acorn flour ~ making your own and cooking with it

acorn flatbread made in a tortilla press with a sweet topping - hazelnut chocolate and mint… yum

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Cookies made with 50/50 hazelnut flour and acorn flour, coconut nectar, coconut milk and currents. Plenty sweet enough, but not chocolatey like they look!

Acorn four is a wonderful treat! And it is fun to make. It has a light nutty flavor. It can be used for cookies, pancakes, flat breads, as a coating for fish and chicken, cooked up as falafel, and as pie crusts. The flour is full of nutrition and is something that would have been consumed a great deal before wheat took over our diets.

For most of us, oak trees are everywhere, and October is the best time to be harvesting them. This year was a bumper crop, they were literally falling off the tree as I was gathering them up. This means their meat inside will still be soft and fresh. When acorns are soft and fresh, they are easiest to grind and release the tannins from. Tannins are toxic if not released, their job is to help preserve the acorns until next spring, which is not needed.

Ingredients

• Fresh Acorns to make the acorn flour

• 50% acorn flour and 50% other flour (I use sweet potato flour. Do not use wheat flour. Other good flours are chestnut, green banana, chickpea)

• dash of Celtic sea salt

• good water

The Recipe for making flat bread or tortilla is step by step with the images below.

If you would like to host or attend a class on making acorn flour, please contact me

Thank you,
Karin

Only work with fresh acorns, keep them fresh in the freezer. to work with later.

gather acorns

Choose acorns right off the tree as they are colorful and soft, most will have shed their caps.

freeze extras right away

Freshness matters! Gather up as many acorns as you may want to cook with. There are two reasons to use them fresh; 1) They grind up easier, 2) they will get eaten by acorn, mold, or shrink to rock hard. If you can’t use them all at once, store them in the freezer..

two outer shells need to be removed with a nutcracker

An acorn has two shells ~ outer and inner. Make sure both are removed from the meat inside. Use a regular nut cracker and a pick if you need to to release the meat.

1-2 cups of acorn meat will make 15-20 tortillas

About 2 cups of acorn meat or kernels will be enough to start with.

fresh kernels are moist, easier to process

close up of the fresh shelled acorn meat

add to blender~food processor or small batches in a spice grinder

Place the meat in a blender to be ground up. You can also use a food processor or if you are doing a small batch, a spice grinder.

the flour will be moist

grind up the acorns into a nice light powder. They do not have to be ground super fine unless you have a specific use in mind.

soak to remove tanins

Add the freshly ground acorn flour to a spice sack and run under the water in the sink until the water runs clear to get rid of tannins. There will be less tannin in fresh acorn meat.

rinsed flour

The acorn flour rinsed. It is still moist, and best used right away or put in a lidded container in the fridge for no more than a couple days. If you are making a big batch, you would want to freeze the acorn flour before you rinse it. Just remember to rinse it before you use it.

add 50% sweet potato and 50% acorn flour and knead excessively

Add 50% acorn flour (which has no glue) and 50% sweet potato flour (or another flour of your choice, this one is my favorite). Add tiny bits of water while kneading the fours with your hands. Kneading the dough for at least 5 minutes is key to getting a nice texture to flatten and cook. It should be the texture of playdough when ready. Do not shortcut the kneading!

Use parchment paper to flatten the little 1’ balls of dough between a plate and the counter or use a tortilla press.

press into shape & cook on a hot dry skillet

Cook on a hot skillet, no oil! Cook a few minutes each side. It will not bubble up.

slightly browned edges are an indication of doneness

Cooked tortillas or flat breads. I consider these more flat breads since they don’t have enough elasticity to fold around food as easily as a corn or flour tortilla

add toppings

ready for your favorite toppings, either savory or sweet. I used everything from typical pizza to hummus and chive flours and sweet with mint~chocolate~hazelnut spread.

Add a sweet topping

I used hazelnut chocolate and mint, you can use cream cheese and jam, or blueberries and whipped cream or let your imagination run wild.

Add a savory topping

Hummus and garlic chive flowers are my seasonal favorite. Avocado and tomato work well, etc!

Love to hear your comments on this recipe and photos of what you made with your flour!