There are a myriad of reasons why I make my own almond milk at home. (And why I would absolutely never ever buy oat milk, cashew milk, or any other milk from the grocery store either.)
The first that comes to mind most readily are this: almonds (and nuts, seeds, grains and legumes – all popular “malk” ingredients” need to be sprouted before they’re made bioavailable. And no commercial malk brands are taking the time, energy or expense to do this properly. So what’s left on the shelves is an abundance of difficult-to-digest “malks,” pumped with fillers, gums and additives. Basically cloudy water we pay a lot for and benefit from very little. I don’t want this kind of “health food” anywhere near my body or my family’s table.
The second is that, if I didn’t make my own almond milk, I wouldn’t have the abundance of sprouted almond flour to hide in granola, homemade cereal, quick-breads, protein bars and cookies just like this.
No, these Cardamom-Rose Cookies are the happiest, healthiest kind of serendipidous.
Yes, but also NO.
I sprout my own almonds, yes. Actually, I don’t really do anything nature does it for me and then the oven finishes off the process while I’m sleeping. You can do this too with about 5 minutes of effort at about 1/4 of the cost of buying sprouted nuts at the grocery store. (You can learn more about how and why I do this here in Back to Forward!)
Then, when the nuts are done dehydrating (again, this happens in my oven while I sleep peacefully,) they’re ready to use to make almond milk. Making almond milk used to be a real labor of love with all those milk bags and milking the bag and so on and so forth. But these days, I have this incredible little device (not sponsored, just actually and truly AMAZING) and it makes *sprouted* almond milk, with the homemade sprouted almonds, in a bout 1 minute and 30 seconds.
There is nothing that’s a hassle about this, and the beautiful bi-product is that we have an abundance of sprouted almond flour on our hands to do all sorts of things with!
So many ways!
Through the spring, our bodies shift metabolic priority and to support our biological processes, it’s important that we fuel with lighter proteins, fats and fewer carbohydrates so the body can spin off the bioenergy of winter, known as Kapha dosha in Ayurveda. To help this process along, it’s also helpful for us to consume more fiber and fewer sweets, and that’s where these little cookies come in.
A touch of healthy fats, light and digestible protein, plenty of fiber and just a touch of sweetness, not to mention a pungent and astringent hit that helps Kapha clear from cardamom and rose, we have a very unsuspecting little cookie that supports our spring well-being.
Are just such a treat. They’re VERY tender, and pack well in a container but not well in a backpack. I recently carried them on a long-haul flight where I wanted some dense, supportive and sweet nourishment somewhere over the Atlantic and they were perfect!
There’s really no process here – all you need is a bowl, a spatula and a few ingredients that are already in your pantry. You’ll need to be attentive to the dough and make sure it’s sticking for you before you roll into balls, but that’s about it.
And as for substitutions, I don’t recommend that you make any. This is a simple recipe, designed to use align and support us through the spring and we want to keep it that way!
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