Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts! – James Beard

We gathered and stored our acorns. We shelled and ground our acorns. We leached their bitter tannins to make acorn flour. Now it is time to bake my favorite – Orange Acorn Bread!

Use of Acorns in Western Recipes

In an earlier post, we learned to make a traditional-style acorn mush. But you can use acorns in a wide variety of “western” recipes. Here is a PDF file you can download with several recipes that use acorns as an ingredient.

I encourage you to experiment on your own. Try substituting acorn flour in recipes that call for flour from wheat. Once you gain experience using acorn flour, you will have a better idea of which recipes can benefit from its unique taste and qualities. There are also recipes from Europe and Korea that may tickle your fancy.

Orange Acorn Bread

James Lowery and Mary Brooks from Earthskills shared this recipe with me. They modified a common recipe to use acorn flower in addition to wheat. It is simple to make and the bread is very filling. The bread is dense and “warming” when you eat it – perfect for autumn, when the days shorten and the temperatures cool.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need:

Ingredients for Orange Acorn Bread Amount/Measurement Ingredient 2 Oranges 1 Egg 3 tbsp Melted butter 1 cup Wheat flour 1 cup Acorn flour 1 cup Sugar 1 tsp Baking powder ½ tsp Salt ½ tsp Baking Soda

Equipment

Here are several pieces of equipment you may not have on hand:

Zester

Juicer

9″x5″ Loaf pan

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the loaf pan. Grate the rind from the oranges using the zester. Juice the oranges, In a mixing bowl, combine: orange juice, grated rind, melted butter, and egg. Combine wheat flour, acorn flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to liquid contents in mixing bowl. I sometimes add berries. Mix the ingredients in the mixing bowl until even consistency.

Pour into loaf pan and bake in an oven for 1 hour.

Viola!!!

Enjoy with Butter

I like this bread in the morning. The orange-bread taste can’t be beat! I cut a slice, add some butter and pop it in the microwave. The warm bread provides filling energy to get me going in the morning.

The bread appears darker because I use whole wheat flour and golden cane sugar. But you can vary the ingredients for the appearance and texture you want.

If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out by leaving a comment below.

More Acorns on NatureOutside

September is Acorn Month!

How to Make Acorns into Food (Part 1)

How to Make Acorns into Food (Part 2)

How to Make Acorns into Food (Part 3)

Turn Acorns into Spinning Tops in just 10 Minutes (Children’s Toys)

Acorn articles appear in the edibles section and the skills section.