Mesquite Flour: 2000 Years of Delicious
Mesquite has been a food source for Native Americans and other indigenous peoples for over 2000 years.
Mesquite trees grow in semi-arid regions of North and South America, Africa and southern Asia. Children who live in these areas enjoy chewing on mesquite pods because they have a delicious sweet flavor. The taste of mesquite is described as a warm, mellow blend of chocolate, coconut, mocha and cinnamon.
Mesquite flour can be used to replace up to 25% of the flour in traditional baked goods made with gluten grains or gluten free baked goods. It has been used successfully to make gluten free treats like chocolate chip cookies. It can also be used to dust fish, chicken, and other meats before grilling.
What is mesquite flour?
Most people associate mesquite with the wood smoke that creates flavorful BBQd meats. Mesquite flour is not made from the wood of the mesquite tree, it’s made by grinding pods that grow on mesquite trees. The picture to the right shows you what mesquite pods look like. Mesquite flour is thus classed as a bean flour. It may seem to be a bit pricey per ounce, but because it’s used in small amounts and also acts like a spice, the price is actually quite reasonable.
Mesquite flour nutrition
The nutritional value of mesquite flour varies depending on the variety of mesquite tree, the soil in which it is grown, and whether the whole pod or the pulp of the pod is used to make the flour.
Flour made from the whole pod is higher in protein (protein in mesquite flour can be as high as 20%) and calcium than flour made only from the pulp. However, both types of flours are high in fiber (46 g/cup). Mesquite is high in lycine, an amino acid that is deficient in many grains, and a good source of magnesium, iron, calcium, thiamin, niacin and vitamin B6.
Is mesquite flour safe for diabetics?
Although there have been claims that it’s an ideal food for diabetics, Casa de Fruta, the leading company that offers mesquite flour, does not feel comfortable recommending mesquite to diabetics until furthur testing proves conclusively that this is the case. You can read more about this here
Using mesquite flour in recipes
To use mesquite flour in recipes, simply replace 1/4 of the gluten free flour in the recipe with mesquite flour.
Buying mesquite flour
You can buy Casa de Fruta mesquite flour via this link or if you live in the US and you’d prefer to have a gluten free flour mix that includes mesquite, check out the products from Ruby Range in Colorado.
Mesquite flour recipes
Ruby Range offers many FREE recipes that use either pure mesquite flour or their gluten free flour mixes that include mesquite. If you don’t buy their products (they don’t ship to Canada so I can’t :( ) their recipes are still worth checking out – simply create your own gluten free flour mix with mesquite using 1 part mesquite flour and 3 parts of your favorite gluten free flour blend.
You might also be interested in my post:
How to Make Nuts, Seeds, Beans and Whole Grains More Digestible
