Yummy Nut Milk

Nut Milks: The Real Science, a Little History & My Favorite Almond Milk

Everything I’ve learned about making creamy homemade nut milk — plus the surprising facts, the honest nutrition, and the myths worth busting.

There are few kitchen things I love more than a batch of homemade almond milk — slightly sweet, super creamy, and made from ingredients I can count on one hand. My kids and I will happily drink a whole pitcher in a day. Let me share my recipe first, and then all the genuinely fascinating things I’ve since learned about nut milks (including a few surprises that changed how I think about them).

My Almond-Fig-Date Milk

Makes a big pitcher • naturally gluten- and dairy-free

Ingredients:

1¾ cups raw almonds, soaked overnight (then blanched — see below)

7 cups filtered water

About 1 cup soaked, pitted dates and figs (soaked overnight in water)

1 Tablespoon maple syrup, to taste (optional, if your dates didn’t sweeten it enough)

Optional add-ins: a splash of vanilla, a shake of cinnamon, a whisper of cayenne, or a spoon of raw cacao

How to make it

The night before: soak the almonds in water, and separately soak the pitted dates and figs.

Blanch the almonds: warm the soaked almonds in a little water in a skillet for a couple of minutes, let them cool, then slip off the brown skins with your fingers. (This gives you a whiter, silkier milk.)

Blend: combine the blanched almonds, filtered water, and the soaked date-and-fig mixture in a high-speed blender until creamy. Taste, and add maple syrup if you’d like it sweeter.

Strain or don’t — your call: I often leave mine unstrained for extra body and fiber. For a smoother, silkier milk, pour it through a nut-milk bag or a bit of muslin and squeeze out the liquid.

A high-speed blender warms it as it runs, so it comes out cozy-warm. Add ice to cool it, or serve it warm and spiced.

It is SO good. I love it warm with cinnamon, or blended with a little cacao for the kids, or over ice on a hot afternoon.

A little history that surprised me

Here’s the fact that delighted me most: almond milk isn’t a modern health-food invention at all. It goes all the way back to medieval Europe and the Middle East. Almond trees are native to the Middle East and were among the very first trees humankind ever domesticated. In the Middle Ages, almond milk was everywhere — partly because, unlike dairy, it didn’t spoil quickly in warm weather, and partly because it was allowed during Lent and other fasting days when dairy was off the table. Cooks kept it in their pantries for centuries before it ever hit a coffee shop menu.

And almonds have deep roots in scripture, too — Aaron’s rod famously budded and bore almonds, and the tabernacle’s golden lampstand was crafted in the shape of almond blossoms. Not bad for a humble little nut.

The honest nutrition (this part surprised me)

I used to imagine my body soaking up loads of calcium every time I drank my almond milk. The truth is a little humbler, and worth knowing: almond milk is not the calcium or protein powerhouse most people assume. A cup of plain homemade almond milk has only about 1 gram of protein and very little calcium — because it’s mostly water, with a modest amount of almond blended in. The calcium in most store-bought cartons is added (fortified), which is why a commercial cup can list 300–450 mg while an unfortified homemade cup has almost none.

That’s NOT a reason to stop making it — I love it and always will. It’s just a reason to be clear-eyed: if you’re using nut milk to replace dairy for calcium (especially for growing kids), either buy a fortified one or make sure the calcium is coming from elsewhere in the diet — leafy greens, sardines, beans, seeds, and yes, whole almonds themselves. Soaking the almonds first (as we do) softens them, blends smoother, and helps reduce the phytic acid that can bind up minerals — the same old wisdom behind soaking grains and nuts.

Here’s the kicker: your homemade nut milk almost certainly has MORE almond in it than the store-bought kind.

One lovely upside of doing it yourself: many commercial almond milks are only about 2–3% almonds — roughly four or five almonds per cup — with the rest being water, gums, and fortification. Your homemade pitcher, made from a generous scoop of real soaked almonds, is far richer in the actual nut (and its vitamin E, magnesium, and healthy fats).

Myths worth busting

Myth: “Almond milk is basically as nutritious as cow’s milk.” Not quite. Even fortified, it’s much lower in protein (about 1 g vs. 8 g per cup). If protein matters to you, soy and pea milks are the closest plant matches to dairy; oat has more than almond.

Myth: “Store-bought almond milk is just almonds and water.” Often it’s only 2–3% almonds, plus stabilizers, gums, and sometimes added sugar. Read the label — and know your homemade version is the real deal.

Myth: “Almond milk is the greenest choice.” It’s wonderful on greenhouse emissions and land use, but it’s a very thirsty crop (more on that below). Oat milk usually comes out ahead overall.

Myth: “‘Original’ means unsweetened.” Nope — “original” cartons are often sweetened. Look for “unsweetened” if you’re avoiding added sugar (another reason homemade wins — you control it).

The environmental picture (it’s nuanced)

This is where it gets genuinely interesting. On average, plant milks generate roughly a third (or less) of the greenhouse gas emissions of cow’s milk and use less land — a real win for the planet. But there’s no single champion on every measure. Almond milk has some of the lowest emissions and land use of all… and one of the highest water footprints, close to dairy’s. Around 80% of the world’s almonds are grown in drought-prone California, and it takes a striking amount of water to grow them (you may have seen the “a gallon of water per almond” figure). Oat milk tends to be the most sustainable all-rounder, sipping the least water; coconut is light on emissions but low in protein. The honest bottom line: every plant milk beats dairy overall, and the “best” one depends on which impact you care about most.

The open questions

A few things researchers are still sorting out, so you can hold them loosely: some brands use carrageenan (a seaweed-derived thickener) that’s been debated as possibly irritating to sensitive guts — the human evidence at food levels is limited and unsettled, many brands have gone carrageenan-free, and of course homemade skips it entirely. Scientists are also still studying the long-term effects of frequently swapping dairy for plant milks, and the nutrition of newer options like pea, hemp, and cashew. As always: variety and whole foods are your friends.

Beyond almonds

Almost any nut, seed, or grain can be turned into a creamy milk — each with its own personality:

Cashew: the creamiest and richest; often needs no straining.

Hemp: nutty, and a rare plant-milk source of omega-3s and a bit more protein.

Oat: naturally sweet and sustainable (buy certified gluten-free oats for us celiacs!).

Coconut: lush and tropical, lovely in curries and smoothies.

Pistachio, macadamia, tiger nut: fun to experiment with when you want something special.

The method is nearly always the same: soak, blend with filtered water, sweeten and spice to taste, strain if you like. Once you’ve made one, you’ve made them all.

So drink your creamy homemade nut milk with joy — not because it’s a magic calcium potion, but because it’s real food, made with your own hands, from ingredients you can pronounce. That’s always been the whole point around here.

“…the rod of Aaron… was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.” - Numbers 17:8

With much love,

Steffanie

A note on sources: Nutrition figures (homemade almond milk is low in protein and unfortified calcium; commercial cartons are fortified to ~300–450 mg calcium and often contain only 2–3% almonds) draw on Healthline, WebMD, and consumer-nutrition analyses. Environmental comparisons come from the World Resources Institute, Our World in Data, and a 2023 review in Current Environmental Health Reports (plant milks average roughly one-third of dairy’s emissions; almond milk is low-carbon but water-intensive; oat milk is the most water-efficient). The medieval history of almond milk is well documented in food-history and sustainability sources.

This is educational and reflects our family’s real-food approach; it isn’t medical or nutritional advice. For growing children, pregnancy, or specific nutritional needs, please talk with your provider — and don’t rely on unfortified homemade nut milk as a primary calcium or protein source. Those with tree-nut allergies should avoid nut milks entirely.