Nut milks are convenient to make for the home cook and just a matter of a few ingredients and a moment’s foresight to start soaking those nuts. Skip dairy milk and go nuts with homemade nut milk!

Vegan milks are increasing in popularity — rice, almond and soy milks grace grocery store shelves and come in a variety of flavors and variations. But even though store-bought versions are animal-friendly, they often contain preservatives, sweeteners, and other additives that deem the product over-processed and not the healthiest.

Sure, you could buy a grocery store version of nut milk, but why not maintain its full integrity, beyond being vegan, by making it yourself. That way, you have complete control over what goes into the mix and can make more exciting nut variations of milk, while adjusting the consistency, sweetness and flavors according to your tastes. All you have to remember is to soak the nuts the night before, and the rest is easy.

Soaking nuts is not entirely necessary, but for your health’s sake, it’s worth doing. Nuts contain “enzyme inhibitors”, which stall the nut from sprouting in birds’ fragile tummies after consumption. For humans, however, enzyme inhibitors make nuts harder to digest. Soaking nuts in water for a period of time helps to leach the enzyme inhibitors from the nuts, giving them more life force energy and doing your body a big favor. Aside from remembering to soak the nuts, creating nut milk is surprisingly easy and incredibly rewarding.

The following recipe can be altered according to your tastes. Use whatever nut or seed you like, keeping in mind the different soaking time requirements.

Soaking Time (room temperature):

Soak nuts in enough water to cover them by several inches as they will swell up.

Almonds: 12-18 hours

Brazil Nuts: 12-18 hours

Cashews: 4-6 hours

Hazelnuts: 12-18 hours

Macadamia nuts: 12-18 hours

Pine Nuts: 4-6 hours

Pistachios: 4-6 hours

Walnuts: 12-18 hours

Chia Seeds: 1 hour

Flax Seeds: 2-3 hours

Pumpkin Seeds: 6-8 hours

Sunflower Seeds: 6-8 hours

Basic Nut Milk Recipe

Makes 3-4 cups

Ingredients

1 cup nuts
2.5-3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
2 teaspoons agave, maple syrup, or honey (optional)

Directions

Soak nuts (or seeds) for designated time. Drain and rinse thoroughly. Add to a blender with water. Blend for one minute, or until smooth. Use a cheese cloth or fine sieve to drain and separate the nut milk from the pulp. Add vanilla or sweetener of choice. Use in smoothies, vegan versions of cream dishes, or as is. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: amazingalmonds, waferboard

The post Go Nuts With This Homemade Nut Milk Recipe appeared first on EcoSalon.

Time stands still as the best blend of flavors melt in your mouth.

Two summers ago, I had a dream: Salted. Caramel. Ice Cream. Just hearing those words together, I could taste the cascade of sweetness, saltiness, coolness and warmth, all at once, melting in my mouth. And so, the quest began to experience what I imagined would be the sweetest delight on earth.

And then, it happened. Salted Caramel Ice Cream hit the charts. Nearly every micro-creamery was whipping up the flavor. To make it all worse for a tantalized vegan, some began to add crispy bacon to the affair. And yet, my search for a vegan version remained futile. With that, I vowed to concoct my own variety (and acquire an ice cream maker to get the consistency just right).

So, here we are, nearly 730 days later. I’ve whipped up batch after batch and tasted spoonful after spoonful to create the richest, smoothest, creamiest and yes, even healthiest, recipe for all to enjoy. The base of this melting concoction is handmade cashew nut milk. While rich in fats, an ice cream staple, cholesterol-free cashews are full of monounsaturated fats, the “good kind” of fats. They are also full of copper, magnesium, zinc and even Vitamin E—critical to stabilizing a healthy blood pressure and preventing against heart conditions, all while supporting a balanced nervous system and with it, a good mood. It’s no wonder you’ll feel so joyful with every little spoonful.

The Original – Salted Caramel Ice Cream
From Brown Eyed Baker, adapted from David Lebovitz’s original

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (divided)
• 4 tablespoons salted butter
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 5 egg yolks
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

The Vegan Version – Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Makes approximately 2 pints

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups cashew nut milk (divided):
• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked
• 3 cups water
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup coconut milk (optional—can substitute with an additional cup of cashew milk)
• ½ teaspoon gaur gum
• 1 cup granulated sugar (divided)
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon salted vegan butter (I used Earth Balance soy-free butter)
• ½ teaspoon (or more—to taste) fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pecans or other nuts (optional topping)

Directions

1. To make the cashew nut milk, first soak the 1 cup of cashews in tepid water for at least 3 hours or overnight. Then, in a large blender, mix the following for at least three minutes, until thoroughly blended: cashews, water, agave nectar, coconut oil and vanilla extract. Once the cashews are thoroughly blended, use a nut milk bag or very fine cheesecloth over a large bowl or Mason jar to strain the milk. You should be left with a creamy mixture (just like milk) in your bowl or jar.

2. Pour 2 cups of the nut milk back into the blender and add the coconut milk, if using, along with the guar gum and vanilla. Blend together and let stand.

3. In a quart size pot, melt the sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly until liquefied. Once the sugar begins to turn to a copper-red color, add in one tablespoon of butter and stir until melted. Then, slowly add in the ½ cup cashew nut milk and stir together until fully mixed and boiling. Remove the mixture from the heat. Let cool slightly, and pour ½ cup of your caramel mixture into the cashew nut mix in the blender. Blend together until fully combined.

4. Pour the custard mixture into your ice cream maker and use according to the manufacturer’s directions.

5. Meanwhile, add at least ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt to your remaining ½ cup caramel mixture. Once the ice cream custard has been mixed together in the ice cream maker for at least 15 minutes, add in the remaining caramel by simply pouring it into the custard base.

6. Freeze your ice cream until it’s reached the desired consistency, and enjoy!

* Note, top this sweet summer delight with your choice of nuts, caramel, chocolate sauce, cherries or any other vegan toppings you can dream of. I made a candied pecan topping by chopping a few tablespoons of pecans and toasting them on the stove top (in a shallow cast iron pan), with 1 teaspoon melted vegan butter, 1 teaspoon of light brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon and sea salt, until lightly brown and crunchy.

Images: Jennifer Barckley

The post Vegan This: Salted Caramel Ice Cream (That took 730 Days to Perfect) appeared first on EcoSalon.