Almond milk recipe

I have been juicing on the Joe Cross Reboot diet for the last 30 days and still have 30 more to go.

As an occasional treat I'll make a smoothie rather than having my usual 80% veggie, 20% fruit juice. A smoothie, at around 300 calories or so, is not something I want to indulge in too often considering my juices are only around 100.

However, when I do decide to make one, I've chosen to make my own almond milk for it since the almond milk cartons bought in the store are really a lot more than I want, or can, use.

This method uses 1 cup of almonds which yields 1 litre of almond milk. Just the right amount for me.

Homemade almond milk is creamy and smoother than store-bought. It keeps about 7-10 days in the fridge.

METHOD

Start with 1 cup of raw, unsalted almonds.


Cover them with approximately 2 cups of water and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cover the almonds and let them soak overnight, the longer the better and the creamier your milk will  be. You can let them soak up to two days in the fridge.


Drain the almonds in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water.


Squeeze the almonds to remove the outer skin. It's best to discard them and not include them in your milk.


Place the almonds, 4 cups of cold water, 4 Medjool dates (pitted, or substitude 2 tbsp of honey for dates), and the pulp of two scraped vanilla beans into a blender (To scrape vanilla beans, first slice lengthwise along the bean to split it open, then collect the inner pulp by scraping with a butter knife. The shell of the beans can then be used in vodka to make vanilla extract). Blend for 60 seconds on high. Start slowly, holding the lid down tight! Then you can quickly work up to the highest speed.


When done, you will have a creamy milk with the almond pulp settled at the bottom.


Now we'll strain the milk through a nut bag, butter muslin or just a clean tea towel. Here I just draped a tea towel in a large measuring cup and poured through it.


Gather the cloth up and let the milk drain. Squeeze the ball of pulp to get all the milk out.


Now we have a full litre of delicious, homemade almond milk. You can use the left over pulp in other recipes. Soon I'll post my gluten-free carrot muffins that use the almond pulp.



ALMOND MILK RECIPE

1 cup unsalted almonds, plus 2 cups of water for soaking
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups of water
4 Medjool dates, pitted (or 2 tbsp honey)
2 vanilla beans, scraped (optional, can substitute with 2-4 tsps
   vanilla extract)

1.  Cover almonds with 2 cups water, stir in 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and soak overnight. Can soak up to 2 days in fridge.
2. Peel skins off almonds by squeezing. Discard skins.
3. Place the almonds, 4 cups of cold water, 4 pitted Medjool dates (or other sweetener substitute), vanilla bean pulp (or extract) into a blender. Blend for 60 seconds on high.
4. Strain milk through butter muslin, nut bag or tea towel, squeezing to extract all of the milk.
5. Refrigerate and use within 7-10 days.

NOTE: The vanilla beans shells can be used to make vanilla extract. The almond pulp can be used in baking.

Peach Pinwheel Coffee Cake

TOPPING:

1/3 cup (75mL) lightly packed brown sugar

1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon

CAKE:

1 14 oz (398 mL) can peach halves, drained

1 1/2 cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder

3/4 tsp (3 mL) salt

1/3 cup (75 mL) Shortening

1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp (5 mL) almond extract

1 cup (250 mL) sour cream

1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda

Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 70 minutes
Servings: approx. 12
Freezing: excellent

Preheat oven to 350F (180C)

TOPPING:

Combine 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. Mix well.

CAKE:

Cut one peach half into 6 slices. Set aside.

Dice remaining peaches. Drain thoroughly.

Combine 1 1/2 c. flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 3/4 tsp salt. Stir well.

Cream 1/3 c. shortening, 1 c. sugar, 1 egg, and 1 tsp almond extract in large bowl on medium speed of electric mixer until light and creamy.

Mix 1/2 tsp baking soda with 1 c. sour cream. Add to creamed mixture alternately with dry ingredients, blending lightly after each addition.

Fold in drained, diced peaches.  

Spread half of batter in greased and floured 9" (23 cm) springform pan. Sprinkle with half of the topping. Cover with remaining batter and topping.

Arrange reserved peach slices to form pinwheel in centre of cake. 

Bake at 350F (180C) for 60-70 minutes.

Serve warm or cool.

Multigrain Bread

Just tried this new recipe I found at the Robin Hood site and it worked out great! Very tasty, the crumb is perfect. Love it.

For this one, I used my Zojirushi bread maker for the whole thing.

I like to have some good fall-back recipes I can rely on to make a nice loaf when I'm not going to be around to work the dough into whatever shape I want and put it in the oven.

My fall-back recipes are easy to toss into the machine, walk away, and return later to a perfect, delicious loaf of bread.

This recipe originally called for raisins and cinnamon, however, I opted out on them and the loaf still turned out great. No other adjustments to it were necessary.

Below is the recipe as found at Robin Hood:


MULTIGRAIN BREAD (optionally can be made as Raisin Bread)
Ingredients:
LARGE LOAF (1 1/2 lb/3 cup or 2 lb/4 cup machine)
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) water
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter or margarine
3 tbsp (45 mL) honey
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) ROBIN HOOD Best For Bread Homestyle White Flour
1 1/3 cups (325 mL) ROBIN HOOD Best For Bread Multigrain Blend
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt
1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon (OPTIONAL)
1 tsp (5 mL) bread machine yeast
1 cup (175 mL) raisins (OPTIONAL, can make it 1 1/4 cup)

Directions:

1. SELECT loaf size.
2. ADD ingredients to machine according to manufacturer’s directions.
3. SELECT White or Whole Wheat Cycle.