Coffee Shop Worthy Caramel Vanilla Bean Hazelnut Milk
Decadent, luxurious, and totally splurge-worthy, this homemade hazelnut milk is fit for a high-end coffee shop and it pairs perfectly in a cup of coffee or black tea. I use a mix of soaked hazelnuts and almonds, but feel free to use all hazelnuts if you prefer. It's lightly flavored with notes of caramel (from Medjool dates), cinnamon, and a whole vanilla bean and I imagine you could turn it into a chocolate hazelnut milk quite easily by adding a bit of dutch-processed cocoa powder. This recipe is lightly adapted from my Homemade Almond Milk recipe.
Decadent, luxurious, and totally splurge-worthy, this homemade hazelnut milk is fit for a high-end coffee shop and it pairs perfectly in a cup of coffee or black tea. I use a mix of soaked hazelnuts and almonds, but feel free to use all hazelnuts if you prefer. It's lightly flavored with notes of caramel (from Medjool dates), cinnamon, and a whole vanilla bean and I imagine you could turn it into a chocolate hazelnut milk quite easily by adding a bit of dutch-processed cocoa powder. This recipe is lightly adapted from my Homemade Almond Milk recipe.
- Carbohydrate 2.931565 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 5.89459 g
- Fiber 1.68393330399195 g
- Protein 2.54600666666667 g
- Saturated Fat 0.446105833333333 g
- Serving Size 1 1 -3 1/2 cup (289g)
- Sodium 11.2225000093496 mg
- Sugar 1.24763169600805 g
- Trans Fat 0.327842666666668 g
- Calories 70 calories
Step-by-step
- Place hazelnuts and almonds in a bowl and cover with water. It’s preferred to soak them overnight (for 8-12 hours) in the water, but you can get away with soaking for 1-2 hours in a pinch.
- Rinse and drain the soaked hazelnuts and almonds. Place nuts into a blender along with water, pitted dates, vanilla bean, cinnamon, and salt (if using).
- Cover and blend on highest speed for 1 minute or so.
- Place a nut milk bag (here is the bag I love) over a large bowl and slowly pour the milk mixture into the bag. Gently squeeze the bottom of the bag to release the milk. This process can take 3-5 minutes, so be patient. You should be left with about 1 cup of pulp in the bag. See my tips below on using the leftover pulp.
- Rinse out blender and pour the milk back in. Now, pour it easily into a Mason jar and secure with lid. Chill in the fridge. It will stay fresh for 2-3 days. Give the jar a good shake before enjoying. Drink it alone, use it in cereal or smoothies, make hot oatmeal, and one of my favourites - use as a creamer in coffee or black tea.
Swapping almonds for the full cup of hazelnuts shifts the flavor profile from neutral to intensely roasty, though the combination with almonds keeps the cost lower. Soaking nuts overnight hydrates the cellular structure, allowing blender blades to shear through the solids cleanly rather than pulverizing them into a gritty powder. Drain the soaking water entirely before blending to remove surface tannins that impart a bitter aftertaste. Running the high-speed blender for a full sixty seconds breaks down the fibers, yielding a liquid that easily passes through a fine nut milk bag.
Maximizing Nut Pulp Efficiency
Discarding the leftover almond and hazelnut meal wastes valuable food and money. Spread the moist pulp onto a baking sheet and dehydrate it in a low oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours until completely dry. Grind this dried material into a fine flour replacement for gluten-free baking, or mix it directly into morning oatmeal for added protein and bulk. Stored properly in a sealed container, homemade nut milk maintains peak freshness for precisely three days in the refrigerator.
- Separation occurs naturally during refrigeration; simply shake the Mason jar vigorously before pouring.
- Vanilla bean pods can be rinsed, dried, and buried in a jar of granulated sugar to infuse subsequent baking projects.
- Squeezing the nut milk bag too aggressively forces fine sediment through the mesh and into the finished liquid.
