5 Vegan Non-Dairy Creamer Recipes

If you’re looking to reduce dairy in your diet and asking what kind of milk substitute we recommend, the answer is nut milk.

There are tons of ways to enjoy nut milk. You can make it with cashews (for a super neutral taste), with hemp seeds (protein rich and distinctive), macadamias, or pecans. And you can adjust seasonings to taste. Always use organic ingredients when possible

Ingredients:

• Almonds
• Water
• Sweetener/flavorings if desired
• A blender (regular or high speed)

Yes. That’s it. And there’s barely any recipe to remember — only a ratio. It takes one cup of nuts to four parts water to make a batch of nut milk. To this, you add the seasonings you like: for plain nut milk, add a dash of salt, no more. For vanilla almond milk add a few dates and a teaspoon of vanilla. And so on.

Vanilla Almond Milk (yields 2-3 cups or so)

• 1 cup almonds, soaked 8-12 hours beforehand if it’s possible
• 4 cups water
• 6 dates or 1/4 cup agave
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or the contents of a vanilla bean)

Procedure:

1. Begin by soaking your nuts in some alkaline water, if you can. Eight hours is ideal, but an hour is fine.
2. Next, rinse off your almonds and discard the soak water.
3. Add the almonds and the other ingredients (water, dates, vanilla) to a regular blender or a VitaMix. Blend them on high speed.
4. Let it go for a minute or so.
5. At this point, you can serve the nut milk exactly as is — you’ll simply have to give it a good shake before pouring!
   If you prefer a smooth texture, though, you’ll want to give it a strain. To do this, you’ll need a large container, and some cheesecloth, nut milk bag or paint strainer.
6. To use, simply place the nut milk bag or cheesecloth over the mouth of your container, leaving a generous overhang and allowing the strainer to droop about halfway down into the container. You can use a large mason jar as a container.
7. To fasten the bag/cheesecloth in place, use a rubber band around the mouth of the container.
8. Next, pour all the almond milk into the container, so that it drips through the cheesecloth and into the container below.
9. Take off, do some errands, read a good book, watch a movie, or whatever. Within forty-five minutes (or, ideally, an hour or two), all of the liquid will have been strained, and you’ll be left with almond pulp.
10. You can use the almond pulp for raw cookies, for nut plates, or simply as a nut-butter-like treat.
11. Meanwhile, you’ll have three or so cups of fresh, delicious almond milk, ready to enjoy in smoothies, in soups, or plain! It should last about 2-3 days in the fridge.

Recipe Variations:

Chocolate nut milk:

To the recipe for vanilla almond milk, add 2 tbsp raw cacao nibs or unsweetened cocoa powder

Cinnamon milk:

To the recipe for vanilla almond milk, add 1 Tsp cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg

Chai milk:

To the recipe for vanilla almond milk, add 1 Tsp cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon garam masala, and 1/4 Tsp. nutmeg

Sugar-free vanilla milk:

In place of the dates, add stevia to taste

Once you experience the joy of homemade almond and other nut milks, you’ll never want to go back. Give the procedure a shot, and let me know how it goes!

A healthy diet is only one of several factors that can affect the immune system; exercise and stress management are just as important in improving your overall health and well being. We would love to know if you tried and enjoyed this tasty vegan creamer recipe – please do tell in the comments below. Happy Blending!

About Dawn Bradford Lange:

Co-founder of Breast Cancer Yoga. Dawn is making a difference with Breast Cancer Yoga therapeutic products designed to support you emotionally and physically during breast cancer. We want to give you the attention and personal service you need so please email us at info@breastcanceryoga.com if you have questions.   Recipe Adapted From “Simple Homemade Almond Milk“, Feature Photo Source: “How To Make Your Own Buttermilk“