I was recently given a few samples of this Italian chestnut flour. It will be available in Whole Foods beginning November! I’m really excited because I’ve become a big chestnut fan. The main question is, “What does it taste like?!” That’s a really hard question, since I’ve never tasted anything like it before. I guess it tastes nutty, but the flavor is just really foreign to me. What I can tell you is that we all really like the flavor. Also it’s really fine, like powder. It has the texture of arrowroot and tapioca flour, although I don’t think it’s nearly that starchy.

My whole family has been loving these chestnut flour biscuits. I added some arrowroot to tone down the flavor of the chestnut flour (we like the flavor, but it could be a little strong on it’s own), but they might work with all chestnut flour (I haven’t tried yet). Tonight we had them with eggs for an easy dinner. Also, I did some searching, because I thought I remembered my friend Brittany doing some chestnut flour recipes, and she has! So if you’re hungry for more ways to use chestnut flour check it out!

♥, Kelly

American Chestnut history

By Andrew Brozyna

Before the 1900s America’s eastern forests were crowded with chestnut trees. One in every four hardwood trees was an American Chestnut (castanea dentata). They were huge trees, growing to be over 100 feet tall. Chestnut tree wood was a favorite for building (it was naturally rot-resistant), and chestnuts were a favorite nut. Twenty million pounds of chestnuts were harvested each year!

Then in 1876 a nursery in New York imported some Japanese chestnut trees. Tragically, the newly introduced trees brought a deadly fungus. Asian varieties were immune, but in the following decades nearly four billion American chestnuts died from the chestnut blight. In woods today you can still find some resilient old chestnut stumps clinging to life, but the fungus prevents them from growing tall and healthy enough to produce nuts.

In the past thirty years there have been attempts to create a fungus-resistant tree by cross-polinating the American and Asian varieties. In more recent years efforts to revive the American Chestnut have focused on genetic engineering. So we’re not happy to hear about that. There are few nut-producing hybrid chestnut trees in the US today (and the GMO variety does not have federal approval), so there won’t be a substantial local crop any time soon. In the meantime, chestnuts and chestnut flour are imported from Europe (where the fungus is less destructive).

Further reading:
“Background on American chestnut and chestnut blight” on the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry website.
“A New Generation of American Chestnut Trees May Redefine America’s Forests” on the Scientific American website.
American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree by Susan Freinkel

Chestnut Flour Biscuits

1 & 1/2 cups chestnut flour
1/2 cup arrowroot flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup coconut milk (this is a favorite brand of coconut milk)

1. Set the oven to 350 F.
2. Combine the dry ingredients with a whisk.
3. Add the wet ingredients and combine with an electric mixer.
4. Drop the biscuits in 6 piles on a cookie sheet lined with unbleached parchment paper.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Makes 6