Ingredients
1 cup bread flour
1 cup acorn meal
3 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. flaxseed meal
1/2 cup water
1 cup soy milk
3 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
-flaxseed meal and water may be substituted w/ 1 egg, lower oil amount by 1/2 tbsp.-
-soy milk may be substituted w/ cow's milk or almond milk-
(having tried this recipe both ways, the vegan recipe actually does taste better, believe it or not- the flaxseed meal adds richness and flavor that egg does not- but everyone's tastes are different, so...)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Sift flour, acorn meal, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in a mixing bowl.
Combine flaxseed meal and water in a separate bowl and whisk until frothy, add soy milk and oil, and mix well.
Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir briskly until moistened. Batter will be lumpy.
Pour into greased loaf pan, using spatula to smooth the top.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
Tasty w/ honey!!
Now, I know no one's got acorn meal laying about, so here's how to make it-
Go out and collect acorns off the ground. You'll need about 2 lbs. raw acorns for every cup of meal you need.
Hull the acorns within 24 hours of gathering them- they mold quickly. Throw away any moldy or wormy ones (you'll throw out about half of what you gathered, usually).
Refridgerate the hulled, raw acorns in an airtight container if you cannot process them within 12-24 hours of hulling.
To process acorns, put the hulled raw acorns in a large soup pot or a stockpot, fill with water, and boil for 1/2 hour. Drain off water, refill, boil again for 1/2 hour. Do this between 8-10 times total. (this is about a 5 hour process- eek!!) Boiling removes the tannins in acorns, which is what makes them very bitter.
After boiling, spread them on a cookie sheet and dry them in a warm oven (about 250 degrees) for a few hours, or until completely dry. You can also spread them on toweling with a fan blowing on them for 24 hours- whichever is easier for you.
Once completely dry, run them through a food processor in small batches, grinding them until they have a floury texture.
Voila! Acorn meal!
Yes... I know it's labor-intensive... but DAMN the bread's so tasty, it's worth it...
