Peanut Butter Acorn Flour Energy Balls

Acorn flour is a really special ingredient that is increasingly central to conversations about sustainable agriculture, foraging, and permaculture. Acorns are a ubiquitous tree nut whose mother tree (oak trees) provide unnumerable ecosystem services, from carbon offsetting to providing shelter and sustenance for local wildlife. Not to mention: their nuts are incredibly nutritious, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, linoleic acid, prebiotic fiber, vitamins and minerals like magnesium, potassium, and calcium, and most notably: plant-based protein!  

Because they are rich in fiber and also plant-based protein, they provide a stable base for an energy bite, as this combo supports healthy digestion and sustained energy without spiking blood sugar levels.

The average oak tree will drop around 3 million acorns in its lifetime, and these become food for countless species, including birds, moths, dozens of bear species, and 511 species of butterflies (according to entomologist and ecologist Doug Tallamy, a prominent conservationist and co-founder of the Homegrown National Park movement).

That being said, because oak trees drop so many acorns, you can sustainably wild-harvest them use them for food. One of the most prominent and delightful ways to consume them is to make them into acorn flour, which can be used in baking just like any other starchy flour. (Acorn flour tastes like earthy graham crackers.) 

Acorns are an ancient food– used by Native Americans and Koreans for centuries!– but it’s still famously very hard to process acorns into flour, because making acorn flour requires a laborious process of grinding and leeching tannins from the raw nut in order to make them edible. You have to cold-leech them to remove tannins, and then methodically grind them down to get rid of sharp shell pieces. 

If you want to skip that step and just support farms who are foraging and making acorn flour themselves, you can buy acorn flour from these specialty farms online (I get mine from Forestopia, based out of Vermont). 

Recently, I worked with a local chocolatier to design some acorn-flour infused chocolate bon bons for a party (the acorn flour-infused chocolate was also shaped like an acorn–) and that got me thinking about more accessible ways to incorporate acorns into baked goods where they would be a fun conversation starter. 

The result are these yummy peanut butter acorn flour energy balls, which both adults and kids love! Just mix all the ingredients together, roll the dough into snack-sized balls, and chill for an hour. Keep them in the fridge until serving– they will last about 2 weeks, but they don’t necessarily go bad after that. Alternatively, you can freeze them for longer storage. I love them as a 3 PM snack– when the day is in the final stretch before the wind-down, and kids are about to come home from school. You know the type. 

Enjoy!

And, if this is your first foray into cooking with acorn flour: Welcome! It’s fun here. 🙂 

 

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Peanut Butter Acorn Flour Energy Balls

This recipe makes about 3-dozen grape-sized energy bites.

Ingredients 

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, lightly toasted
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup acorn flour
• 2/3 cup raisins or chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup + 1 TBSP maple syrup
• 2 TBSP coconut oil
• 1 TBSP chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tsp salt + more, to taste 

Instructions 

1. Combine all the ingredients until fully mixed. Then, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or as long as overnight (after that, it might get dry). 
2. Roll dough into balls about the size of a bon bon or large grape. This recipe makes about 3 dozen energy balls of that size. If the mixture is sticky, use lightly wet hands to help roll the dough. If it’s dry, add spoonfuls of alternating peanut butter and maple syrup, a little bit at a time, until it comes together when squeezed in your hand like playdough. 
3. After you form your balls, sprinkle them with flaky salt (if desired) and press the salt to set it in. Then, refrigerate energy bites for 1 hour to firm up. Store in the fridge and enjoy chilled or at room temperature. You can also freeze them for later use.