almond milk + almond crackers

I had been meaning to for quite a long time, and last week I finally did it. I made my own almond milk. It was easier than I expected; easier in the sense that it really didn't take a lot of time and didn't make a big mess. Once you have the supplies (ingredients + you need a nut milk bag) and you do the tiny bit of prep work (soak almonds overnight in the fridge), the rest is easy.

{image courtesy of Oh She Glows}

I followed this recipe from Oh She Glows, made a slightly larger batch, and tweaked things to my taste ... so here is what I used:

• 1.5 cups organic almonds (soaked overnight and then rinsed and drained)
• 5.25 cups filtered water
• 5 pitted Medjool dates, roughly chopped
• 1.5 vanilla beans, chopped

I placed all the ingredients in my Vitamix and blended for about a minute. Then holding the nut milk bag over a large bowl, I poured the mixture in. Because I made a larger batch, I had to half of the mixture first and then the second. I squeezed the milk out of the bag and it ended up in the bowl. I rinsed my Vitamix, poured the milk into the Vitamix and then transferred it to a container (this step just made it easier to pour into my container). 

Some of the "special" equipment or ingredients you may need:

• nut milk bag
• vanilla beans - these are expensive at Whole Foods and most grocery stores, so I recommend buying from a spice store or in bulk; I ordered some from Spicely sold through amazon.com 
• jar for storing milk in the fridge - I love this Bormioli Rocco one (like the one pictured above) that I got from the Container Store, but you can also get a set of 12 on amazon.com

{image courtesy of Edible Perspective}

So, then you are left with the almond pulp after making the milk and there are many uses for it ... you will see that Oh She Glows recommends a few in her post. However, I came across this post on Edible Perspective with a recipe for almond pulp crackers. I decided to make them with my pulp... my first batch I followed Edible Perspective's recipe and wasn't thrilled with the results. So I tweaked a few things and here is the recipe that I came up with that I love:

•  about 3/4 to 1 cup almond pulp
• 1.5 ripe bananas, mashed well with a fork
• 2-3 tablespoons roasted, creamy almond butter
• salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Then, spread the "dough" out on to a parchment lined baking sheet - spread it as thin as possible. Score the dough to make a grid of about 1"x1" squares. Bake at 300 degrees for about one hour flipping every 15 to 20 minutes.

My crackers didn't dehydrate fully, so not all of them are crunchy. They are delicious nonetheless with some homemade almond milk and sliced banana. YUM!