This dairy free, nut free, gluten free vanilla coconut oat milk is a delicious and easy homemade alternative to regular milk that can be made in less than 30 minutes.
The history of milk consumption in my life is pretty entertaining.
From breast milk as a baby, whole milk until age 2, 2% until the the 90s hit and skim became the “craze” and unfortunately stuck with me through my college years as I poured that watery disgustingness into many a bowls of cereal, to a slow creep back up through the percentages in the last decade until today where you’ll find whole milk, almond milk, almond coconut milk, and coconut milk (both canned and cartoned) in my fridge at any given time.
The only variation I haven’t ever gotten on board with being soy. I think it’s just nasty and thankfully have no reason to drink it.
As the whole dairy free milk thing has gone mainstream, the more and more I saw and heard about making your own.
So, onto my pin board of kitchen bucket list things it went (along with homemade butter, croissants, yogurt and other things I’ve yet to accomplish) and sat for months, probably even close to a year.
Until yesterday.
Shockingly, we were down to the last cup or so of milk in the house and I really didn’t feel like going out to the grocery store for the 4th day in a row.
So I finally made my own.
The best part about this nut free oat milk version is you don’t need a cheesecloth, just a blender and strainer.
In less than 30 minutes (which includes soaking time) you have a deliciously creamy vanilla coconut oat milk.
I think the only ones it won’t please are the paleo-ers because otherwise we’ve got nut-free, dairy-free and gluten-free covered.
No emulisifiers you can’t pronounce, a sweetness level you get to control and the satisfaction of saying “I made that” with every bowl of cereal you pour it into.
If you’re more into making homemade nut milks, be sure to check out my almond pulp recipes post for a bunch of ideas on how to use the leftover pulp! Waste nothing!
Need the perfect pairing for this coconut oat milk? Try it with some delicious homemade coconut almond granola. It’s also great for any of your dairy-free baking experiments.
Vanilla Coconut Oat Milk
Ingredients
- 1 cup steel cut oats, gluten free
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 6 cups water
- 3 pitted dates, I used regular dates, not medjool. If using medjool, I’d probably just use two as they’re bigger
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Soak both oats and coconut in water (in separate bowls) for about 15 minutes.
- Drain the coconut and place it in a blender.
- Drain and thoroughly rinse the oats until they no longer have a slimy feeling to them then add to the blender with the coconut.
- Add the 6 cups of water to the blender and blend for 1-2 minutes on high speed until completely smooth.
- Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve/strainer into a large bowl. Use a spatula to push the liquid through, you’ll likely have to do this in batches depending on the size of your strainer. The oat and coconut pulp will be left in the strainer, you can save it for oatmeal/porridge, cookies, smoothies, etc.
- Pour the liquid back into the blender, add the dates, vanilla, cinnamon and salt and blend for about 20 seconds on high until fully incorporated and smooth.
- Pour milk into a jar or can and keep refrigerated. Milk will last 4-5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Udi’s Gluten Free. The opinions and text are all mine.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Love this! I can’t wait to try it ;) Thanks for the great recipe and gorgeous photos and that gif! You have to teach me to do that ;) lol xo ella
Thanks, girl :) The gif is super easy! Take a bunch of shots on your tripod (try not to move it!) and then use a site to create it! I used this one https://www.gifmaker.me/ for this post but have used others before with success too.
Thanks girl! I will try that for sure one of these days ;)
I tried once and the loop was about a second for each photo – pretty much the most painful thing to watch ;) lol
Hugs!!! Have a great week!!
Ella
I’ve had pretty much the exact same milk history! You make DIYing it sound so easy, I guess I have no excuse and I’ll finally have to give the homemade nondairy milk thing a try :)
this looks AMAZING!! and it looks totally doable for me… i usually have most of those ingredients on hand… hmmm totally going to attempt this!
Now this is PERFECT!!
this is a great idea..although im doing whole30 and cant do it now, i will definitely be trying it.
try all coconut! unless whole30 treats milk like desserts and doesn’t let you have “paleo-ed” versions of dairy. Too many rules with that one, I forget!
I love making my own milk and love the blend of coconut and oats as a milk base!! I need to try your addition of dates to this milk – amazing!! Pinned!
Wow! Never knew milk was this quick to make! I loved your timeline of you drinking milk, haha..my mom made homemade soy milk when we were younger. It’s pretty good! I drink all kinds of milk now: soy, almond, whole – so delicious! You’re making me want a large cookie & a glass of cold whole milk haha
This is so cool! Adding to my to-do list!
Why I have I not been making my own coconut milk? I definitely need to try this! Also, so happy to know that I’m not the only one that has 4 types of milk in the fridge!
I sometimes feel like I need a fridge just for milk…
Love the gif! So fun that you made your own milk :) It’s nice to have that option.