Oat milk is not only one of the easiest vegan milks to make at home, it also has a nice taste. Preparing it takes literally 20 minutes from start to finish and only 2 ingredients plus some water. It is the perfect solution when you need a dairy free milk urgently: both for baking or for drinking. And this recipe contains a secret ingredient for healthier teeth and for a nicer taste and colour of the drink!
Why make oat milk at home
You don’t need to be vegan or to suffer from lactose intolerance in order to make a plant-based milk at home. It is good sometimes to use non-dairy products in our diet. Homemade oat milk has a nice taste and texture and contains lots of vitamins and minerals. It is also more allergy friendly than almond or soy milk. Last but not least, it is ridiculously easy to prepare.
What ingredients you need
For this recipe you need just cold water, rolled oats and my secret ingredient for a mild sweetness and milky colour: xylitol. This is a low carb sweetener, a.k.a. sugar alcohol. It is considered that xylitol supports the teeth health as it doesn’t help the reproduction of the bacteria which causes teeth decay.
If you don’t have xylitol, you can choose another sweetener that dissolves easily in cold water like maple syrup, which however would give a brownish shade to your oat milk.
Tips for best results
Making the oat milk consists of two steps: processing the oats soaked in water and then straining the milk through a sieve into a jug. As easy as it is, you need to consider few details in order to make the texture of the milk as good as possible.
- Use only cold water: not lukewarm or warm but cold. Otherwise you risk the texture of your milk to become slimy as when you make an oatmeal.
- Don’t process the oats in the food processor for too long. This might create heat and also might make the milk slimy. 20 seconds on high speed will ensure a perfect result.
- Strain the mixture through an extra layer. I used a fine mesh sieve and placed a double cheesecloth on top. You can use a clean while t-shirt and a sieve or several layers of cheesecloth. I honestly prefer having a sieve because I don’t like to squeeze much the fabric, which leads us to the next point:
- Don’t squeeze too much as you would have a lot of sediment on the bottom of your milk. You will always have some after your milk stays for a day in the fridge, but shaking the bottle will disperse it. But if you squeeze too much the cloth, you may end up with unpleasant texture due to too much sediment.
And if you are not sure what to do with the leftovers from the oat milk, there are plenty of oat recipes to use them in! I am preparing now a special recipe for easy oat bars made purposely to use after making homemade oat milk. It will be on the blog soon – stay tuned!
Did you like this recipe? Let me know in the comments what you think about it! If you made your own oat milk, I will be happy to receive your feedback!
Here are two recipes in which you can use the oat milk and also a recipe for homemade rice milk:
Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (with variations)
The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
How to make Rice milk – two ways
Homemade oat milk
Ingredients
- 1 cup/ 90 g rolled oats
- 4 cups/ 900 ml water
- 1-2 tbsp xylitol
Instructions
- Combine the oats, the water and sweetener in a blender.
- Process for 20 seconds.
- Use a fine mesh sieve + a cheese cloth or a clean t-shirt to strain the milk. Avoid squeezing too much.
Notes
- Xylitol can be substituted by maple syrup but it would change the colour of the milk. To keep it white and avoid additional carbohydrates, you can also use erythritol.
- Store in a bottle or in a mason jar for 3-4 days.
- Use the leftovers to make cookies, bars, a cake or to make an oatmeal.
- Adapted from: Downshiftology
Leave a Reply