Cashew and oat milk are our very favorite dairy-free vegan milks. When made correctly, they offer the same creamy consistency of dairy creamer, without the mucus producing ramifications of dairy.
Up until a few years ago, I was drinking cow milk in almost every morning’s cup of coffee. Evan had already jumped on the dairy-free vegan milk wagon a few years prior. When I began using his almond milk I was disappointed with the watery consistency and left missing the creaminess in my morning coffee.
When we stumbled upon oat and cashew milk, we felt we hit the dairy-free jackpot! These alternative milks were creamy and gave us back the satisfying taste we had been missing since tossing our dairy creamer.
WHY DAIRY FREE VEGAN MILK?
Evan switched to dairy free milk when he had a terrible eczema flare up in 2013. It was one of several food groups that he had to avoid during a strict food elimination protocol. After the flare-up cooled down, he tried to introduce milk back into his morning coffee or tea, but never could without noticing extra bloating or irritation on the skin of his neck.
Evan is pretty good a cutting things out cold turkey. Me, not so much.
It took me YEARS to admit that cow milk was contributing to the adult onset acne I experienced on my cheeks. I tried to attribute the acne flare ups to hormones. I even tried to tell myself that the small amount of organic creamer I added to my morning cup of coffee could not possibly be the cause of the acne. After all, it was the ONLY bit of milk I’d enjoy. No ice cream, no glasses of milk in my granola, nothing else.
I was surprised, but not shocked, to notice the difference in my skin after only a week of switching to dairy free milk!
HOW WE MAKE OUR DAIRY FREE MILKS (VIDEO)
WHY MAKE YOUR OWN CASHEW AND OAT MILK?
A few months ago while grocery shopping, we started looking into how we could make our own oat and cashew milks. We were spending so much money on fresh cartons each week, we couldn’t help but wonder “how hard could it really be?”
We began with reading the ingredients on the back of our favorite cartons. We were horrified to read that most dairy free milks had canola oil or sunflower oil in them!
Gross. Canola and Sunflower oils are polyunsaturated fatty acids. This means they are simply terrible for heart health, inflammation levels, rough on the gallbladder and can be irritating for the digestive system.
Come to think of it, I was always a little itchy after my morning cup of coffee. Itchiness is a sign of gallbladder congestion. Our gallbladder gets to work when we eat foods that have fats in them.
When I mentioned to Evan what canola and sunflower oils do to the digestive system, we mentioned that he had noticed that after his morning tea, we had recently been noticing a little heartburn.
We wondered if these seemingly innocuous symptoms were a result of the oils inside our beloved dairy-free milks?
We put our theory to the test and started with making our oat milk, without the canola oil.
The result?
We noticed a huge difference. The itchiness and heartburn were completely gone. The oils in our store bought dairy free milks were definitely problematic for us.
And our homemade oat milk recipe was SO MUCH BETTER. It was so good in fact that I actually drank a cup of it by itself. It reminded me of a vanilla milkshake!
Here’s our oat milk recipe:
HOW TO MAKE OAT MILK
You’ll see in our video just how quickly you can whip up the oat milk. So there is no need to pay a premium price at the grocery store. Plus, you’ll avoid the canola or sunflower oil!
INGREDIENTS:
-1 cup rolled organic oats
-4 cups cold water, separated into two separate batches of 2 cups each
-2-3 dates for sweetness
-1 tbsp vanilla extract
-3 dashes of cinnamon
DIRECTIONS:
- Add rolled oat and 2 cups of water into blend.
- Blend for 60 seconds
- Add in dates, vanilla extract, cinnamon and remaining 2 cups of water.
- Blend for 60 seconds
- Pour into container*
*Optional: You can strain your oat milk in nut bag if you’d like.
Our homemade oat milk recipe was SO MUCH BETTER. It was so good in fact that I actually drank a cup of it by itself. It reminded me of a vanilla milkshake!
HOW TO MAKE CASHEW MILK
Next, we tried our hand with cashew milk. And WHOA! It was EVEN better!
You’ll see in the video below how quickly the cashew milk comes together. The most challenging part is remembering to soak the cashews the night before. Here’s how you can make it:
INGREDIENTS:
-1 cup raw unsalted cashews, soaked overnight, at least 8-12 hours
-2-3 dates, depending on how sweet you wan1t the milk
-1 tbsp vanilla extract
-3 dashes cinnamon
-4 cups cold water, separated into two separate batches of 2 cups each
DIRECTIONS:
- Place cashews in bowl and cover with filtered water. Let them soak in the refrigerator over night, at least 8-12 hours
- Strain cashews place in blender.
- Add 2 cups of filtered water
- Blend for 60 seconds
- Add in dates, vanilla extract, cinnamon and remaining 2 cups of water.
- Blend for 60 seconds
- Pour into container*
- *Optional: You can strain your oat milk in nut bag if you’d like. We find it unnecessary, but it’s completely up to you and your personal preference.
HOW LONG DO THE OAT AND CASHEW MILKS LAST?
A fresh batch will last up to 4 days in your fridge. Honestly, we blow through a single batch within 1 or 2 days because we use the oat or cashew milk in our morning coffee and tea, in our smoothies, in our homemade soups, in our granola bowls and in our homemade chia seed puddings!
ISN’T IT EXPENSIVE TO BUY RAW NUTS?
We did the math on making cashew milk versus buying the cashew milk. Here’s what we found:
Cost of unsalted, raw cashews
We buy the 2.5 lbs container of raw, unsalted, unroasted cashews. This can be used for 8 cups of cashews, which mean 8 batches of the cashew milk recipe we shared: $20
That means that our single container of cashews, at $20, makes 8 batches of cashew milk. This brings to cost per batch to: $2.50
Previously, we paid $6 per container of cashew milk. And, the store bought version contained canola oil and additional preservatives.
So not only is the homemade version cheaper and better for your health but it also tastes better!