Homemade Walnut Milk

Who doesn’t know almond milk? Popular milk alternative, which is very popular among vegans and all of us who would like to lead a healthier life by eat cleaner food. I’m making my own amlond milk (the same as coconut milk) from scratch at home. Then one evening when I was soaking my almonds in order to make a fresh batch of almond milk in the morning I asked myself why am I buying almonds when I have access to homegrown walnuts. You see I as mentioned before my parents own a small mountain farm that has quite a fey walnut trees and they bear walnuts anually so we have some in stock all year round. And not to mnetion that homegrown walnuts are completely free from pesticide and other chemicals and are as local as they can get! So I decided to give it a go and make walnut milk instead of almond milk.

When was the last time you checked the packaging (or the in-store label if you are buying nuts in bulk) of almonds? The largest producer of almonds are the USA. They also produce the largest quantites of commercial almond milk. Which makes sense – healthy living enthusiasts from the West Coast (the state with the largest almond production is California) used local ingredient – almonds – to make an alternative to conventional milk. So whywouldn’t we imitate the Americans in Europe and choose local ingredients for our milk sustitute? Walnuts are very common in older orchards in Slovenia and if they are not affected by late spring frost, will provide an abundant harvest in the autumn. If we buy (or grow our own) walnuts, they can be kept unshelled in dry areas for several years. There is no reason not to take advantage of the walnut season and stack up on them for the whole year (or maybe even more).

We can use walnuts in a traditional way as an ingredient for desserts or we experiment with them a little. Mix roasted walnuts, oat flakes and a teaspoon of honey (or agave syrup) and you have a delicious granola that can be served for breakfast with your favorite yogurt. Or you can opt for homemade walnut milk which I’ll share the recipe for today. Of all homemade vegetable milks, walnut is certainly my favorite. It has an amazing creamy texture and rich taste of walnuts.

Homemade walnut milk recipe

Ingridients

• 200g of unshelled walnuts
• dates, agave syrup, stevia or other sweetener of your choice (optional)

Instructions

Put the walnuts in a glass and cover them with water. Make sure that all the walnuts are submerged. Soak the walnuts in water for 24 hours.

After 24 hours rinse the walnuts and put them in a blneder. Add 1 liter of lukewarm water and sweetener (I usually skip the sweeteners, because the milk is very delicious in its own). Blend the mixture for 2-3 minutes.

Turn off the blender and strain the mixture through a dense strainer or cheese cloth. Make sure to preserve the residue that is left in the cloth or strainer. You can freeze it an use it in any recipe that calls for walnuts.

Homemade walnut milk can be kept in the refrigerator for up to three days, but it will surely be used up sooner, because it’s really delicious. 🙂

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Homemade walnut milk

Ingredients

• 200 g of unshelled walnuts
• dates agave syrup, stevia or other sweetener of your choice (optional)

Instructions

1. Put the walnuts in a glass and cover them with water. Make sure that all the walnuts are submerged. Soak the walnuts in water for 24 hours.
2. After 24 hours rinse the walnuts and put them in a blneder. Add 1 liter of lukewarm water and sweetener (I usually skip the sweeteners, because the milk is very delicious in its own). Blend the mixture for 2-3 minutes.
3. Turn off the blender and strain the mixture through a dense strainer or cheese cloth. Make sure to preserve the residue that is left in the cloth or strainer. You can freeze it an use it in any recipe that calls for walnuts.

Cheers!