Confession: I as soon as by chance served a person I used to be courting a bowl of granola with two-month previous cashew milk in it. Worse but, he instantly clocked it as tasting “off.” I rapidly grabbed a spoon and confirmed that it had an eau du rubbish, then apologized profusely and tossed it instantly, however the injury had been completed. Whereas there have been no lasting well being ramifications, I felt fairly horrible about it. I had rolled the cube with an apparently classic field of cashew milk, and it was not cool.
It was sitting within the door of my fridge for an ambiguous time period that felt like “some time,” however not dangerously so. That occurs usually, as a result of as an individual who lives alone and simply finds use for a splash or a half-cup of dairy-free milk right here and there, I’m hardly ever in a position to get by way of a whole field inside its expiration window. And till lately, I believed that this was simply an unlucky reality of life, much like the “How It Feels After I Purchase One other Bag of Spinach Simply to Rot in My Fridge” shared expertise meme.
I’ve made an excellent discovery that appears to be the antidote to this downside: oat milk powder. After I first heard of it, I scrunched my nostril; it felt like a riddle a couple of strong turning into a liquid turning into a strong once more. However as soon as I thought of it, it really made a lot sense. Made by a model known as Wildly Natural that additionally makes different fascinating foodstuffs corresponding to coconut syrup (which I like in my yogurt) and fermented cacao nibs (surprisingly addictive), it’s a shelf-stable type of oat milk that simply requires a bit of zhuzh again to life by mixing it with water or into one other liquid, and voila, you have got the creaminess you want with out having to show into the Math Woman GIF making an attempt to recollect what number of days in the past you opened your field of oat milk.
Listed here are a couple of makes use of I’ve already discovered for it, after having a bag for under every week:
I merely can not drink black espresso. I couldn’t care much less what that claims about my character (I don’t imagine you’re extra particular for struggling by way of joylessly bitter bean water), however it does create a difficulty if I get up to the horrific discovery that I’m out of half-and-half. Schlepping to the grocery retailer at 8:30 within the morning feels at greatest inconvenient and at worst torturous. When you’ve got oat milk powder chilling in your cupboard, this isn’t a difficulty.
You possibly can simply throw a few spoonfuls within the backside of a mug or glass, prime it with a double shot of espresso, combine it with a mini whisk or a type of useful frother issues from Amazon, and also you’ve obtained an impromptu cortado. (It has simply three components — oats, coconut oil, and enzymes — so it’s form of like a more healthy, hyper-minimalist model of Espresso Mate.)
Throwing a spoonful into your smoothie makes it extra-creamy and easy. Because the taste is fairly impartial, it enhances texture whereas letting your fruit, protein powder, or different components take heart stage.
I like Dealer Joe’s prompt oatmeal with flax, however prompt oatmeal can find yourself a bit watery when you don’t completely nail the ratio of sizzling water to cereal. I’ve discovered that including a couple of tablespoon of oatmeal powder leads to a superbly creamy porridge.
Make a latte or milk tea on the highway
As somebody deeply dedicated to a creamy caffeinated beverage each morning, I’ve encountered conditions the place I’m staying at a lodge or with a buddy and don’t have entry to oat milk, half-and-half, or every other appropriate substitutes for topping off my espresso or tea. You might decant a little bit of oat milk powder right into a zip-top bag or small container and produce it with you to make sure that you possibly can make a correct latte regardless of the place you’re staying.
Combine it with water and use it in the rest
Whereas the powder itself is useful so as to add to a plethora of issues, let’s not overlook that when blended with common previous water, it simply reconstitutes into oat milk that you would be able to add to cereal, drinks, baking initiatives, soups, sauces, mashed potatoes — the checklist goes on. Use it to make sizzling chocolate; add some to pudding, cake batter, and even to a shower for extra-moisturized pores and skin.
In brief, these things is type of magical — and now that I do know of its existence, I’ll be conserving it available always (and I promise I’ll by no means serve a houseguest spoiled cashew milk once more).
Oat milk powder is accessible at Wildly Natural.
