How to make Oat Milk from Steel-Cut Oats

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Did you know that 90% of Asians are lactose intolerant?  It was a sad day realizing I had to drink my coffee black (most of the time), or not go for that second bowl of cereal (sometimes).

In our search to find a healthy dairy alternative for cow’s milk, I spent a small fortune buying different types of milk that my boys would love.  My boys are BIG milk drinkers, easily downing 3 cups a day.  My youngest is allergic to treenuts so that automatically nixed almond and cashew milk from the list.  I decided that at the rate these growing boys consumed milk, I needed to find a cheaper alternative rather than shelling out up to 5 bucks for less than a couple litres of many dairy alternatives out there.

Thus I arrived at oat milk.   It’s so cheap, fast, and easy to make.  Three things every Asian (and not so Asian, like me) loves!

I also love that there are no emulsifiers, thickeners, stabilizers or other additives in homemade milk.  It’s not going replace the calcium and protein in cow’s milk so I make sure to keep the kids diet high in yogurt, cheese, kefir and leafy greens.   Even with our family’s level of lactose intolerance we can still handle cultured foods fairly well.

Oat milk tastes sweet and rich.  And it’s oat-y, surprise!  It’s perfect with a tiny bit of sweetness, try blending up a couple pitted medjool dates with the oats instead of adding maple syrup at the end for another sweet healthy option.   Take it up a notch by adding dashes of cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa, cayenne…

I first discovered this little gem on Oh She Glows and have used her method as my base with a few slight adjustments.  Below I’ll run through each of the steps I take.  Make sure to stick around to find out what I do with the leftover oat pulp.  Hint, it starts with “cook” and ends with “ies”.  Are you hooked?  🙂

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Oat Milk Ingredients: (yield 3 1/2 cups)

  • 1 cup steel-cut oats
  • 3 1/2 cups filtered water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup

Useful tools:

  • Vitamix or any blender
  • Large bowl
  • Fine strainer
  • Spatula
  • Nutbag, or 100% organic cotton towel.  I was tempted to use cheesecloth but I worried that the oat pulp would stick too much to the grain of the cheesecloth.  I ended up cutting up a 100% cotton sheet and it strains perfectly.   Cleanup afterwards is a breeze since the smooth surface washes out easily under running water and a drop of gentle soap.

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Measure out 1 cup of steel-cut oats into a large bowl.

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Add enough water to completely submerge the oats.

Let soak for a minimum of 20 minutes.  If the busy-ness of life gets in the way and you forget about them, a soak overnight won’t hurt at all.

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Drain and rinse.  Rinse again.  And again, for good measure.

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The first time I made oat milk, I made the mistake of not rinsing the oats enough.  The resulting milk was a bit too slimy.  So yeah, don’t do my mistakes.  Rinse lots!

Transfer oats to your blender.  Add 3 1/2 cups filtered water.

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10 seconds is all you need with your blender on high.

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Place your fine strainer over a large bowl and sieve the oat milk.

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A spatula may be handy here to help coax the liquid through.

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The stuff left in the strainer is oat pulp. Don’t toss your oat pulp!!  We’ll be making super healthy, kid AND husband friendly chocolate chip cookies with it.  If you don’t use the oat pulp right away it’ll keep in your fridge for a week, or in your freezer for longer.

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Place your nutbag or cotton towel into a large bowl.  Pour in the strained milk.

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Get ready for it….

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Now SQUEEEEEZE.

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I cannot get by this “squeezing my nutbag” process without some ridiculously hilarious comment being dropped by any or all of my boys.

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We welcome all “nutbag” comments here.  🙂

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Add your vanilla and maple syrup.

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Cap and shake.

We keep our oat milk in mason jars up to 5 days in the fridge.  You may find it separates, no biggie.  Just shake it up, baby.

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These reCAP Lips are made for wide mouth mason jars and I really like them for pouring out of masons.  They’re BPA free and have replaceable rubber o-rings.  The only thing I noticed is every once in a while, vigorous shaking may cause a couple drops to leak.   And while pouring a careful finger in the lid will ensure it doesn’t flop down over the spout and disrupt your pour.   Otherwise, a great way to top off your favorite mason beverages.

Watch me squeeze some oat milk in this step by step video tutorial 🙂

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OAT MILK RECIPE:

Ingredients:

Yield 3 1/2 cups.

1 cup steel-cut oats
3 1/2 cups filtered water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp maple syrup*

* Another sweet option: blend 1 or 2 pitted medjool dates with the oats instead of adding maple syrup at the end.

Useful tools:

Vitamix or any blender
Large bowl
Fine strainer
Spatula
Nutbag, or 100% organic cotton towel.  

Directions:

1.  Measure out steel-cut oats into a large bowl.

2.  Add enough water to completely submerge the oats (about 1L).  Soak for atleast 20 minutes, up to 12 hours.

3.   Drain and rinse really, really well.

4.  Transfer oats to your blender.  Add 3 1/2 cups filtered water.  Cover.  Blend on high for 10 seconds.

5.  Place your fine strainer over a large bowl and pour the blended oat milk into the strainer.  Use a spatula to help press the liquid through.  Remember to keep your oat pulp for use in baking, cereals or oatmeal.  Oat pulp can be stored in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer.

6.  Place your nutbag or cotton towel into a large bowl.  Pour in the strained milk.  Squeeze!

7.  Mix in vanilla and maple syrup.  Feel free to add other sprinklings like cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa, etc.

8.  Oat milk will keep in your fridge for up to 5 days.  Remember to shake before you pour as it tends to separate.

Cheers!


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