What To Do When You Have Too Much Raw Milk

I was visiting with a friend the other day about milk — how some weeks it seems to disappear faster than we can blink, and other times it ends up sitting in the fridge longer than we’d like. 🥛 When it comes to raw milk, every drop feels precious. It’s the good stuff — straight from the farm, and in my perspective, a lot of work— and the last thing I ever want to do is let it go to waste.  So here are some things I do when I need to use up some extra milk.

Hot Chocolate or Latte’s

Something about the colder months just calls for a warm drink in hand — a cozy cup of hot chocolate, or a creamy coffee or tea latte made with fresh milk. ☕️ And when summer rolls around, an iced tea latte hits the spot just right — cool, refreshing, and a whole lot better than most of those sugary summer drinks. 

Easy Hot Chocolate Recipe

1 cup raw milk

1 TBSP raw cacao

1 TBSP honey or maple syrup

1. 1. Heat milk with a coffee frother or on the stove.
2. 2. Once at desired temp, add the cacao and the honey (maple syrup) to taste.
3. 3. Mix or whip until combined

Tea Latte

1 tea packet or loose leaf tea of choice

½ cup water (can use less depending on cup size)

½ cup raw milk (can use less or more depending on cup size)

1-2 TBSP honey or maple syrup

1. 1. Heat water and steep desired tea.
2. 2. Add tea to a cup with honey or maple syrup.
3. 3. Froth the milk and add to tea.

Waffles

I never realized how much milk a batch of waffles can take until I started making them for my boys. Around here, waffles disappear faster than I can stack them! 🧇 So now, on slower mornings, I mix up a big bowl of batter with our fresh raw milk and cook them up by the dozen. Once they’re cooled, I tuck them into the freezer—ready for those busy mornings when chores are calling and hungry boys come running. Nothing fancy, just good, wholesome food made from the milk our cows worked hard to give us. The recipe provided is courtesy of Thankfulhomemaking.com, however, multiple waffle recipes work as they all tend to use a good amount of milk. 

Butter Milk Waffles

2 cups flour

2 TBSP sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 ½ cups butter milk – (to make butter milk add 2.5 TBSP vinegar or lemon juice to the milk)

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1.  In a large bowl, mix together the buttermilk and melted butter.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined.  Then let batter rest while you preheat your waffle iron.

3. Pour batter into waffle iron and cook until ready

4. Extras can be frozen nicely for later use. 

Yogurt

Yogurt is one of our favorite ways to put extra milk to good use. It’s simple, wholesome, and so versatile — perfect as a base for smoothies, a stand-in for sour cream in recipes, or just enjoyed on its own with a drizzle of honey and a handful of fresh fruit. There’s something special about that creamy, homemade goodness straight from your own milk supply. 🥛🍯 There are multiple ways that yogurt can be made and simply without any special kitchen appliances, however, one of my favorite recipes includes the use of an insta pot and is fool proof.  Recipe courtesy of FarmHouseOnBoone.com

Yogurt

½ gallon whole milk (raw in this case)

¼ cup yogurt culture or plain yogurt

1. 1. Pour the ½ gallon of milk in the insta pot and press the “saute” button.  Heat the milk to 180 while whisking constantly.
2. 2. Once the milk reaches 180, turn off “saute” option and allow milk to cool back down to 115.
3. 3. Add in ¼ cup of plain yogurt or starter culture and whisk into milk.
4. 4. Set insta pot for 8-24 hours on the yogurt setting.
5. 5. Once the timer goes off you can transfer the yogurt to a container and chill or to make a little thicker, strain in a cheese cloth for up to an hour.   

Smoothies

Without a doubt, smoothies are one of the easiest (though not always the tidiest!) ways to use up extra milk — especially when you’re blending for a crowd of hungry kids. The best part? The flavor possibilities are endless. Here are a few of our family’s favorite go-to smoothie combinations that never fail to please. 🥛🍓🍌

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

1 cup whole raw milk

½ cup raw milk yogurt (or plain regular yogurt)

¼ cup peanut butter

1 frozen banana

1 TBSP cacao powder

1. 1. Place all ingredients in a blender.
2. 2. Blend until smooth and incorporated.
3. 3. Transfer to a cup to enjoy.

Berry Smoothie

1 cup whole raw milk

½ cup raw milk yogurt (or plain regular yogurt)

½ cup frozen berries of choice

1 frozen banana

1 TBSP chia seeds, flax seed, hemp seed or whatever you may like

1. 1. Place all ingredients in a blender.
2. 2. Blend until smooth and incorporated.
3. 3. Transfer to a cup to enjoy.

I know there are a hundred other ways to put that extra milk to good use, but we’ll stop here for today. Maybe in the next blog, we’ll chat about soups and cream bases — perfect ways to keep every drop of that milk working for you. Until then, if you’ve got a little extra in the fridge, give one of these ideas a try and keep that precious raw milk from going to waste. 🥛✨