First-ever Acorn Bread!!
OH MY GOODNESS it finally happened! Our first-ever foraged acorn sourdough bread!!!
After days of collecting acorns, drying them, leaching out the tannins, grinding them, and drying the flour, we've finally gotten to enjoy the delicious fruits of our labor.
I'm working on an in-depth write up about the whole process for those who are interested, but right now I'm just so excited that we've finally gotten to this point. Even though we moved to our homestead too late to start a garden, we've still had an abundant harvest of wild food that has been an incredible gift and blessing.
For the record, it's delicious stuff. Slightly sweet, unmistakeably wild, and somewhat reminiscent of a distant cousin of maple syrup? Not sure how to classify it except that, now that I've been surrounded by them for days on end, it tastes like acorns.
More on that soon.
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That is so cool. Did you use other flours as well or only acorn? I'll look forward to that in-depth post.
For this loaf, I did about 2/3 organic whole wheat, and 1/3 acorn flour (it was my first time using it, so I had no idea what to expect). Since acorns are gluten-free, the wheat was necessary to get a nice bready "spring." I'll be testing out some acorn-only recipes soon.
That sounds exciting. Have you tried acorn 'coffee' by the way?
Will definitely be interested in the full post on this with all the details of the process.
We have lots of oak trees here. I am sure the squirrels will share some of their precious hoarde with us...
I'll be getting it done as soon as I can! It's got lots of steps and I want to make sure I write it well--we had quite the learning curve, hah. I bet the squirrels won't even notice--I've become quite the believer that acorns need to be rediscovered as a foodstuff.
Congratulations on the successful loaf of acorn bread! It looks really delicious. I am looking forward to the posts on acorns.
I'm convinced that acorns should be seen as a more viable food source. They were a staple crop for a lot of Northern California native tribes, and I think they're totally underutilized. I can't wait to share what we learned.
I would definitely be interested in that write up. Never heard of this until you guys mentioned it a while back!
Can't wait to finally share this weird side journey. We're totally serious about making acorns a legit part of our diet, now.
It's gotta be healthier than wheat! We discovered pecan trees on our property recently. Even though we don't currently eat them we will now! Why wouldn't you take advantage of food already growing on the property?!?!
We LOVE pecans..what a gift to find them on your property! I bet you can make nut meal from them too, but you certainly wouldn't have to go through the leaching process. That's so exciting!
I think whole, organic wheat is still good for you--I know the current demonization of gluten has made it seem like it is the devil incarnate. This loaf is actually 2/3 wheat and 1/3 acorns!
We're in pecan country so it's pretty common but I didn't realize until recently. Those plant identifying apps aren't as good as they seem! There is a large pecan farm across the street as well.
It's hard to know what is bad at this point. Is it the gluten? The pesticides? The processing of the grain? Because we no longer ferment it (sourdough)? Or the fact that we no longer use ancient varieties?
Looks tasty!
Thanks for your comment! It really was. The bread stayed a little more chewy and moist than our usual sourdough loaves. I can't wait to experiment some more. :)
Awesome, looking forward to the recipe, looks great and sounds delicious!
Thanks for your comment! It'll be coming soon! We learned so much through this process that I want the posts about it to be really clear, useful and good.
Nice would I would love to know how to make it eagerly awaiting the post!
I'm pulling it together soon. There's lots that we learned along the way, so I want to make sure it's a good one, haha!
No problem I'll be waiting
Great to hear of the successful outcome. All the hard work that went into prep probably makes it that much sweeter!
SO TRUE, haha! You understand, with all the work you're putting into your rag-tag garden build! I bet that next year's harvest will be absolutely delicious.
Yup yup! Planning and dreaming for next season sure make the winter days easier to deal with.
Nice :) I've been focusing on sweet things lately, I should bake something tomorrow.
I love having baking days. I make bread probably every other day, now, and it has become a rather delightful rhythm to the week. What did you end up baking?
We also bake regularly, but since it's two of us, is often my wife to bake the bread.
I baked a leavened yeast bread.
I have this recipe to one boy, but haven't tried it myself before, so decided to make it. His result is also ok, but I think he's a but impatient and he keeps trying to cut the corners :)