I have worked on this nut milk recipe for so long! I love homemade almond milk as much as the next person (I have a great 2-minute, no soak recipe in my cookbook), but to get that perfect dairy-free latte froth, you need my tried and tested nut combo! This milk is perfect in any of my recipes that call for non-dairy milk. It’s creamy, mellow-tasting, and easy to make.

Why homemade nut milk?

• It tastes better. Making your own nut milk from soaked raw nuts and water (plus optional add-ins) produces a clean and fresh-tasting milk.
• Simple ingredients. If you’re concerned about some of the extras in store bought nut milk, going homemade will absolve those doubts.
• Cost effective. When compared to premium brands that feature only water and nuts in their milk (Malk, Three Trees & Elmhurst), making your own at home will save you money.
• Less waste. No cartons to dispose of and you can repurpose that leftover nut pulp in smoothies, creamy puréed soups, or nut pulp granola.
• Naturally dairy-free and perfect for cooking and baking.

Of course you can “milk” any nut that you like, but for my taste I like equal parts sliced almonds (less pulp than whole almonds), raw cashews, and raw macadamia nuts. The resulting milk produces beautiful microfoam for coffee and has a velvety, slightly sweet richness that works perfectly in my recipes.

Equipment:

• High speed blender. I have a 10+ year old Vitamix 5200 series blender that gets the job done perfectly.
• Nut milk bag. Using a nut milk bag gets a super silky-textured milk (better than a fine mesh strainer). It also allows you to squeeze every last drop out.
• Large bowl that you can comfortably pour from. A batter bowl is great.
• Glass bottles or jars with lids for storing your finished milk in the fridge.

My homemade nut milk always lasts a week in the fridge–sometimes longer! The only time I’ve had it spoil in a shorter amount of time is because I either soaked the nuts for 10+ hours or I blended the milk to the point of heating it slightly in my blender (longer than a minute). I spell out the steps to avoid this in the recipe.

For frothing and coffee drinks, I use the steam wand on my espresso machine. Breville has a great tutorial for that method here. This milk also makes lovely foam in plug-in frothers, although it is a touch less fine.

5-Minute Creamy Nut Milk (perfect for frothing)

This creamy homemade nut milk is mellow, silky smooth, and perfect for coffee! My preferred nut combo froths like a dream for lattes. It’s also the ideal addition to smoothies, cereal, dairy-free cooking, and baking.

5 from 12 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

SOAKING TIME: 8 hours hrs

Servings 5 CUPS

Ingredients

Nut Milk

• ⅓ cup sliced almonds
• ⅓ cup raw cashews
• ⅓ cup raw macadamia nuts
• 5 cups water, plus extra for soaking

Optional Add-Ins:

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon/other spices
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon coconut butter

Equipment

• Blender
• Nut Milk Bag

Notes

• Why sliced almonds specifically? Their taste seems mellower to me and there’s less pulp.
• What I do with nut milk pulp: save it in a container in the fridge so that I can add spoonfuls to smoothies, blend into creamy puréed soups to give them more richness, or make nut pulp granola.
• Macadamia nuts are spendy and sometimes I want to make this a bit more economical! In those instances I substitute them with hemp seeds, which require zero soaking. Hemp seeds will change the flavour of the milk, veering towards grassy and fresh. They still help with the froth though :)
• My nut milk always lasts a week in the fridge, sometimes longer! The only time I’ve had it spoil in a shorter amount of time is because I either soaked the nuts 10+ hours or I blended the milk to the point of heating it slightly in my blender (longer than a minute). Add a couple ice cubes to the blender in the initial blend if you’re really worried about this.

Instructions

• The night before: place your nuts in a large bowl and cover them with water. Let them sit for 8 hours maximum.
• Drain the nuts and give them a good rinse. Set a large bowl (that you can pour from) and a nut milk bag out on the counter nearby.
• Add the drained nuts to a high speed blender and cover with 5 cups of water. Blend this mixture on high for 1 full minute, until you have a creamy milk consistency. Avoid going over 1 minute as this heats the milk.
• Run the nut milk through your nut milk bag over the large bowl. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can. See notes for pulp uses.
• If you’re adding vanilla or any other add-ins, rinse the blender before pouring the strained milk back into it. Toss your add-ins into the blender and give it a quick 15 second blend to combine.
• Store your nut milk in a sealed glass bottle/jar. This should keep in the fridge for 1 week.
• For frothing: I use a steam wand on my espresso machine. Plug-in frothers are great too! I don't recommend taking this milk over 145°F as the higher temperatures impact the texture and flavour.

Author: Laura Wright

Course: Basics, Beverage

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: Almonds, blender, coffee, fall, hemp seeds, herbal coffee, latte, macadamia nuts, nut milk bag, sliced almonds, smoothie, spring, summer, tea, vanilla, winter