Easy Almond Pulp Chocolate Chip Cookies

In full disclosure, my original intention was to share this post as two separate blogs last week, one for the Easy Almond Pulp Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe and one for a breakdown of the Hows and Whys of making your own almond milk. It makes more sense for lots of reasons to do so, mostly boring backend ones like SEO and Pinterest. However, after catching the stomach bug on top of a wicked cold/virus thing, I lost a few days of the week and am still catching up. So given that I had a sponsored post yesterday, my usual Wednesday posts, and a new recipe coming on Friday, combining them just made sense.

I apologize if this seems like a lot of information in one place. It was not my original intention. I will do my best to keep the almond milk hows and whys short so it’s not overwhelming, but you can always skip straight on down to the recipe below if learning about almond pulp and all the things is not your jam. I get it. And will never know anyway.

The Hows and Whys Of Making Your Own Almond Milk

So let’s start with this part, a deep dive into my Homemade almond milk journey complete with the hows and whys.

Like many people, I have moved almost completely away from dairy milk and, instead, drink almond milk. Sure, I’ve been known to dip my toes into the worlds of other non-dairy milks like cashew and oat. But generally, I have been on the unsweetened vanilla almond milk train for years. Now, I’m not very good at math but at $3.29 a carton (minimum–and that’s not even for my preferred organic additive-free brand) and about 1 carton every 5 days for 5 years. Yeah. That’s a lot of money on almond milk.

Not only that…it’s a lot of cartons in the trash. Even though I recycle them. In fact, no matter how good we are about making sure that everything we use goes into the recycling and not the trashcan, only 35% of what we put out to be recycled actually gets, well, recycled. The rest ends up meeting its old friends in the trash piles.

How disheartening to my inner hippie.

It really bothered me that my recycling wasn’t hitting the spot to make this world a better place. As you know, I recently started using Grove Collaborative to eliminate excess single-use plastics in my house and green up my cleaning. So tossing two cartons a week of almond milk into the trash bin just didn’t sit well. Not to mention that most almond milks are filled with preservatives and additives and all sorts of things to make them last longer. (something you’ll see if you start making your own–it doesn’t last a long time and separates when resting–both easy fixes but not marektable) But also a lot worse for you.

So I started to do a deep dive into what it takes to make my own and it turns out that it’s not that hard to do, and also a really good way to improve both our overall health as well as the Earth’s.

But HOW….

The first thing we need to clarify is that almond milk is not technically milk. It’s really just crushed almonds and water. So, kind of more like almond juice. But given that that sounds gross, no one wanted to go with it and the moniker almond milk was born. So we’ll go with it. The good thing about this false name, though, is it highlights just how little you need to make almond milk.

Here are the ingredients: Almonds. Water. (and I add a pinch of salt)

That’s it. You can add vanilla and maple syrup if you like it sweet. You can add cocoa powder if you like chocolate. There are lots of different additions. But to make basic almond milk you just need those two things. And, honestly, you don’t need a lot of the one you have to but, either.

You do, however, need some equipment. So let’s go over that real quick. Many people make almond milk in their blender. I don’t because mine is old and rickety and not strong enough to tackle the job. But if you’ve got a Vitamix or another highspeed one, give it a go. I, however, spent hours researching actual almond milk makers to try and find the best bang for my buck and ended up with The MioMat 8-in-1 Plant Milk Maker. It was the most reasonably priced with all of the bells and whistles I wanted. Plus, it’s pretty. So there’s that.

You will also need bottles to store your milk in (preferably glass), bottle caps, and a nut bag (please don’t laugh at the name, that’s what they’re actually called).

That’s it. Four things. One small investment. And you’re off to the races.

Now let’s get started…

You use whole raw almonds to make almond milk. I know there are 1 million different varieties of smoked, roasted, slivered, sliced, and diced almonds. But you are going to use WHOLE RAW Almonds. And because whole raw almonds are very hard and have skin on them, you need to soak them a bit to prep them for almond milk making. For me, this means putting them in a container with water either overnight in the fridge or for 4-5 hours at room temp. It all depends on how much forethought I put into this process.

Mostly, I put no forethought into it, so they’re on the counter.

When they’ve been soaking for a while, I drain them, throw them in the MioMat, fill the water to the line, add a pinch of salt, set it, and walk away. In 10-15 minutes my almond milk is ready. Now, the only downside of this thing is that it sounds a little bit like a jet engine taking off inside your house. It’s LOUD. It starts silent and lulls you into a period of unsuspecting calmness until it explodes in loud grinds and whirs and scares the ever-loving you-know-what out of you. For this reason, I put it in the laundry room, close the door, and walk away.

But that is literally my only complaint.

Once the milk is done, I put a nut bag into a large bowl, pour the container of milk into the bag, close and squeeze to make sure I get all the goodness out of the pulp that I can. Then, using a funnel, I pour it into the bottles, cap ’em, and put them in the fridge. That’s it.

That’s all it takes to make your own milk.

Now let’s take a look at the dollars and cents:

I get 1 1/2 liters of milk from 1/2 cup of almonds.

I get my almonds from Costco at 2 lbs for $9.99.

There are 3 cups in 1 lb of almonds so 6 cups in a 2 lb bag and 12 1/2 cup servings.

So, that means that it costs me just under a dollar per liter of milk. Give or take a few.

Much better than the mountains of cash I was spending on cartons. Something my accountant husband is very happy about. And, my sweet inner hippie is glad about the zero waste process (because I use the almond pulp for the easy almond pulp chocolate chip cookies below) and fewer additives in my body.

Sounds like a total win-win, right? And maybe even something your inner hippie can get behind?

Now, for the recipe…

Easy Almond Pulp Chocolate Chip Cookies

The by-product of making your own almond milk is almond pulp. It’s what’s left in the nut bag after you squeeze all of the liquid out. A soft and slightly damp powder, this is the ground-up skins of the almonds left behind. It is completely compostable, so if you compost you can be zero waste and not use it in cooking or baking at all. But, this almond pulp makes a great addition to baked goods, smoothies, and can even be dried out in the oven to form almond meal–a commonly-used flour alternative for gluten-free baking.

But my favorite way to use it is in these easy almond pulp chocolate chip cookies.

More of a bite than an actual “cookie” these resemble my gluten-free breakfast cookies in texture and feel. In fact, the entire recipe is very similar. However, the addition of almond pulp adds a little fiber and protein to the cookie and also keeps it completely gluten-free which is great for my gf people and those who are looking to cut back. Now if you are not interested at all in making your own almond milk, you can buy almond meal and reconstitute it with a teeny bit of water. I have not tried this personally, but it stands to reason that the results would be similar.

I love making these and giving one to Kenzie for her very rushed in-the-car between school and four hours of gymnastics snack. The balance of nutrients gives is a great power source for such a long practice. I also like to have them on hand for breakfast, snacks, anytime we’re feeling the need for something sweet. They’re easy to make and can be frozen if you have them in bulk.

Plus, zero waste. So what’s not to love?

Happy baking friends. Here’s to a greener tomorrow.

Peace, love, and almonds,
Meg

Easy Almond Pulp Chocolate Chip Cookies

March 29, 2022

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By: Meaghan Dawson

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond pulp
• 1 cup gf oats
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Step 2 In a large bowl, add all ingredients and mix until combined.
• Step 3 Place by heaping tablespoon-full onto baking sheet in gently formed balls, pressing down slightly to create a cookie shape.
• Step 4 Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until slightly browned and baked through.
• Step 5 Cool for 5-10 minutes on sheet before removing or they might crumble. They set more as they cool.

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