Hickory Nut Milk

You can make a delicious and nutritious hickory milk from the hickory nut. It is “as sweet and rich as fresh cream.” It has all the glorious taste of hickory nuts and it kind of reminds me of caramel. You can drink it straight or you can use this milk in your smoothies, ice cream, popsicles, and baked goods. It even tastes amazing in savory dishes like soups, rice and stir fry sauces.

The best part is, it’s simple to make! There are several techniques, but they are all pretty much the same: crack the nuts and boil them.

  1. Crack the nuts in whatever method you prefer or purchase them already cracked from me.
  2. Bring water to a boil. In general you want about 3 to 1 water. So one cup of nuts is three cups of water.
  3. Reduce the water to a simmer and put in the hickory nuts.
  4. Allow the nuts to simmer for a minimum of an hour but up to several hours. Make sure you stir every so often.
  5. Before you are done the nuts should float to the top. Skim these floating nuts off the top.
  6. Blend the skimmings up in the food processor
  7. Pour the milk out of the pot into containers of your choosing. Make sure you strain it as you pour.

You can freeze the milk and use it when you’re ready.