By Judie Frisch, Bexar County Master Gardener
Living in South Texas, and especially in San Antonio, mesquite trees offer nothing but a mess to clean up. The pods appear on the ground in March and often don’t disappear until the following February. How can these pods be put to good use other than being underfoot and getting stuck with thorns? How about baking?
Several years ago, I read an article in the San Antonio Express-News about making mesquite flour and decided to give it a try.
While conventional wisdom suggests harvesting the pods directly from the tree, I decided to rake up a large pile (a pound or so) from my backyard.
First, I discarded all the twigs, rocks and dead grass (after all this was San Antonio during the summer of 2022!), The pods also had insect borings and withered parts that I removed.
I then rinsed the pods under running water. After the pods air-dried, I spread them out on several baking sheets and roasted them in the oven at 275 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. While the pods were roasting, the house was filled with the aroma of vanilla. Wonderful!
After removing the pods from the oven, it was essential to let the pods cool before proceeding any further.
If the processing can be done on a porch, deck or patio, so much the better. Mesquite flour production is messy, dusty and sticky. Once the pods have cooled, snap off the sharp ends and break the pods into 2 to 4 pieces about 2 inches long. Grind the pods in a food processor, blender or food mill. Sift the powder through a coarse mesh sieve, regrind the flour, and sift again through a fine mesh sieve. Now you are ready to use your mesquite flour. Of course, all this can be omitted by buying mesquite flour online, but that’s no fun!
Mesquite flour can be added a tablespoon at a time to a favorite baked-goods recipe. Simply reduce the amount of all-purpose flour by the same amount. Store mesquite flour in an air- tight container. I have tried several recipes using mesquite flour, but the one below, is my favorite (adapted from AllRecipes.com).
MESQUITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup mesquite flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons softened butter
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
1/3 cup chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together the mesquite flour, all-purpose flour and cinnamon and set aside.
- Beat together the butter and sugar with a mixer in a separate bowl until smooth. Add the egg to the butter and sugar mixture. Lightly mix in the flour mixture and then stir in the chocolate chips. The batter will be thick and somewhat sticky.
- Drop the batter by a spoonful onto the prepared cookie sheets. (I use a small ice cream scoop sprayed with no-stick cooking spray.)
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes and remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Makes about 18 delicious cookies. Note: These cookies can be made without the chocolate chips and are still delicious. Baking can be done in a toaster oven.
Published: January 2023