fitness blogger for Glamour magainze. I’m going to share this on my blog, Vitamin G, Mon morning. Hope that’s OK! I’ll send some traffic your way, and give you credit for the photo (will leave watermark in tact). Just holler if you have any qestions. Now, off to make my strawberry milk! Thanks, sarah
Comment by Sarah Jio— April 10, 2010 #
Oops–typos: *magazines AND *questions. :)
Comment by Sarah Jio— April 10, 2010 #
This sounds delicious. I love trying out the different flavored soy milk’s, but you’re right in that these companies could get a little more creative!
Comment by Food-Fitness-FreshAir— April 10, 2010 #
Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen chai soy milk. I’d be filling my fridge with that in a second.
Love your photo!!
Comment by oneordinaryday— April 10, 2010 #
wow would love to splash in too! I need it! :)
Comment by Big Boys Oven— April 11, 2010 #
wow that’s a very nice picture.. !!
Comment by sweesan— April 11, 2010 #
Just had to comment on the excellent photo! Well done! :)
Comment by Anouschka— April 11, 2010 #
Oh gosh, I got so excited because I have almost all of the ingredients to make this milk, but I realized that I don’t have any kind of sieve…but I am happy, because I’d really like to try this and almost have all the things to make it with. So I will soon ;]
I watch a whole bunch of animes and read a whole bunch of mangas, and in those things, the characters always go to a vending machine to buy strawberry milk teas or the like, so I was always intrigued…
Comment by fattydumpling— April 11, 2010 #
That sounds so good. I have been wanting to make alond milk- this just ups the anty!
Great shot!
Comment by Lori— April 11, 2010 #
Amazing picture! looks delicious too :)
Comment by Dimah— April 11, 2010 #
I love the action photo. So great!
Comment by Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen— April 11, 2010 #
Guess what? I actually do have a fine mesh sieve. So I tried this out today! I messed with the recipe a bit, since I didn’t have any chia seeds, so I went without, and I didn’t have any agave nectar, so I subbed with sugar. Next time, I will probably use something like a cheesecloth, because some sediments ended up in the drink so it went down the throat a bit dusty.
However, I really liked this drink ;] Did you smell the concoction of water and almonds before adding the rest of the ingredients? It smelled so so good.
Comment by fattydumpling— April 11, 2010 #
That sounds amazing! Just curious about the properties of chia…what do they contribute in this recipe? I recently ordered some and am going to be trying them for the first time.
Awesome job on the photo too!
Comment by Crystal— April 11, 2010 #
Oh yeah, just the thing to keep me from missing Sonic milkshakes! Love the splash that you captured in the photo!
Comment by Danielle— April 12, 2010 #
Ok. This is an amazing idea and I totally agree. That picture is amazing! :)
Comment by Vic— April 12, 2010 #
good for you making up your own flavors at home! now if only the companies will follow suit… although fake tasting strawberry drinks were always nasty to me… I bet this fresh one would be delicious!
Comment by stephchows— April 12, 2010 #
This sounds so good – and I love the picture, too!
Comment by Amber Shea (Almost Vegan)— April 12, 2010 #
I say yes to flavor! With all the gazillion new useless new products we’re constantly bombarded with, it’s strange that they’re so conservative in this area. Lucky for us we have you to broaden our horizons.
Comment by Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets— April 13, 2010 #
Oh MAN, I have a ton of strawberries and this sounds awesome!
Comment by Melisser— April 13, 2010 #
Have you ever tried Natura (I think that’s the brand)? They have a strawberry soymilk that I just LOVE. Yours, obviously, is much better, though–made with the real thing! And right now, I am able to try out your version (can use stevia in it), so I’m really excited to give this a try!
Comment by Ricki— April 13, 2010 #
I have tried it and it really is so delicious!
Comment by clea walford— April 14, 2010 #
I never buy flavoured milks but this one does sound delicious! Great photo. I had no idea there was such a thing as nut milk bags. I tried making horchata once and it was pasty because I didn’t have a fine enough filter for it.
Comment by Ashley— April 15, 2010 #
[...] Almond Milk Inspired from this recipe. I halved the recipe because I didn’t have a pitcher large enough for six [...]
Pingback by mango almond milk « a for aubergine— April 17, 2010 #
What a great drink for summer. I love smoothies but can’t drink too much of dairy. This is great alternative.
Comment by chandani— April 19, 2010 #
I stumbled onto this blog, looking for “crochet cupcakes” and found quite a talented person! Your knit/crochet skills are amazing, and I like how you simplify them down. Your recipes look delicious and intriguing, and I can’t wait to try a few out! And your photography is down right beautiful! – very artistic! :) So excited to find your blog. I don’t read many blogs (only one), but yours is one I will be keeping my eye out on!
Comment by Val— May 12, 2010 #