Since we live in Louisiana and grocery stores that readily sell such luxury items, like coconut an almond flour, aren't available I've taken up making my own.
After a few trial runs I finally found a method I really enjoy, and a by product of it is almond milk.... so it's win-win.
My love of non-dairy milk started in college, I've always been lactose intolerant, and the emergence of soy milk in the early 2000's was glorious. Then, after we were married I started seeing almond milk at the store.
It tasted even better, and I could actually find it unsweetened.
I actually love cooking with unsweetened almond milk for savory dishes and only use the vanilla unsweetened for sweet things.
It only took making corn muffins once with vanilla almond milk that I vowed to never do it again.
While almond milk is easy to buy here, almond flour just isn't.
I'm not one to make things that cost more than buying it, so unless you're the person that enjoys that I suggest buying almond milk if you can. One almond flour makes the scene here I won't make it anymore either, because at nearly $6 for a 6 ounce bag you can't exactly call that cheaper than buying.
If you can find cheaper almonds go for it, Louisiana just ain't the place.
Maybe I should try making pecan milk and flour?
How to Make Almond Milk & Flour ::
for 6 ounces of almonds
Ingredients ::
6 oz almonds
6 cups of water
What you need ::
baking sheet
wax paper, cling wrap, or parchment
large bowl
food processor
Blender
cheese cloth or thin dish towel
fine mesh strainer
The Process ::
- Soak almonds in a large bowl over night, cover with water. About 4 cups, enough to cover the almonds.
- The next day, drain the almonds, and place in blender with 2 cups of water. Blend until liquid is white and all of the almonds are ground up.
- Place fine mesh strainer over a bowl and line the strainer with cheese cloth, leaving enough over the sides that you can easily grab it. Once the majority of the water has drained off of the almond meal pick up the cheese cloth and and squeeze to drain off any extra almond milk. Store milk in a container. Flavor to your preferences.
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper, cling wrap, or parchment and spread out almond meal (from the cheese cloth) in a thin layer. Leave in a cool, dry place. For the next three days stir the almond meal one to two times a day.
- When the almond meal feels dry to the touch, and is noticeably dry (mine shrunk in size after drying), place in a food processor and pulse until it is a fine flour consistency. Store in a dry container.
Have you tried making your own grain free flour before?
