#3 Flour & friends

#3 Flour & friends (Photo credit: mrlins)

I’ve had an interesting year, this year.  Major life changes, moving across the country and all that jazz.  At one point we were trying our best to live off what was left in the pantry, trying to make our food dollars stretch as far as they would.  I had heard of people using bean flour as a substitute in baking so I decided to experiment.

I didn’t have bean flour, but I did have dry beans.  I didn’t have a flour grinder, but I did have a blender.  I knew what consistency I was looking for in bread batter or for tortillas, and can easily reduce liquids.  So I soaked my beans, cooked them, and blended them to a puree.  My first experiment was in tortillas, and as my sister mentioned, they were flexible but gummy.  More experimentation was needed.  If you’re looking for flexible gluten free tortillas look here.

I continued my experimentation with bread and waffles.  I have discovered that with the new flour mix I could replace 1/4 of the flour in a recipe with pureed beans to achieve an amazing moist crumb without being too crumbly, and plenty of flexibility.  I also noticed that the bread had better rise with the added protein.

Along with the better texture, I love the added vitamins, minerals and protein that the beans give my baked goods.  My children seem to find the new addition more filling, and they do rave about the taste of the food (and they are pretty picky eaters!) so I am confident that this is a Happy Accident we will continue to use in our kitchen!

Anyone else have a Happy Accident to share?