Almond milk is a great type of plant-based milk that seems to be gaining popularity by the hour.
I personally love to use almond milk for my morning oatmeal and I definitely prefer it over any other type of milk.
There are many different reasons why more and more people are choosing to use almond milk instead of regular milk.
Almond milk comes with a lot of advantages; it has less saturated fats and there’s less calories in almond milk than regular cow’s milk.
However, as you’ve stumbled across this article you likely find yourself wondering whether you can actually bake with almond milk as well.
Let’s find out right away!
Whether you’d like to bake bread, cake, cinnamon rolls, pancakes or any other delicious treats, you can definitely use almond milk instead of regular milk in baking. Actually, you can use almost all types of plant-based milk for that matter, whether these are made from nuts or dairy.
However there are a few things you need to consider and keep in mind when using almond milk to make baked goods.
What You Need To Know About Baking With Almond Milk
Although you can bake delicious treats like cake or pancakes using almond milk, there are some differences with baking with regular milk.
One of the most important things to consider is the baking time of your baked goods for example.
Most milks that aren’t made from dairy, like almond milk, have more water in them than cow milk does.
Because of this higher water content, your goods will bake a lot faster when you use almond milk.
In order to prevent burning and to make sure your cupcakes are still delicious, you should set a timer between 5 and 10 minutes before the goods are done baking.
This way, you can monitor the process of the baked goods and ensure that they will taste good.
Another thing to consider when you’re baking with almond milk is that the final result can differ from what you’re used to with cow’s milk.
If you want to bake a cake or muffins for example with almond milk, you will notice that they can be slightly drier and not as fluffy as usual.
The almond milk also makes it more difficult for these baked goods to brown well.
Lastly, there will be a difference in the taste of your baked goods if you use almond milk.
When you try your bread, donuts or whatever goods you have baked, you will notice that you can actually taste the almond milk.
Your baked goods will have a slightly nutty flavor, since you used almond milk.
This difference in taste, however, is quite subtle and other people might not even notice it.
I personally love the flavor twist as it just gives my bakings that little bit extra!
You can also adjust some of the other ingredients or change the baking times in order to try and neutralize this flavor of the almond milk.
How Much Almond Milk Should You Use?
When you want to use almond milk for baking instead of regular milk, you won’t really run into problems when it comes to the dosage.
The great thing about almond milk is that you can treat it like cow’s milk in your recipes in terms of the quantity.
You can simply use as much almond milk as the recipe states for cow’s milk.
So if the recipe says that you need a cup of milk, you can use a cup of almond milk, so it’s an easy peasy 1:1 ratio.
Is It Better To Use Sweetened Or Unsweetened Almond Milk For Baking?
People who use almond milk to drink or for baking their pancakes get presented with different options.
In the store, you will find both sweetened as well as unsweetened almond milk.
Which one of these is better for baking?
There’s actually not one true answer to this question, since you can use both of them really well.
It all depends on what you personally prefer.
For example, if you want to bake bread, you can choose to use unsweetened almond milk.
However, this can cause the almond milk to come more through more easily, as the nutty flavor isn’t ‘masked’ by sweetness.
You can also use sweetened almond milk really easily. This will give you even more options.
You can simply use the sweetened almond milk and bake your bread (or any other type of baked goods for that matter) or you can change some more ingredients.
If the almond milk you use is sweetened, you could choose to reduce the sugar in the recipe.
This way, you can prevent your baked goods from becoming too sweet.
There’s flavored almond milk available as well, like vanilla-flavor.
This kind of almond milk can also easily be used while baking, but you can change the ingredients again if you want to.
For example, if you use almond milk with vanilla flavor, you can leave the vanilla ingredient out of the recipe if you want or just reduce it slightly.
This way, there won’t be too much of one flavor in your bakings.
Is It OK To Heat Almond Milk?
You can definitely heat almond milk as it will turn out perfectly fine in many recipes.
Whether you’d like to cook some oats or bake things such as cupcakes or pancakes, almond milk is a great substitute for regular milk.
Just make sure to heat it up gently, whether you’re using the stove, microwave or oven, and don’t let it overcook (the same goes for regular milk of course), as this may affect the final flavor.
Keep an eye on whatever it is you’re cooking and your dish should turn out great.
Final Thoughts
So, by now it should be clear that almond milk is a great substitute for cow’s milk when it comes to baking.
Whether you’re planning on baking bread, cake, muffins, pancakes or any other type of delicious goodies, almond milk surely won’t disappoint.
The most important thing to keep in mind when baking with almond milk though is that it contains more water than regular cow’s milk.
Because of this fact, your baked goods often need less time in the oven (usually about 5 to 10 minutes less) so make sure to keep an eye on them in order to prevent over baking.
Now, the only thing left for me to say is enjoy your delicious plant-based baked goodies!