Thirst Quenchers
Lockdown period really does make us push our boundaries. I never ever in my life thought I’d one day be making milk. But here goes. Taking inventory of dry goods and storage cupboard, we discovered bags and bags of rolled gluten free oats. Of course, granola is a great option – but what do you pour over the granola when four people in the house are vegan? So – I thought, why not oat milk? I’ve read about it countless times, and decided it was worth giving a shot. We’ve been making this repeatedly now – to use in coffee, tea, hot chocolate and, also to pour over our homemade granola!
Oat milk is naturally a very creamy thick milk – which is the perfect option to use for your warm drinks, baked goodies and, most importantly, coffee. Coffee in fact tastes better with oat milk due to the luscious creaminess. If your oats are certified organic, well, then you’ve got yourself some organic oat milk!!
Soaking the oats – is variable and depends on the quality of your oats. If you’re using Kellogg’s or Quaker rolled oats, you can greatly reduce the amount of time of soaking (I recommend only 15 minutes). Using large, sturdy gluten free rolled oats that are imported, makes soaking overnight easier to blend. This is the part to experiment yourself. My rolled oats are gluten free, but not as firm, so I soaked for just 30 minutes to good results.
The toughest part of this milk, is squeezing the milk out of the muslin cloth – you gotta really use those muscles! And since I don’t have any, I used a fine sieve and spoon that I normally use for dusting sugar and it worked quite well, albeit takes a bit longer.
Why do some oat milk be mushy? This comes down to the blending part – if you over blend – and the itch to do so will be there, I know – this actually ends up doing the opposite effect. So be stingy in this part, do not go over 40 seconds – have some faith in me!
There a few variations to this you can try:
Add in more vanilla, some cinnamon, turmeric, cacao powder, frozen or fresh fruit, matcha – NOTE: all these added flavourings must be added to the milk after straining. So after you strain and get your milk out, put the milk back into the blender, with the add-in flavourings and blend again, until combined and creamy.
Sweetener: I added none to my version, but you can add a few soaked dates for natural sweetness, some add honey (this is not vegan then), or agave syrup or maple syrup. If natural sweetener isn’t your concern, then by all means, use some icing sugar.
Zero-Waste
Psst… did you know oat milk is the best milk for our environment? It is also the easiest, cheapest and zero-waste!
The leftover part of the oats in the muslin cloth – is full of fibre and nutritious and absolutely delicious. So, don’t throw it away! Place into a ramekin with some fresh fruit and bake in the oven for the best breakfast ever! And for a real treat – swirl into Oatmeal Coffee Cake (which is also vegan!).
Health benefits of oat milk:
It contains dietary fibre beta-glucan, which helps lower cholesterol
Oats are high in soluble fibre – which is more readily accepted by our gut, iron, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals
Higher in protein and fibre in comparison to other alternate milks
The Recipe
Serves 350 ml
Ingredients
1 cup gluten free rolled oats (old fashioned)
2 + 2 cups drinking water
pinch of salt
pinch of vanilla beans
Instructions
Soak the oats in 2 cups of water and leave for 30 minutes
Then drain the oats, discarding the water
Place the soaked oats in a blender, add the 2 cups of water, vanilla bean and salt and process for 30 seconds – not more
Pour the mixture through a muslin cloth into a large bowl or use a fine strainer and push down with a spoon
Pour this milk into glass bottle and store in refrigerator
Shelf life: 3 days
Note: do not shake the bottle before using – let the particles that sink to the bottom stay there!
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