Homemade sunflower seed milk

Plant-based and allergy friendly.

This creamy, homemade sunflower seed milk is a wonderful plant-based, milk alternative for anyone wishing to avoid dairy or nut based milk. Sunflower seeds are inexpensive and loaded with nutrients, so making milk from these seeds, not only avoids the commercial additives, such as emulsifiers, sugar, and thickeners, it’s budget friendly.

Sunflower seeds have a mild, nutty flavour and blend quickly in the ‘Vibe’ to make a smooth delicious milk. We include vanilla and a dash of maple syrup for a rich fresh taste. You can adjust the thickness of the milk by reducing or adding more water and play around with the recipe to fit your taste or dietary preferences.

Homemade sunflower seed milk is best chilled - use in smoothies, overnight oats, pour over muesli or culture it in a Luvele yogurt maker for a plant-based, allergy friendly homemade yogurt. The recipe is coming soon.

Sunflower seed kernels have a high fat content and like many other nuts and seeds, once removed from their shell are subject to rancidity if not stored correctly. Always purchase them from a store with a high turnover to ensure they are fresh to start with, and store them in a well-sealed glass container, such as the ‘Fresh’ vacuum containers, in the fridge.

Soaking is also essential. This helps to neutralise and wash away the enzyme inhibitors leaving you with the seed’s full nutrient potential. Learn more about the benefits of soaking here.

The Vibe Blender System produces a smooth seed milk in under a minute, which you technically don’t need to strain, it’s that fine. Leaving the pulp in will maximise the nutritional value of the milk but has a strong earthy taste. If the you are primarily using sunflower seed milk in smoothies, then the seedy flavour will get masked by all the other goodies you throw into it. For the best tasting milk, we recommend straining. This unfortunately is the most time-consuming part of the process. If you don’t like waste, store the seed pulp in an airtight container and add it to bread, granola, biscuit or cracker batter.

This homemade sunflower seed milk will separate in the fridge but a quick stir will get it all mixed up and looking like milk again.

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT HERE

Recipe yields: 1 litre

INGREDIENTS

1 ¼ cup raw sunflower seeds (soaked for 8 hours or overnight)
4 cups water  
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons maple syrup (can sub for honey or 2 medjool dates)

METHOD

1.   To soak, place the seeds in a large glass or ceramic bowl and cover with water. Add 1 teaspoon salt and allow to soak at room temperature for 8 hours or overnight.

2.   Drain, and discard the soaking water then rinse the seeds under running water. 
3.   Add the rinsed sunflower seeds, water, salt, vanilla and maple syrup (or sweetener of your choice) into the Vibe Blender jug.
4.   Choose ‘nut’ mode and blend for approx. 40 seconds.

5.   For a smooth milk, run the blended seeds through a nut bag or a piece of muslin cloth to remove the pulp. This step takes a bit of practice and can be messy. Twist and squeeze the bag until all the moisture is removed and only pulp remains.
6.   Store the milk in a sealed container in the fridge and consume within 3-4 days.  

LOVE DAIRY & NUT FREE MILK ALTERNATIVES? TRY HOMEMADE COCONUT MILK, HOMEMADE SOY MILK, HOMEMADE OAT MILK OR HOMEMADE HEMP MILK.

If you make this, or any of our recipes, we would love to see your creations. Leave us a comment, or tag a photo using #luvelelife on Instagram. 

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