Macadamia Nut Milk

I think milk preferences are very telling of a person. Show me a gallon of milk from your fridge and I can probably make a few accurate assumptions about you. Cow’s, soy, almond, hemp, sunflower, whole grain, coconut, raw, skim, unsweetened, vanilla…. hit me with your best shot.

 

 
I’m now adding another luscious, filling nut milk to my list of current favorites: macadamia nut milk. I’ve been on the hunt for raw, unsalted macadamia nuts for a while. Everywhere seems to sell them salted and roasted but I really prefer the taste of raw nuts. They’re also the lowest on the omega 6 content scale (giving it a good omega 6: 3 ratio), which helps ward off chronic inflammation and disease. Finally, I scoped them out in a refrigerator section of my local food co-op and gave out a little whoop of excitement.
Macadamia Nut Milk

Slightly sweet and a nice thick texture.

1 cup raw, unsalted Macadamia Nuts
4 cups water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Sweetener of choice (I used 1.5 Tbsp maple syrup for one batch and 10 stevia drops for another and both tasted great)
Place nuts in a bowl and cover with water and allow to soak overnight or at least 7 hours to soften the nuts so they belnd easier. I let mine sit for almost 20 hours on accident but it was fine. Drain the water off and rinse the nuts in a strainer.

Place nuts in a blender and pour in 4 cups of fresh water (not the water you soaked the nuts in). Blend on high for 2-3 minutes.

Over a deep bowl place the cheese cloth and secure the edges under the bowl itself. Pour the nut mixture over the cheesecloth and use a spoon to press out more of the milk from the nut meal that remains. You can also pick up the cheese cloth and knead out more of the milk with your hands. You may have to do this in a few batches depending on how deep and large your bowl is. Place the resulting nut meal in a bowl*

Pour milk back into the blender and add vanilla and sweetener and blend until combined. Taste and add more sweetener if you prefer. You can also strain a second time if you want an even smoother texture but I sort of like the nutty, thick texture that straining it one time gives it.

Viola! Homemade macadamia nut milk. Store in a tight jar in the fridge, it should keep about a week.

I also made a second batch using almonds and stored it in the freezer for later use.