Make a Splash

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by Hannah (BitterSweet)
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For all the choices available in the non-dairy milk arena today, I find it truly dismaying that there isn’t more of a focus on flavor. That’s not to say that many of these options don’t taste great, or that I don’t buy all sorts of soy, almond, oat, hemp, and rice beverages regularly. My complaint is how unadventurous most manufacturers have become, afraid of upsetting our simple and undeveloped palates, perhaps! Whereas even the mainstay, Silk, previously had offerings of a chai and mocha variety, their numerous colored cartons are now largely limited to the standard: Plain, vanilla, and chocolate. I love a good vanilla soymilk over my cereal, and I’ll take a tall glass of chocolate soymilk with my cookies any day, but after a while, these same staples just get boring.

Thirsting for something a bit more fun, a recent sale on strawberries was just the inspiration I needed. It’s hardly an original idea, but the results were just so refreshingly tasty, it seemed like a shame not to share. Not too sweet, but creamy and bursting with fresh berry flavor, it absolutely hit the spot. Best of all, it takes next to no effort, and leaves plenty of room for creative interpretation. Trust me, this is only the beginning- Imagine adding ginger or mint, or swapping out the strawberries for blueberries, or… Well, you get the picture!

Yield: 6 Cups

Strawberry Almond Milk

Strawberry Almond Milk

Fruity, creamy, and lightly sweetened, this take on strawberry milk is far fresher and more satisfying than anything you'd hope to find in a carton.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Cup Raw Almonds, Soaked for 8 hours or overnight
  • 1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds
  • 4 Cups Cold Water
  • 2 Cups Hulled and Sliced Fresh Strawberries
  • 2 – 4 Tablespoons Agave Syrup
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • Pinch Salt

Instructions

  1. Thoroughly rinse and drain your almonds before tossing them your blender, along with the chia seeds and water. Give it a quick pulse to combine, and then let it sit for about 10 minutes for the chia seeds to start re-hydrating. Then, turn it on to high, and allow the mixture to blend for about two minutes. Pause, add the strawberries, agave, vanilla, and salt, and blend for another two minutes, or until completely silky smooth.
  2. Strain the resulting milk through a fine mesh sieve or nut milk bag, either discard the solids or save them to bake with, and store the almond milk in an air-tight pitcher in the fridge for up to a week.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 119Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 30mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 3gSugar: 11gProtein: 3g
© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: American / Category: Beverages

59 thoughts on “Make a Splash”

  1. Actually, I prefer plain non-dairy milk (and, when it comes to soymilk, I want the unsweetened kind that contains nothing but soybeans and water). As for flavoured non-dairy milks… there’s just too much stuff in them and they are often too sweet. So, although I don’t agree with your general lament, I do appreciate the recipe as making my own flavoured non-dairy milk is perfectly fine with me! (Especially strawberry… never tasted a good, strawberry-flavoured non-dairy milk product!)

  5. I LOVE strawberry milk so much! I actually made my own version a few weeks ago that was quite similar to yours, only without the chia seeds and vanilla extract. I also didn’t strain it, but it was still very tasty and refreshing. I will try your recipe soon! :)

  10. The flavoured soy milks here tend to have so much sugar, they don’t agree with me, so I tend to avoid trying new ones.

  12. Cinnamon, raspberries and maple syrup! At least in the US you have all these different varieties of “milk”. In Australia, it’s still hard to find anything beyond rice or soy milk. And one of the main companies jsut discontinued my favourite soymilk flavour, the “Soyaccino”

    Oooh, maybe I should try a coffee flavoured version of this then?

    P.S. That strawberry-in-milk actions shot is AMAZING.

  13. That’s a fabulous photo and the recipe sounds just excellent. I like just plain almond milk, too, but have never made my own. I will definitely have to try this.

  15. I remember the Silk flavors. Those were delicious. And yeah almond milk should definitely expand upon the number of flavors that it offers. Three just aren’t doing it for me. Love that you took matters into your own hands! This looks delicious.

  16. I just recently created some delicious and easy strawberry flavored milk myself!

    Mine requires: 1 3/4 cup vanilla soy or almond milk + 3 or 4 frozen strawberries. Blend in a blender until nice and smooth. Enjoy!

    If you are using plain flavored soy or almond milk, just add a tablespoon of agave nectar to the mix… Turns out perfect every time!

  17. I have been wanting to make Almond Milk for Melody. This recipe is perfect. Anything with fruit added in is a plus for me. She is so picky about food.

  18. Yummy! You’re right, our tastebuds in this country are pretty limited with the flavors available in the mainstream.
    xo
    Eco Mama

  19. I loooove when VitaSoy has the chocolate-peppermint flavour around Christmas. So yummy! Probably a good thing for me that it’s only available for a month or so, though – I am addicted to it for the time that it’s around.

  20. I just started drinking almond milk! I do agree that sometimes the flavors are lacking, but I generally do prefer just boring old original for cereal lol. Although now the strawberry is very very tempting…hahaha.

  26. I love the splashing photo!! I have a friend who is recently diagnosed with Cron diseases (not sure if I write this correctly) and I am thinking that she might be able to have this as she cannot have diary at all. Looks delicious for sure!

  28. I got caught up by the organic strawberry sale. After months of apples, I am ready to break my seasonal eating thing with strawberries. My special sweet beverage is coming up on Thursday but this one looks awesome. Going to try it with frozen strawberries- a bit of a frappe if you will!

  30. Yum!!
    The other day @SilkSoyMilk sent out a tweet asking what the next flavor of their new almond milk should be… I tweeted back that it should be coffee, chai, or hazelnut! I couldn’t make up my mind because all varieties of flavored almond milk just sound so good — and now I’ve got another (homemade!) one that I want to try! Thanks for the recipe!

  31. This sounds absolutely wonderful. Now I just need to get some chia seeds! Hannah–that first picture is STUNNING. I mean, REALLY breathtaking!

  34. I personally am in love with So Delicious Cocunt Milk. However, this strawbery almond milk sounds qite yummy and a perfect refresher on a hot day ( I live in AZ so I always love a drink to cool me down)

  35. Love this! Hi, I’m Sarah, the health and fitness blogger for Glamour magainze. I’m going to share this on my blog, Vitamin G, Mon morning. Hope that’s OK! I’ll send some traffic your way, and give you credit for the photo (will leave watermark in tact). Just holler if you have any qestions. Now, off to make my strawberry milk! Thanks, sarah

  38. Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen chai soy milk. I’d be filling my fridge with that in a second.
    Love your photo!!

  42. Oh gosh, I got so excited because I have almost all of the ingredients to make this milk, but I realized that I don’t have any kind of sieve…but I am happy, because I’d really like to try this and almost have all the things to make it with. So I will soon ;]

    I watch a whole bunch of animes and read a whole bunch of mangas, and in those things, the characters always go to a vending machine to buy strawberry milk teas or the like, so I was always intrigued…

  46. Guess what? I actually do have a fine mesh sieve. So I tried this out today! I messed with the recipe a bit, since I didn’t have any chia seeds, so I went without, and I didn’t have any agave nectar, so I subbed with sugar. Next time, I will probably use something like a cheesecloth, because some sediments ended up in the drink so it went down the throat a bit dusty.

    However, I really liked this drink ;] Did you smell the concoction of water and almonds before adding the rest of the ingredients? It smelled so so good.

  47. That sounds amazing! Just curious about the properties of chia…what do they contribute in this recipe? I recently ordered some and am going to be trying them for the first time.

    Awesome job on the photo too!

  50. good for you making up your own flavors at home! now if only the companies will follow suit… although fake tasting strawberry drinks were always nasty to me… I bet this fresh one would be delicious!

  52. I say yes to flavor! With all the gazillion new useless new products we’re constantly bombarded with, it’s strange that they’re so conservative in this area. Lucky for us we have you to broaden our horizons.

  54. Have you ever tried Natura (I think that’s the brand)? They have a strawberry soymilk that I just LOVE. Yours, obviously, is much better, though–made with the real thing! And right now, I am able to try out your version (can use stevia in it), so I’m really excited to give this a try!

  56. I never buy flavoured milks but this one does sound delicious! Great photo. I had no idea there was such a thing as nut milk bags. I tried making horchata once and it was pasty because I didn’t have a fine enough filter for it.

  59. I stumbled onto this blog, looking for “crochet cupcakes” and found quite a talented person! Your knit/crochet skills are amazing, and I like how you simplify them down. Your recipes look delicious and intriguing, and I can’t wait to try a few out! And your photography is down right beautiful! – very artistic! :) So excited to find your blog. I don’t read many blogs (only one), but yours is one I will be keeping my eye out on!

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