This Homemade Walnut Milk is thick and creamy and so easy to make! I use the exact same method for my Homemade Oat Milk but just use walnuts instead.
Phew! The last few days have been quite a whirlwind and I’m so looking forward to my day off today! I’m going to sit on the couch a lot, bake up a storm, make it to the gym (hopefully), and watch one too many episodes of Gilmore Girls. Ah, there’s nothing better than working hard during the week so that I can relax without shame on Mondays.
On Thursday night I hosted a Christmas Party for a bunch of my girlfriends. Most of us see each other often throughout the week, but I wanted to have a time when we could just hangout, celebrate Christmas, and not do anything work related. We decorated sugar and gingerbread cookies, designed mugs using oil-based sharpie markers, and watched part of a Christmas movie.
Hosting is one of my favorite things to do, so I thoroughly enjoyed planning and throwing this party! I prepped the cookie dough on Wednesday night and cut out and baked all the cookies on Thursday morning. Some other treats I served were kettle corn, my Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake, and some pretzel rods which I coated in chocolate and dipped in sprinkles. Oh, and there was a hot chocolate bar with marshmallows and homemade peppermint whipped cream. So fun!
I think one of the reasons I went all out was because I miss doing Christmas-y things with the girls in my family, mainly my Mom and sister. Ever since all my siblings and I got married and moved to different places, we don’t have as much time to spend together over the holidays. We used to have so many traditions! We would always go to a Christmas tree farm as a family to cut down our tree. Mom would make peanut butter hershey kiss cookies and hot chocolate and we would eat our goodies in the car once we had picked out, cut down, and strapped the tree to the top of the van. Then we would go home and decorate the tree, all while listening to Christmas music (Mariah Carey of course) and eating more cookies.
My sister and I were the ones who talked my parents into letting us buy christmas lights for the house. We swore we would be the ones to put them up and take them down and that they would never have to lift a finger. Of course this only lasted one or two years and then my Dad ended up being the one to brave the roof and string the lights. Sorry Dad! The house looked great though, didn’t it?!
Every Christmas Eve my family would go to our neighbors house for a Christmas party and then we’d come home and open one of our presents. Then came Christmas Day, and what a day it was! We were the kind of family that would drag out our present-opening. After breakfast we would open up our stockings, each person getting a turn while everyone watched. Then we’d take a little break before heading to the living room where we’d open up our bigger gifts. Again, we’d each take turns opening up one gift at a time. I loved this, because we really got to appreciate the gifts we received and thank the giver. Usually we’d take breaks during this time too. We liked to make the day last as long as possible.
Christmas dinner was always eaten with our good family friends the Kewleys. Each year we would take turns hosting and we’d eat a huge meal together, do a White Elephant Christmas exchange, and watch a movie together. I have so many memories from those evenings together, many of which involve gut-busting laughter.
Last year was Brett and my first Christmas together. We traveled before and after Christmas, but were home in Orlando for all of 24 hours on Christmas Day itself. We ended up going for a sweaty four mile run and didn’t do anything Christmas related. I knew it would be hard to start traditions on our first Christmas with all the traveling we were doing, but I definitely wanted to start some traditions this year! And we did! We got a tree and drank hot chocolate and listened to Christmas music while we decorated it. And before we leave the city to travel again over Christmas Day, we are going to give each other our own gifts and have a special Christmas breakfast, just the two of us.
Wow. I didn’t think I’d write about so many of my Christmas memories! I guess you can see why it was so fun for me to plan a Christmas party. It got me in the Christmas spirit and was a fun way to bless my friends.
So now you’re probably wondering what the heck Homemade Walnut Milk has to do with Christmas traditions. Why, Hot Chocolate of course! You see, now that I’m dairy-free I have to have a non-dairy milk for the base of my hot chocolate. That’s where this Homemade Walnut Milk comes in. It’s thick and creamy and so easy to make. I use the exact same method for my Homemade Oat Milk, but just use walnuts instead.
I’m sharing this with you today so that you’ll have the tools to make your own Healthy and Dairy-Free Hot Chocolate, which I’ll be sharing the recipe for in a couple of days. Hang tight y’all!
Homemade Walnut Milk
This Homemade Walnut Milk is thick and creamy and so easy to make!
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnuts, soaked
- 3 cups cold, filtered water
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons liquid sweetener OR 3-4 Medjool pitted dates
Instructions
- Soak the walnuts in water over night or for about 8 hours.
- After the walnuts have soaked, drain and rinse them and place them in a high speed blender. Add in three cups of water and blend on high for about 2 minutes.
- Pour the milk through a nut milk bag or through two layers of cheesecloth and use your hands to squeeze out as much milk as possible
- If you are using the optional ingredients, then pour the strained milk back into your rinsed out blender and add in the vanilla extract and liquid sweetener to taste. Blend until combined.*
- Pour the strained milk into an air tight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Notes
*If you want to sweeten your milk with dates, pour the strained milk and the pitted dates back into the blender and blend for 1-2 minutes. Strain the milk again to remove any date pieces. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 3 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 239Total Fat 23gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 20gCholesterol 0mgSodium 10mgCarbohydrates 6gNet Carbohydrates 0gFiber 2gSugar 2gSugar Alcohols 0gProtein 5g
Nutrition information is a rough estimate provided by Nutrionix and should be used for informational purposes only.
Johnson Olu says
What about the pulp? Is it edible or just waste? Thanks
Faith says
Definitely edible! I just posted a recipe using almond pulp and I’m sure the recipe would work just as well with walnut pulp. The post also shares other helpful information so check it out! https://theconscientiouseater.com/almond-pulp-freezer-brownie-bites-recipe/
Zlatko says
One question: what do I do with the water left over from soaking the wallnuts? I thought that’s going to become milk, but the way this recipe reads, it looks like that’s not going into the blender, just the nuts?
Faith says
Hi Zlatko. Sorry for the confusion. The soaking water isn’t listed in the ingredients. So yes, you throw out the soaking water and then blend the walnuts and 3 cups of fresh water together to make the walnut milk. I hope that answers your question!
Angelina says
Yes ! just the nut
Patou says
Awsome !
Faith says
Yay!
Sydni Jackson says
Okay, I have something for you to come up with a recipe for! At Whole Foods the other day I found chocolate pecan butter!!! Of course I had to buy it because 1 – I’ve never had pecan butter and 2 – it has chocolate in it!! Have you ever tried it?? If you come up with a recipe for it I will love you 🙂
Faith says
YAY! I love a good challenge!! I’m thinking pecans, cocoa powder and maple syrup?? Seriously, I hope I can try and recreate it this week:)
Sydni Jackson says
Sure! At Whole Foods it looked like it was just made from chocolate chips and pecans, but your idea sounds great too!
Faith says
AHH!! That sounds great too! Good to know. I’m hoping to try it out tomorrow:)
Liz @ I Heart Vegetables says
Yum! I’m a big almond milk fan but I’ve never tried walnut milk! I could definitely see myself making this, especially if I didn’t have almonds on hand!
Faith says
Yeah, it’s super easy! And walnuts are usually cheaper for me so that’s an added bonus:)