Cashew milk is an easy to make dairy alternative. It’s tasty in coffee. The same process is used to make other nut milks (pistachio and almond are the others I make) – the difference being the time it takes to soak the nuts.
You are in the majority if you’re lactose intolerant. Up to 75% of the world is. In Asian countries that shoots up to almost 100%. Many people are intolerant but just don’t know it. Inflammation is silent but maybe you get diarrhea or acne and just don’t attribute it to your dairy consumption. Certainly there are healthier ways to get calcium in your diet than milk products. Greens, broccoli, almonds, fish (with small bones) are all good dietary sources of calcium. So that said – I have milk in my coffee sometimes if I am out and sometimes have cheese. But when you think about drinking a cow’s breastmilk – intended to feed a calf, and consider the hormones and food that cows are given you might reconsider. This cashew milk will give you the courage to stray from dairy – maybe I’ll post some cashew cheese another time.
The process is easy. You soak your nuts, blend them with water, then strain the nut pulp. You can flavor the milk with vanilla, cinnamon, maple syrup, stevia, etc based on your personal preference. Personally I don’t care for flavored coffee – so I use only cashews and water. I will sometimes make a batch and put half aside for myself and then flavor the other portion for my family to drink.
Cashews soak the quickest. Pistachios the soak is optional but I do it the same way as I do cashew milk. Almonds you need to soak 8-12 hours (which is what I normally do anyway because I leave them on my counter overnight, no matter what type of nut). It’s healthy to soak all your nuts even if you’re not making nut milk because it removes the phytic acid which decreases nutrient absorption in the gut (but that’s a whole other post that you’re welcome to google or you can ask me about). I soaked these overnight because I like to make cashew milk in the morning and then use the pulp to make some kind of Paleo baked treat for my family but you don’t need to soak them that long.
I use this nut milk bag to strain my recipe because I had trouble with cheesecloth – but not everyone does.
Here’s a little photo tutorial 🙂
gather your ingredients
Cover with water and let sit at least 2 hours (or overnight)
the nuts will bloat and absorb the water. i rinse and drain them at least once during the soaking process.
rinse your nuts and toss them in the blender. fill the glass you soaked the nuts in 3-4 times with water and pour it into the blender along with your nuts. add any optional flavors in at this time.
blend on high for 1 minute
pour through a nut milk bag (mine is listed above – or your preferred stainer) into a large bowl with a spout.
squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
store in airtight containers in the fridge for a week.
the disgarded nut pulp can be used to make paleo pancakes, cookies, etc. see my other recipes for ideas.
Recipe Ideas that include nut flour include:
Paleo Breakfast Cookies (substitute cashew flour for almond flour – you might want to dehydrate the nut pulp a bit first so the cookies aren’t soggy)
Paleo Apple Cinnamon Muffins (cashew pulp would substitute for almond flour)
Quick Almond Flour Banana Pancakes
