Ok, I have to admit being a little ott about unsweetened almond milk. I seem to use it for almost everything that needs milk, including smoothies, soups and much more. The fact that it’s so low-calorie is what does it for me, but I wanted to try making some nut milks, to see how they do.
I’ve made soy milk in the past, and after finding almond milk, I’ve given up eating soy in any form at all. I tend to make my smoothies with frozen fruit and veg, so mine are more like slushie consistency, but more creamy with milk.
I had a box of pecan nuts which needed eating, so I thought that would be as good a place to start as any.
I also didn’t have the patience to soak the nuts overnight on my first attempt, so I just went on whizzing mine up, although if you have a low watt blender, overnight soaking would be a better idea, as the nuts will leave far more gruel when it’s strained. Milk from soaked pecans is definitely creamier.
I’ve taken an average of 1 litre of water to add to 2% pecan nut concentrate, as that’s what my favourite brand seems to say.
For this, I’m assuming 1ml = approx 1g, and 100g of my pecan halves being roughly 720 calories per 100g. That means, to keep the calorie content low, I need to use no more than 13 calories per 100g, which means I only have 130 calories to work with for a whole litre.
With 130 calories divided by 7.2 calories per gram, that leaves me with 18g of pecans that I can add to each litre of water. That really does not sound like much, and I had little hope of the water turning white at first, but it does happen rather quickly.
Recipe: How to make unsweetened pecan milk.
Ingredients
- 9 g Pecan Nuts
- 500 ml Water
- 2 Teaspoons Xylitol or substitute other sweetener
Instructions
- Soak the pecans overnight if you can, then discard the soaking water for a smoother milk. If you're in a hurry, just add the pecans and water to your blender (I use Nutribullet). I blend for one minute, then rest for a minute, then blend for another minute again.
- Strain the milk through a muslin square or similar, to remove the very fine grains. You don't have to do this, but I prefer the smoother texture.
- Chill and enjoy. This doesn't keep for too long, so use it within a day or two.
- If you like your milk thicker, just add more pecans at the next try. I wanted to keep mine low in the calorie department, but most people seem to make one third pecans to two thirds water.