Homemade Nut Milk Recipe

There are certain things I like together and for me nothing goes better with matcha than nut milk, not just any nut milk but hazelnut milk. While I love real dairy milk, two years ago I had changed my diet to be vegetarian while dealing with some gut issues and that's when I discovered hazelnut milk and now I make a big jar about once every two weeks. fast forward to now, I still eat fairly plant based but not completely vegetarian however I still LOVE hazelnut milk and it's not one I find on grocery store shelves and even if I did mine is way better. So let me introduce you to my

1. to start add one cup of rinsed hazelnuts to a bowl of water to soak overnight in the fridge. * if you can't do overnight 4+ hours is ideal

2. in the morning the water will be murky and should be drained and rinsed before adding to a blender.

3. add 4 cups of water

4. 1 organic medjool dates

5. 1 pinch of sea salt

6. 2 tsps of maple syrup I use our homemade but you could substitute vanilla

7. blend for 2 minutes

8. strain out nut pulp using a nut milk bag

9. place in jar and refrigerate up to 4 days (but it won't last that long)

I make matcha lattes with mine and love the fresh creamy taste of hazelnut and how it pairs with matcha.

Also we give the nut pulp to our chickens as a nice treat but you should compost it if you are not able to find another use for yours.

Pro Tip

• rinsing the nuts before soaking is key & again before adding to your blender

• soaking overnight is preferred rather than 4 hours but I have tried it where the nuts have only soaked for 30-40 minutes and it still worked, you just won't get full flavour and creaminess when not soaked long enough and they don't blend as well.

• burns very easily over the stove so heat on low/medium heat

• because nuts are so fatty the milk can separate but giving the jar a quick shake before use will mix it all up for you again if using while cold and using the stove over the microwave to heat while stirring will also avoid this.

• my favourite uses are for a matcha latte (Matcha recipe Blog can be found under recipes)or a nutty hot chocolate