Move over, almond, cashew and macadamia milks — a newer plant-based milk alternative is taking the spotlight: pecan milk.
There’s every reason to be happy about this addition to the nut-milk repertoire. For example, you get to enjoy all the nutrients in a serving of pecans while supporting a healthy planet, because making pecan milk involves little to no waste.
Here’s everything you need to know about pecan milk, including how to make it and why it’s beneficial to your health.
How is Pecan Milk Made?
Making pecan milk is super easy! All you have to do is blend pecans with water, then add additional ingredients to enhance the taste. For example, this recipe uses just five ingredients — pecans, water, maple syrup, vanilla, and sea salt.
The beauty of making your own pecan milk is you can customize it to your taste. You can keep it basic, just mixing the pecans with water. Or experiment by adding dates as a sweetener. If you don’t like vanilla, leave it out, or skip the salt if you’re watching your sodium intake.
What Does Pecan Milk Taste Like?
Pecans are a soft-shell nut that have a slightly bitter taste on the outside, but taste sweet and buttery on the inside. Their natural sweetness and nutty flavor carries over into pecan milk, which has a creamy texture, similar to cashew milk.
This makes it a great addition to coffee and baked goods, or you can simply drink it on its own. And because it’s plant-based, it’s 100% vegan.
Nutritional Values and Health Benefits of Pecan Milk
Pecan milk gives you all the goodness of pecans in a drinkable format. That includes:
- Fiber
- Plant-based protein
- Vitamins B1, B3, and E
- The minerals copper, folate, iron, magnesium, manganese, and zinc
Pecans are also low in sugar and carbohydrate, but high in antioxidants, and healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical process that generates free radicals, damaging cells.
All those nutrients may result in various health benefits.
Pecan Milk Benefits Skin and Hair
Pecan milk can benefit us on the outside as well as inside, particularly when it comes to our skin and hair.
The antioxidants and vitamin E in pecan milk support youthful-looking skin, which means you could see fewer wrinkles, fine lines, and skin discoloration. The zinc in the beverage also may also help prevent acne.
Hair growth may receive a boost from the amino acids in pecans, which promote blood flow to the scalp. And to keep that hair on your head, pecans’ iron content prevents anemia, one of the main contributors to hair loss.
Pecan Milk Promotes a Healthy Heart
Your heart will love pecan milk because of its fiber and healthy fat content.
High-fiber foods reduce blood pressure and inflammation, and lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, and death, a study suggests.
The monounsaturated fat in pecans, in the meantime, may lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol, preventing plaque buildup in your arteries.
Pecan Milk May Improve Energy
Pecans’ copper content may give your metabolism a boost by promoting the creation of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), your body’s greatest source of energy.
The B vitamins in the nut, meanwhile, keep you energized by enabling your body to convert carbohydrates into fuel (glucose). Plus, the fiber, protein, and healthy fat help keep you feeling full, and able to power through your day.
Pecan Milk is Good For The Environment
Popular milk alternatives like almond and cashew milks create a considerable carbon footprint because they’re distributed around the world.
Pecan milk, however, produces a smaller carbon footprint when the nuts are harvested locally. In America, that’s possible because pecan trees are native to the U.S.
But that’s not all. Pecans are a huge asset to our local farming communities, fostering the insects, microbes, and other plants that help local ecosystems flourish.
The Last Word on Pecan Milk
Pecan milk is a nutritious, tasty, sustainable, and easy-to-make plant-based alternative to milk. Clearly, there’s a lot to love about it!
Another thing you just might love is being able to make pecan milk with pecans from your very own pecan tree! Georgia Pecan Nursery has you covered with quality pecan saplings — 14 varieties, to be exact. Visit Georgia Pecan Nursery’s shop today to get inspired.