Oatmeal milk

My facebook newsfeed is now filled with status about how hot it is in Vietnam. I’m quite lucky since Grenoble is pretty much surrounded by mountains, so even though the weather is warmer now, it’s not yet at the point of making you feel like melting. Still, the temperature is enough for me to crave cool drinks and desserts. My kitchen, therefore, has been pumping out a bunch of desserts the past few days, which I of course will share with you guys on this blog.

To kick things off I want to introduce a very simple and quick recipe: Oatmeal milk. I bought a box of oatmeal milk from the supermarket once and was quite satisfy with the taste, so I wanted to try making it at home. I have to be honest though, when I first taste the homemade version I was a bit…disappointed, because the milk doesn’t have the same rich taste as the store-bought version, and after reading from other bloggers, they all say that homemade oatmeal milk taste very different from store-bought, since the method is different and store-bought also have added ingredients.

I didn’t want to waste the milk so I had to try and drink everything, and the taste started to grow on me. The homemade version is less rich, true, but it has a much more prominent  natural ‘sweetness’ of the oatmeal, and it also feels much fresher. I added a bit of vanilla extract and sugar so it’s much easier to drink. It’s very quick and easy to make oatmeal milk so if you have some oatmeal to spare, you should really give this a try, after all, homemade version is still safer and more authentic than store-bought

Công thức tiếng Việt: Sữa yến mạch

 Preparation time: 10 minutes

 Cooking time: 10 minutes

 Yields: 750ml milk

* Ingredients:

• 110g oatmeal
• 750ml room temperature water
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• Sweetener of your choice (sugar, honey, agave nectar, etc)

* Directions:

1. Blend the oatmeal with 200ml water from the 750ml. I used a food processor so I only blend the oatmeal with part of the water, if you have a big blender then use all the water.

110g oatmeal; 750ml room temperature water

 Oatmeal has two types: steel-cut and rolled, and they differ in the processing. Steel-cut oats has a firmer texture than rolled oats, so if you use steel-cut, soak them in water for 20 minutes, drain and rinse well before blending.

2. Mix the blended oatmeal with the rest of the water. Pass the mixture through a sieve, using a spatula or a spoon to press out all the milk.

3. Pour the strained milk again through cheesecloth, squeeze the cheesecloth to extract all the milk and get rid of any left-over oat pulp.

 My hands are quite weak so I did the straining two times since I find it easier to squeeze the cheesecloth after one straining. You can skip the sieve and just use the cheesecloth from the beginning.

4. Pour the milk in a saucepan, put on medium heat, and stir constantly until the milk starts to bubble on the edges. Turn off the heat, mix in vanilla extract and sweetener to your taste.

¼ tsp vanilla extract; sweetener of your choice

The milk can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. Since it’s homemade the milk will split in the fridge, but a quick shake will return it to the normal texture.

This post is part of the monthly link up party Our Growing Edge. This event aims to connect food bloggers and inspire us to try new things. This month is hosted by Joana from My Gut Feeling.