I’ve never been a milk drinker. Many moons ago when I was at primary school, every day we were given cartons of milk at morning break-time and I have very vivid memories of doing my best to get away without drinking it. I hated the stuff.
Nearly 20 years later and vegan, you definitely won’t find dairy milk in my fridge, but I do now love drinking non-dairy milk! I’ll happily drink a tall glass plain but it also goes in my almost-daily smoothies, baking, breakfasts and more.
Homemade non-dairy milk is far superior to the kind you find in the shops and I try and keep a bottle/jug of it in the fridge at all times. If you’re new to homemade non-dairy milk, see my post here for instructions on making your own.
Besides the creamy milk you get from making your own, there’s also the bonus of the leftover nut/seed pulp. This doesn’t have to be simply thrown away and can be turned into all sorts of other tasty things. Last year I shared my recipe for Raw Cacao, Coconut & Raspberry Cupcakes which make use of leftover almond pulp, but more often than not what I make with it is granola!
After making a batch of milk, squeeze out the pulp until it’s very dry and store in a container in the freezer until you have enough to put to use. It should be very dry and crumbly as pictured above.
I’ve made all sorts of flavour variations of this breakfast cereal/snack but decided to share my latest: Cherry-Coconut Almond Pulp Granola.
One of my testers said it reminded her of broken-up cookies and I so agree! It’s chewy like a coconut macaroon. Incredibly moreish and dangerously addictive!
Have fun playing with different dried fruit and nut mix-ins. I’m thinking of trying a chocolat-ey variation next!
You could even keep this granola completely raw and dehydrate it instead of baking if you're lucky enough to own a dehydrator.
Ingredients
- 2 C (approx 200 g/7 oz) lightly packed almond pulp, from making nut milk*
- 1/3 C Almonds, chopped lengthwise into slivers
- 1/3 C Shredded coconut
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 4 Tbsp Coconut oil
- 1/3 C Brown rice syrup*
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 Tbsp Lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/3 C Dried cherries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 150C/300F.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the almond pulp, chopped almonds, coconut and salt.
- In a small pan, heat the coconut oil, brown rice syrup, lemon zest and juice and vanilla over low heat, until melted together.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir well to combine everything. The mixture will look quite wet.
- Spread the mix in a thin layer on a baking sheet (or two) and bake for 30 minutes, undisturbed. After 30 mins give it a stir, breaking it up into clumps. Continue to bake, checking and stirring every 15 minutes, until fully dry and crisp- up to 1 hour.
- Note that it does crisp up a little more on cooling.
- Leave to cool completely then stir in the dried cherries.
- Serve with non-dairy yogurt or milk, sprinkle on smoothies or eat by the handful as a snack.
Notes
* If your almond pulp is not fully dry, before proceeding to the steps above, spread out the pulp on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 150C/ 300F OR dry using a dehydrator.
* I have only tested this recipe with brown rice syrup. I imagine other liquid sweeteners would work but note that brown rice syrup is stickier and less sweet than agave/coconut nectar or maple syrup.
Do you make your own non-dairy milk? What do you usually do with the pulp?
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Looks delicious Emma! I LOVE almond pulp and you are so right, homemade almond milk is 10XXX times better than storebought. I actually cannot even bring myself to ever buy the stuff again…it is actually more chemicals than actual food/real ingredients!! Your granola looks gorgeous and I love that your tester called it a chewy cookie, oh my!
Thanks so much Brandi
It’s sad that the store bought non-dairy milks are usually so junky as, though I’m happy making my own milk at home and know how easy it is to do so, the majority of the population would probably prefer to buy it.
I’ve made a similar cereal/granola using almond pulp which has never reached my blog! It’s a great way to use up the left-over pulp which more than often just ends up going in the waste, unfortunately.
I don’t think mine looked as good as yours does though!
This one’s been a long time coming Vicky, trust me! I’ve been making this granola, or near enough, for over a year!
I love how clustered this granola is!
Do you think regular ground almonds would work here (for those of us who want to make this recipe without the step of making the nut milk first)?
Thanks!
A good granola always has clusters! I’m afraid I honestly couldn’t say r.e. the ground almonds. I think almond pulp is mainly fiber and a little fat since a lot goes into the milk, whereas ground almonds are moister with higher levels of oil so might not work the same way…
If you try the ground almonds, do let me know though!
Wow, Emma, this looks amazing! I adore homemade nut milk but I rarely make it because a) I find nuts are quite expensive (*sad face*) and b) it rarely lasts a day in my home, haha! I just drink it straight from the bottle and don’t even have the patience to wait for my breakfast to use it. I too wish I had a dehydrator – that’s something I’m looking to invest in in the future!
Thanks Clem. And we would totally have an amazing kitchen if we lived together! We could share the high powered blender, dehydrator, juicer and everything else! 😉
I know almonds aren’t the cheapest but I did a price comparison and worked out that 1 litre of homemade almond milk costs me about £1.80 which is pretty comparable to the stuff you can buy! (Goodness Direct almonds, not organic, are £1.30/ 100g and I use 1 C/140g almonds to make 1 litre or more milk) plus you get granola as well!
True, we’d have a pretty cool kitchen!
Now that you mention the price of almonds, I wonder if it’d be even cheaper if you bought the almonds in bulk, for example from somewhere like Suma Wholefoods (they’re the only bulk foods seller I know at the moment). Well, you’ve convinced me! You must be on your holiday now, enjoy yourself! xoxo
Yummy! I’m always looking for ways to use up almond pulp.
Super! Hope you try it Lauren
I just came across a recipe in the Choosing Raw book for almond pulp porridge which I’m also keen to try.
Love this! I’ve been meaning to make both granola and nut milk for ages, so now I have the perfect excuse
I love that your granola recipe is so simple too, and your photos are mouthwateringly pretty as always!
Thanks so much Claire. You have no reason not to make both now! Let me know how you get on
I know exactly what you mean with regards vivid memories of hating school milk!! I used to try and sneakily pour it down the sink until we were given the option to bring in my own cartons juice. Even now I only really have the non-dairy versions on my porridge, that said I’d happily drink a glass of almond or coconut milk.
I can’t believe the government is going to make milk available to all school kids! Madness!
And yes, I would sneakily head over to the bin, throwing it in gently so you couldn’t tell the carton was still full!
I definitely need to try this! I’m always looking for ways to use the almond pulp after making a batch of homemade almond milk…I hate to let it go to waste. And I even have all of the ingredients in the house! 😀
Perfect! Hope you give it a try Michelle. No need to let the pulp go to waste.
I love ways to use up nut pulp from making nut milk. This looks so good and I am definitely going to give a try next time I make almond milk!
I hope you do try it Katie! It vanished alarmingly quickly 😉 Oh well, I guess I’ll just make more!
I have a nut milk bag, but have not yet made my own nut milk. The one use I’ve found for almond meal so far is breading, in place of breadcrumbs. I’m always looking for new ways to use almond meal, and I love home made granola, so this seems like the perfect combination.
I love almond meal in so many things- breading is a good one and it’s great in baking for moisture and richness.
You must try your own nut milk soon Susan! You’re all set up already and it only takes a few minutes.
Your milk story is pretty much identical to my own - it was such a revelation to discover non-dairy varieties I could drink plain without gagging. This granola looks like a gorgeous benefit of making milk at home and a really delicious way to start the day…or end the day 😉
Not just me then! It makes my stomach turn just thinking about drinking dairy milk :S
And I used to always eat cereal before bed, so I agree, granola in the morning, night or at any time of the day!
I couldn’t stand the milk at school either. Even the smell of it made me feel ill
It seems weird that they encourage kids to drink cow’s milk when it’s one of the most common food allergies/intolerances. I spent my childhood and teenage years with eczema patches and when I quit dairy, they all disappeared within a week!
Your granola looks and sounds utterly scrumptious! ♥ Making almond milk is still on my ‘to do’ list but I know that when I try it, I’m going to love it. I’ve got a huge bag of almonds here… just need to get round to buying the nut bag!
So interesting about the eczema Sharon. Dairy just isn’t healthy, for anyone, I don’t think. I won’t start on the cows….
Get yourself a nut milk bag Sharon. I guarantee you’ll love homemade nut milk on the first sip!
Yay! Another (delicious) way to use pulp!!
Thanks Annie! I’ve got a few more ideas on my list to try too!
I’ve never made my own nut milks before but this whole pulp thing is making me want to give it a shot. Might be a risky recipe for me though - I’m terrible with granola, ESPECIALLY if I make it myself. It just disappears. It’s more tempting than cake hot out of the oven. And far easier to overindulge on as well… XD
Haha, you’re not alone, don’t worry! This batch disappeared rather alarmingly quickly! It’s just too moreish. That’s not a reason to avoid making it though! 😀
perfection!!
This looks delicious, such a great way to use up leftover pulp and cherries and coconut is always a winner in my book!
Thanks Laura. Cherries and coconut is a classic isn’t it? I should try out some more things using that flavour combo…
This looks really wonderful granola - I’d jump out of bed for this!
Mary
Thanks so much Mary
I’ve made a lot of variations on it over the past year. It’s the favourite way I’ve used up my almond pulp.
Interesting, my mother hates milk and cheese, so dairy wasn’t a huge thing to her or in my life at all. And yes, I hated the idea of drinking milk and it smelled weird, right? Thank you, Emma, I’ve always wondered what I would do with the leftover pulp and looked for some recipes (but most of them require lots of steps). If these taste like broken-up cookies and/or coconut macaroons, I’m so in! Btw, Emma, I made your caramelized ‘pears’ (I used angelcots instead) and can’t wait to share it on the blog! Sometimes I make my own nut milk, but it can be quite time consuming. I’m experimenting with hemp milk at the moment.
OH MY GOODNESS. This looks like HEAVEN! In the last picture, is that vegan yogurt?
If so, what brand? I’m on a quest to find good vegan yogurt. The ones I’ve tried so far I don’t like
If you have any suggestions, please let me know!
<3 Julia
Haha, thanks for your enthusiasm! It was super tasty…though it vanished too quickly! I’m in the UK, not sure where you are so you might not have the same brands of yogurt. I like Sojade natural soy yogurt and Coyo or Coconut Collaborative coconut yogurts best.
I will have to try this with the almond pulp I have in my freezer. Homemade almond milk is delicious, and it is great to have another recipe to use the pulp. Thanks for sharing!
Please do give it a try! I just finished making another batch of almond milk and am building up my pulp supply again
this looks seriously GOOD. home made granola just has to be the best thing ever, love it. definitely adding cherries next time i bake a batch!
The cherries were awesome in there! Definitely throw some in to your next batch.
Thanks for stopping by
Your granola looks so good. I just tried your recipe and it did not stick together at all. Maybe I dried my almond pulp out too much? I have other recipes that call for it to be dried out, like flour, so that’s what I did here. There was no moisture at all in the pulp I used. Let me know how you make yours. I definitely want to try again. I will say this…it smells wonderful. My husband was using almond milk on his cereal and I convinced him to make his own so there wouldn’t be so many additives like in store bought almond milk. Now I need a way to use all this pulp!
Hi Jill, thanks so much for trying the recipe. Sorry it didn’t stick together though. I haven’t made this one in a little while but the only thing I can think of is that maybe you didn’t use brown rice syrup? It’s very sticky and is pretty essential as a binder here. Honey would probably also work.
Yum! I love cherries. Great version of granola