Saturday, July 2, 2011

Scrumptious Saturday...I'm a nut job

So I have always wondered where almond milk came from.
No udders.
No creaminess.
So I happened upon Earth Mama's  nut milk recipe...and my curiosity was finally satiated for this query.
So here it goes.
Put one cup nuts into a jar and cover with water.

(I put one cup of almonds in a pint jar and filled 3/4th of the way with water.)
Soak overnight.

(I soaked almost 24 hrs.)
Drain off water.
(Be amazed about how large your nuts get.)
Place in a blender with 4 cups of fresh water and blend until smooth.
(Or place nuts and 1 cup of water in a container and use a stick blender to pulverize...then place a cloth over a strainer and jar and pour the slurry into the cloth...then put the nuts back in the container with more water and repeat until all 4 cups of water have been filtered through the nuts.)
Strain nuts through a cloth and squeeze like no tomorrow.
You will have about a quart of nut milk and about a cup of nut flour...keep the nut flour for

Grain Free Brownies
Also known as freekin' good brownies.
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup plus 4 TBS fat (I used a combo of butter and canola oil) Melted
1/2 cup nut flour
3/4 cup cocoa
mix eggs and sugar until eggs become fluffy...add cocoa, fat, and vanilla...mix in nut flour... Grease the bottom of a 9x13 pan (or a smaller one for thicker brownies...and cook longer) bake at 350 for about 20 minutes...enjoy!
Somehow these brownies came out really dense and fuggy, but fluffy at the same time.  When dealing with the leftover almond flour, I was amazed how fluffy it was (compared to regular flour) and it seemed to pass this trait on to the brownies.  
The recipe was based on the Silver Palate cook book, but modifications were made to change the flour, fat, and chocolate methods (I never have unsweetened chocolate by the ounce on hand.)
So enjoy and tell me what you think.

Sorry no picture of the  brownies...they seem to be in the belly of my family almost instantly!

3 comments:

  1. We used to use almond milk exclusively, and in fact, I planted an almond tree! It's interesting because I was reading in Martha Washington's Book of Cookery and Sweetmeats, about almond milk. There's a recipe in there to make it, and it used to be very popular at one time, especially in Europe, where it was used extensively in cooking. Especially during Lent, when dairy was apparently given up. I love that you made your own. I really love to cook with nut meal too!

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  2. The brownies sound really good. I need to make them. I just bought a mixture of honey and coconut oil that might be a great fat for this recipe. Happy 4th weekend.

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  3. I just made another batch this time using coconut oil...so yummy with a touch of coconut flavor. I just pulled out my dehydrator and realized that I really want to try your chocolate chip cookie recipe...dehydrated style!

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