How to Make Oat Milk & Dairy Free Vegan Milkshakes

***RECIPE***

Are you someone who can’t drink cow’s milk? Or someone who has chosen not to consume cow’s milk and follow a vegan or dairy-free diet? Do you know how easy it is to make your own plant-based milk at home? 

There are so many non-dairy and lactose-free milk alternatives such as soy milk or almond milk and coconut milk, but to make your own oat milk drink at home you just need two ingredients – oats and water ... and a blender.

Plant Milk

My hubby made the decision last year to cut out cows milk, however, so far he has found soya milk OK in tea and on cereal, but not the best and so not OK in coffee. I, on the other hand, can’t eat soy products so it’s been cow’s milk for me so far. 

Alternatives to soya milk do seem more expensive. Oatly, I have no doubt tastes great and is often touted as the best vegan milk for coffee, but at £1.50 for a litre or £1.80 for the coveted Barista type, it’s an expensive way to consume milk, especially when cows milk is just over 43p a litre in supermarkets.

Oat Milk Recipe

So after receiving a lovely new blender for Christmas, I decided to try and make my own, starting with oat milk and I thought oats rather than nuts were probably the cheapest of the raw ingredients that I could choose from. A 1kg bag of oats is 75p at the supermarket - using the homemade method a litre of oat milk would cost approx. 10p.

Oat Milk Benefits

Oats are among the healthiest grains on earth. They are a gluten-free whole grain and a great source of important vitamins, minerals, soluble fibre and antioxidants as well as protein, meaning that oats are among the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat.

Studies show that oats and oatmeal have many health benefits that include weight loss, lower blood sugar levels and a reduced risk of heart disease.

Home Made Oat Milk

Homemade plant milk, including oat milk, is much cheaper than store bought and can be used hot or cold. Oat milk is a tasty vegan alternative to dairy milk. Free from lactose oat milk is not only tasty but it is also nutritious and easy to make. It is made from presoaked oats, mixed with water and blended.

Ingredients:

• 100g oats
• 750ml water

Method:

1. Use 1 part oats to 3 parts water.
2. Pre-soak the oats, but if you don’t have time you can make it without pre-soaking (I did the first time I made it)
3. If the oats are soaked, discard the water and add fresh water in the above ratio before blending.
4. If not soaking blend the oats and water straight away.
5. Blend on high power until as smooth as can be.
6. Strain the milk using a sieve, however, the finer the strainer the smoother the milk will be – with a sieve I strained the milk a few times before finally decanting into a bottle, or you can use cheesecloth.
7. Transfer to a bottle and keep in the fridge for up to five days
8. The residue collected in the sieve can be used in cooking – add to porridge or flapjacks!

Best Food Processor for Oat Milk

Now I don’t know, which is the best food processor for oat milk? But I recently received a fab new blender for Christmas from hubby from Amazon (affiliate link). It’s a Ninja 1200W Ultimate Chopper, Blender & Mini Food Processor and at the time was on sale at half price at around £70. And so far I love it. 

BUY FROM AMAZON

I'm making a new batch every two or three days and hubby is using it in his tea and on cereal. I'm using it in my porridge on a morning instead of cows milk - it's really creamy that way - and I'm going to try it in pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. I haven't progressed to tea as of yet but as I drink more coffee either black or with a shot of ginger syrup, so milk isn't an issue for me there.

It isn't identical in taste to cow's milk - it is different, but also nice. Hubby has quickly gotten used to it in his drinks, although there is abit of residue at the end of a cup of tea, and on his cereal, and at 10p a litre it's a total bargain.

Dairy Free Milk Shakes

You can flavour it too. Once blended and strained return to the oat milk to the blender and simply add 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 2 bananas and a tablespoon of maple syrup for a really tasty and healthy alternative to a thick shake. Yum!

Have you tried Oat Milk? What did you think?

Deb x

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