How to make coconut milk from shredded coconut or coconut butter

During the quarantine pandemic shopping has sometimes caused shortages in essentials like milk and dairy products and sometimes even in coconut milk (or there are price fluctuations online, but it changes, so its worth looking into coconut milk as its handy to have for savoury, thicker foods like curries and coconut whip). Also many are only doing bi-weekly grocery shopping trips as advised and some are nervous about consuming raw fresh foods especially from animal products such as cold milk (and unfortunately it’s been by warned by experts that Corona virus survives almost a month in the fridge, and even longer in the freezer). So this is a great milk alternative and cream alternative such as for coffee creamer.

What most people don’t realize is you can buy creamed coconut instead of canned coconut milk to use in your smoothies, as vegan coffee creamer, in porridge, desserts and baking. Creamed coconut tastes like shredded coconut because it is essentially the dried coconut meat puree in a glass jar. It is shelf-stable even once it is opened. Its a great food for stockpiling! Although creamed coconut seems a little bit more expensive it’s a bigger glass jar than the cans and it lasts longer since it’s concentrated coconut meat puree since there’s no liquid in it so you only need a few spoonfuls to add to your smoothies or oats or baking needs.

See how pourable this no-strain coconut milk is in the pouring video below and of course you can make this coconut milk as creamy and thick or as light as you like, to make light coconut milk or full fat coconut milk for different recipes and texture preferences. I made this one with more water so it would be drinkable as a milk alternative.

Easy homemade coconut milk that is so smooth and more drinkable than canned coconut milk due to it’s consistency (you can also control the ratio of coconut cream to water for the ideal texture depending if you are going to drink it or use it in a recipe as coconut cream if canned coconut cream isn’t available and when you want a filling smoothie full of healthy fats. And it has a subtle sweetness like unsweetened shredded coconut has and is delicious as it is nutritious! Coconut milk made from creamed coconut is the closest drinkable milk alternative rather than the canned variety which is better suited for curries and rich desserts. And it is bpa-free and takes up less space during quarantine stockpiling shopping than cases of canned coconut milk, and it won’t dent in delivery. So I suggest adding shredded coconut and/or coconut manna/coconut butter/creamed coconut to your COVID-19 stockpile shopping list and to your easy diy plant milk recipes.

there are 2 ways to make coconut milk from pantry staples like shredded coconut, coconut flakes or coconut butter.

The easiest and quickest way to create silky smooth coconut milk without straining in just one minute total is to make it from coconut manna/coconut butter/creamed coconut (it’s 3 names for the same thing)

Alternatively you can make coconut milk from shredded coconut or coconut flakes

Tip for coconut butter: mature coconut meat is hard so cof course oconut butter which is the pureed coconut meat is hard in the cold, but softens in the summer or in a warm place. In the winter the unlidded jar can be microwaved in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it or you can use an ice cream scoop if using a jarred coconut butter (the small boxes of coconut manna on the other hand are easy to chop or use whole by simply cutting off the plastic wrap).

This diy coconut milk is of course a vegan plant milk, a paleo milk and sugar-free as well. It is also an allergen free plant milk as it is nut-free amd dairy-free. And the ingredients are simple and pure and you likely have them in your pantry or kitchen cupboard!

Ingredients:

3 1/3-4 cups hot water, depending how creamy you want it (you only need use hot water if using shredded coconut to get it to soften) or cold water if using creamed coconut/coconut manna

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut or 1.5 cups coconut manna/coconut butter/creamed coconut, softened

Optional add ons: pinch of ground cardamom or cinnamon, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, maple syrup/raw honey such as this cinnamon raw honey or 1-2 medjool dates, pitted

Optional: 1 3/4 tbsp. cocoa/cacao powder for chocolate milk

or blend it with frozen or fresh berries or fruit for berry milk, mango coconut milk, etc. (Or use a berry infused raw honey)

The coconut milk can be used to make turmeric golden lattes by adding some turmeric latte powder.

Directions:

For coconut butter: simply scoop softened/melted coconut manna into a high-speed blender and add water and blend for one cycle. Depending how creamy or milky you want it you can add more coconut manna and blend it into a coconut cream or a coconut milk. That’s it! super quick, unfussy and easy 1 minute coconut milk!

For shredded coconut: heat the water so it is hot, but not boiling. place coconut in high-speed blender, add water and blend for 3 min, pausing the blender once in a while or between cycles.

If you used shredded coconut instead of coconut butter then either use a nut milk bag or line a sieve with layers of cheesecloth and place over a bowl to pour the mylk and to strain and wring out the fibre.

Enjoy fresh or store in fridge in a bottle or jug with an airtight lid , coconut cream will rise to top (scoop the cream for cream or shake it/re-blend it in a smoothie). This diy coconut milk is free of emulsifiers and additives so it will seperate naturally in the fridge.

Another way to use coconut manna without a blender is to simply add a scoop of it to your raw oatmeal along with the necessary water for the oats and let it melt as it cooks and give you the creamiest coconut cream porridge ever!

How about protein and calcium in plant milk? I add poppy seeds (which are among the highest vegan calicum sources and have more calcium than dairy and nuts combined per 100 grams) and nuts such as almonds to my breakfast oats and baking for dairy-free calcium sources and I take vitamin D which not only helps calcium absorption, but it helps boost the immune system against Covid-19. Here I used pecans as that is what I had for protein and it was delicious!

Tip: to clean out your milk jugs and milk bottles use a bottle brush sponge that can really get in there and reach the bottom and try to clean them the same day once empty!

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