Cinnamon-Vanilla Cashew Milk

A couple months ago, I found myself in the refrigerated beverage section of Whole Foods. Mikey and I had made the trip for the tasty hot bar as a quick dinner fix, and I decided to grab a couple juices to take home and enjoy later. I grabbed a few, including an interesting-looking “White Juice.” I hadn’t thought to check the prices of said juices because, c’mon…they’re juices, one would imagine they couldn’t be more than $3 or $4, right? Wrong. Imagine our surprise when 2 dinners and 3 juices came out to be over $40! Each of the juices was around $7, with the “White Juice” clocking in at around $15. These are single serve juices, you guys. “What are they putting in these, liquid gold?!” I exclaimed. We begrudgingly paid for them, and I vowed to never blindly purchase juice again.

The costly culprit

When I cracked open the white one the next day, I was elated to find that it was one of the best things I had ever tasted. But, worth $15? Nah, but only because I knew I could make it myself for less. I scoured the internet for a recipe that could act as a dupe, and came across this one. With a quick swap of agave for the maple syrup, I had nearly the exact same juice, without paying an arm and a leg!

I’m hard-pressed to call this a “juice.” It’s really a nut milk, much like almond milk, except, in my opinion, creamier. I’m by no means trying to give up cow milk, but if I did, I would be happy as a clam just drinking this until the end of time. I can do almond milk in a smoothie, or soy milk in a coffee, but I have never been a fan of milk substitutes on their own—like in cereal or by the glass; however, I can down a mug of this stuff in 10 seconds flat. I am not joking, it is so freaking good. It’s also amazing in cereal (especially Chocolate Cheerios, FYI).

The cinnamon and vanilla notes are perfect fall flavors (in fact, I used this in place of real milk in a pumpkin-y recipe that will be up soon). I urge you to try this super easy recipe, and please tell me if you think it’s as incredible as I do!

I used my new Vitamix to make this recipe (which, by the way, is now officially the coolest thing I own), but if you don’t own a super high-powered blender, I would advise soaking the cashews in the water for 4 hours and then blending. I’ve made the milk both ways :]