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Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
September 2, 2005 | by Heidi | Filed under Chocolate Recipes, Cookie Recipes, Heidi's Favorites, Whole Grain Recipes
I considered keeping this recipe all to myself. I kept the recipe a secret all week long (a record for me), deftly evading requests with quick deflections and smooth changes of subject. But I'm dying to share it and can't wait for other people to give it a try - so here it is. Thick, chewy homemade cookies packed with oats, oozy dark chocolate chips, and the sweet, nutty, spicy flavor of mesquite flour. I may never make chocolate chip cookies any other way.
That being said, if you decide to make my mesquite cookies it is going to take some work on your part. Tracking down mesquite flour or mesquite meal (as it is sometimes called) can be a challenge. But. So. Worth. It. Mesquite flour also isn't cheap - $11/pound where I buy it. Fortunately, a little goes a long way.
I began playing around with mesquite flour a couple weeks ago after they began carrying it in bulk at my local natural foods market. It is absolutely delicious, with a scent that is both warm and comforting but with much less edge than a cinnamon or even canela. When heated it permeates the kitchen with a mellow sweet fragrance that is unlike anything else. Need another reason to search it out? Many people also consider it a superfood - rich in magnesium, protein, potassium, and fiber. Low GI-index, high lysine. For thousands of years native Americans in arid regions relied on mesquite meal as a food staple, and while most of you are familiar with mesquite being used for added flavor on the grill - the flour comes not from the wood, but from the mesquite pods which are ground into a powder or meal. Mesquite grows in arid desert climates and you can find the trees and pods all over the southwest, Texas, and parts of California. Some people (many ranchers) consider it a weed. It grows without any assistance from fertilizers or irrigation, and generally thrives in environments that are hostile to many crops, or areas that require massive irrigation to grow traditional crops.
How to use it: Mesquite can be used as a flour or a seasoning. I've primarily been using it as a flour (so far). As a flour you want to use mesquite in combination with other flours. I've had success replacing up to 25% of my over-all flour (in a recipe) with mesquite. Mesquite flour is glutten-free and to date I've only been using it in conjunction with gluten-based flours like regular whole wheat flour, or whole wheat pastry flour. I look forward to using it in all sorts of baked goods - tart crusts, muffins, quick breads, pancakes, crepes, and on and on. Also in drinks, puddings, custards, maybe a late fall or wintery creme brulee?
Today's cookies are all-natural - the flours and sugars are all very minimally processed. No white flour, no white sugar. Let me know if you are able to track down mesquite in your communities, I will start a thread on the discussion boards where you can let other people know where to find it in different cities, and we can compare and contrast variations in texture, flavor, results.
The mesquite flour I've been using is produced by Essential Living Foods. It is very fine, dark tan in color, and very fragrant. I don't sift it, but break up any little mesquite clots I find as I add it to my mixing bowl. There are other brands and producers out there, but for this recipe, just make sure you have a mesquite flour/meal that is powdery, finely ground, sweet fresh, and fragrant.
Also, I discovered an amazing unrefined granulated sweetener that I used for these. It is the Alter Eco brand organic ground cane sugar. It is very moist, finely ground, rich and retains all the natural minerals and nutrients that are stripped out in the process of making refined white and brown sugars. It blows almost every other granulated sugar I've used recently out of the water. Try to track it down. I'll try to find a place where you can order it online. If you can't find this brand, look for another moist, brown-sugar-looking unrefined sweetener or opt for organic brown sugar. You won't get the same results with straight white sugar.
Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Update 2006: I'm doing an updated version of this recipe in my next cookbook Super Natural Cooking, which means I need to pull the recipe off the site for now to avoid confusion between versions. I think (hope!) you will enjoy the version that will run in the book as much as I do.
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Your Comments
Tana said:Heidi, this is slightly reminiscent of one of my favorite new truffles produced by Donnelly Chocolates: semisweet chocolate with chipotle. They've got a kick you feel in your very lungs...amazing heat.
This looks fun. You are a great humanitarian to share the recipe with us. (Winky thing.)
So funny! A woman from work was telling me about the mesquite flour on Monday.
I found this:
http://www.spmesquite.com/shop/results1.asp?Category=13
They sell the flour there too, and not only in bulk.
Thanks Heidi!!!
This is so cool, Heidi! I grew up in Tucson, and actually made mesquite meal when I was a kid. We would collect the dried pods and process them in the blender, then sift the results through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds and fibers. When I go back to Tucson to visit I always stop at Native Seeds/Search for a little shopping. I've had some mesquite meal in my freezer since my last trip. I know what I'm gonna do with it!
In case anyone is interested, they do mail order mesquite meal (but it's $16/lb. Ouch.)
www.nativeseeds.org
I see you're into chocolate things at the moment, but i'm not gonna blame you for that. These cookies seems delicious. Sadly i don't knwo what mesquite is - do you know the word in french?
xoxo
Fanny
Heidi, you continue to amaze me with
these marvelous challenges! Keep up the good work, I love it.
I think you can obtain mesquite flour from Heritage Foods - the rare breeds organization.
35%? crazy! for reference, the article on mesquite lulu pointed me to in a recent issue of gastronomica said that food scientists (i guess there is some secret cabal) had experimented and concluded that the ideal percentage was to use mesquite for 12-18% of the flour content.
35%, though, that is bold. really, who are you to defy the food scientists?
I've seen mesquite flour once or twice here and have thought about using it, but never tried it. A good friend of mine was very into baking with teff flour and mesquite flour and said that they're pretty similar, but she (and it sounds like you too) prefers the mesquite.
Boy, do those cookies look good though.
Brian,
Thanks for the heads up. That percentage should have been 25% not 35% (the 2 and 3 are so close together on the keyboard!)...in line with the percentage of mesquite in this recipe. Still above the percentage noted in the article you reference. I think it tastes good, so I went for it.
I think you could go up even higher if you wanted to in certain recipes. It really depends.
I would like to read the Gastronomica article - I mean, I was interested in highlighting the unique flavor of the mesquite, not trying to bury it in with the rest of the ingredients...not sure what they were trying to do with it - I'm sure in some recipes you might want to use it for its nutritional benefits but downplay the flavor by using smaller quanities?
Nosher...I really like both teff and mesquite, but would use them both very differently - with different pairings. Just smell both of the flours and you will understand how different they are in terms of flavor profiles....the teff crust I made a while back had a green grassiness in its raw state that mesquite really doesn't have.
I am SO excited about this! Next week (after the Labor Day insanity), I'm going to hunt down mesquite flour here in Seattle. Finding another gluten-free flour I can bake with just makes my day! Heidi, once again, you've widened the possibilities of my life.
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New Orleans Hospitality Workers Disaster Relief Fund A fund has been established to benefit employees of the hospitality industry of the Greater New Orleans area who have experienced hardships because of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Contributions may be sent to:
New Orleans Hospitality Workers Disaster Relief Fund
Greater Houston Community Foundation
4550 Post Oak Place, Suite 100
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Call 713-333-2200 for additional information
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Interesting you should say grassiness in the teff flour-- one of my favorite appetizers is a teff flour and parmesan breadstick. Now that you mention it, I think the green, vegetal overtones are what make it work so well with the cheese. I'm going to make some this week!
Hi Heidi. I've been wanting to experiment with alternative flours. I'll definately look for mesquite the next time I visit the (natural foods) market. The cookies sound great.
I was lucky enough to eat one of Heidi's cookies yesterday. To be honest I wasn't expecting the moon. Oops! I got it and then some. These were great and weird and complex and I can't wait to eat them again. I found the mesquite almost like malt. Really different and wonderful. Thanks.
I made these tonight and they really turned out well. You are most likely singularly responsible for a run on mesquite meal at Rainbow. Such an interesting product - the scent is intoxicating.
Hi,
I wondered if you could say where you buy this in SF? I get up there every so often and would like to try this.
Thanks for the recipes-- I enjoy the site very much.
Chris
Hi Chris,
I got the mesquite flour at Rainbow Foods in the bulk section, but you can also mail order it.
-h
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