There are a lot of really interesting dairy milk alternatives out there, from sunflower to coconut milk, and all of them have their pros and cons and taste wildly different from one another.
However, there’s one milk alternative you’ve probably never heard of, let alone tried: barley milk
While it might seem strange to drink, let alone make yourself, barley milk is actually super satisfying – sweet, creamy, and surprisingly filling, and it is both vegan and incredibly easy to make it yourself at home!
How Can I Use My Homemade Barley Milk?
Barley milk can be used as a direct dairy substitute, and it even manages to hit all of those same flavors and textures that normal milk provides.
It is not only rich, creamy, and slightly sweet, but it also leaves you feeling surprisingly full and satisfied after just a single glass.
Just like you can use barley flour in place of regular flour in all kinds of recipes, so too can you also use barley milk as an ingredient in recipes that use milk, like smoothies or even in baking!
What Kind Of Special Equipment Do I Need To Make Barley Milk?
Making barley milk is actually pretty simple, and only really needs a pot with a lid on it to cook the barley and a blender to blend everything together.
If you want your barley milk to be exceptionally thin, closer in texture to 2% milk, then you might want to strain it as well. If you do that, you will need some cheesecloth, a fine-meshed sieve, and a bowl to catch it in.
This is really only necessary if you are looking to drink your barley milk and you like your dairy alternatives to be super thin. If you don’t mind the thickness, then you can just enjoy it as is!
Ingredients
1/4 cup Pearled Barley
4 cups Water
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 tbsp Neutral Flavored Oil (like vegetable or canola)
How To Make Homemade Barley Milk
Step 1 – Add all of your ingredients together into a saucepan with a tightly fitting lid and bring to a boil on the stovetop
Step 2 – Cover the saucepan, reduce the heat to a low simmer, and cook for between 15 and 20 minutes, or until the barley is noticeably soft and pliable.
Step 3 – Once cooked, turn the heat off and allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes, or until the water is cool enough to touch without burning yourself.
Step 4 – Pour the whole mixture into a blender and blend, starting on low speed.
Step 5 – Once everything has mostly blended, add in your oil, and finish blending at a high speed
Step 6 – Pour your barley milk into a lidded container and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
If you want your barley milk to be thinner and closer in texture to milk:
Step 7 – Pour your barley milk through a cheesecloth set over a sieve. Press the mixture down through the cheesecloth to ensure that any leftover solid bits of barley are left behind, leaving only thin, pure barley milk.
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Troubleshooting Tips
• If your barley doesn’t seem to want to blend properly and instead sticks in clumps in the corners of your blender, try turning it off and scraping the sides and corners of the blender with a spatula. Sometimes the little bits of barley can congeal in crevices and corners if your blender isn’t just the right shape, but a little bit of stirring everything up usually fixes it.
• You might find that your barley milk doesn’t quite have that subtle sweetness that dairy milk has, or you might even find that it might taste a little too sweet! A lot of the variation is going to depend on the specific source of your barley and the type that is available in your local area. Some barley is just sweeter than others! If you find that your barley milk just isn’t sweet enough, feel free to just add a little bit of sugar or honey to sweeten it if you want.
• If you are looking for a thinner barley milk and you’re running it through a cheesecloth, you might find that it stops draining after a little while, despite still looking really wet. If this happens, just gather up the ends of the cheesecloth and squeeze it gently, encouraging the last little bits of the barley milk to leave the congealed barley solids behind. Just be careful of it spilling over the top!
Nutritional Facts
For the health-conscious out there, here are the nutritional details for 1 cup of unstrained barley milk:
Calories: 78
Total Fat: 3.6 grams
Saturated Fat: 0.7 grams
Cholesterol: 0 milligrams
Sodium: 299 milligrams
Total Carbohydrates: 10.7 grams
Dietary Fiber: 2 grams
Sugars: 1.1 grams
Protein: 1.2 gram
Potassium: 37 milligrams
FAQs
This recipe uses a little bit of vegetable oil to compensate for the lack of fat in barley, so as to still give you that richness that regular milk has.
You can really use any kind of oil you want here, as the goal is to just add that touch of fat to the barley milk. If you use something neutral, like vegetable or canola, then you can expect to not really notice any kind of flavor.
However, if you use something like olive oil, or even avocado oil, your barley milk will start to taste like whatever kind of oil you used! So unless you want olive oil-flavored barley milk, stick to neutral-flavored oils instead.
After storing your barley milk in the fridge, you might find that it begins to separate into two distinct layers. This isn’t anything to worry about, as it is just the barley congealing and settling away from the barley liquid.
If this happens, just give it a really vigorous stir to get everything mixed back together, and you shouldn’t notice any kind of difference!
How to Make Your Own Barley Milk
Creamy, delicious, and possibly the simplest milk substitute ever, Barley Milk is one dairy-alternative you need to try.
Ingredients
1/4 cup Pearled Barley
4 cups Water
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 tbsp Neutral Flavored Oil (like vegetable or canola)
Instructions
Step 1 – Add all of your ingredients together into a saucepan with a tightly fitting lid and bring to a boil on the stovetop
Step 2 – Cover the saucepan, reduce the heat to a low simmer, and cook for between 15 and 20 minutes, or until the barley is noticeably soft and pliable.
Step 3 – Once cooked, turn the heat off and allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes, or until the water is cool enough to touch without burning yourself.
Step 4 – Pour the whole mixture into a blender and blend, starting on low speed.
Step 5 – Once everything has mostly blended, add in your oil, and finish blending at a high speed
Step 6 – Pour your barley milk into a lidded container and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
If you want your barley milk to be thinner and closer in texture to milk:
Step 7 – Pour your barley milk through a cheesecloth set over a sieve. Press the mixture down through the cheesecloth to ensure that any leftover solid bits of barley are left behind, leaving only thin, pure barley milk.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving Size: 4
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