Mesquite pods are not a legume. Mesquite is a tree. It tastes like malt powder that's been smoked and it's wonderful - but you can't make a 100% substitution for flour - it has no "flour" properties, and it's ground really fine. You can buy it online with Kalustyan's, so Amazon might even carry it. I have used it in a lot of different ways and I can attest to it's wonderfulness!
I assume that by base dough you mean a plain butter cookie type dough? If so, there are so many options to add flavour and texture - cocoa nibs, different kinds of chopped nuts, candied ginger, spices like fennel seed or cumin seed, cardomom.
You could even play with that base recipe and try using different flours for different flavour - buckwheat or mesquite perhaps?
On the mesquite flour, yes it exists.
But/and your suggestion, Kate P, reminds me of a shortbread recipe (which is just a butter sugar cookie) i make with part wheat and part rye flour. Has a lovely nutty taste, which could be complemented by solid mix-ins or a light hand with spices.
Okey dokey- according to the wonders of wikipedia, mesquite flour is the ground pods of the mesquite tree, which is a legume- so ground beans. Apparently once a major food source for the Indians of the southwest- perhaps akin to the acorn meal popular farther north. Safeway doesn't carry it.
Grind tea with raw sugar to create a strong "tea powder," cocoa nibs, small chop any nut brittle, powdered honey, candy fresh herbs and grind those, rose petals, diced candied citrus peel, add all the bits that sit at the bottom of a brown butter pot... the choices are so very very endless..
I love added citrus zest, orange, lemon or lime. When the cookies come out of the oven, I sprinkle them with powdered sugar so it sinks into the warm cookie. Before serving, I sprinkle a little more.
If you've got any left, chopped up chocolate-based Halloween candy is great. You get a little bite of all kinds of things in each cookie - coconut, nougat, caramel, whatever that is in Butterfingers, nuts, etc.
The Toll House recipe actually started out as a sugar cookie recipe, so you could look to what people have done with that. The main possibilities are chips (many types of chocolate, butterscotch, mint- probably others available), any type of nuts (toasted or not) and dried fruits. I particularly like to use dried fruit steeped in fruit juice (you can also use liqueurs), which adds some great flavors and a pop of liquid that cookies generally lack- a 3 to 1 ratio of fruit to juice usually works well for me. You can do toppings, too, with an egg wash- chunky salt (which I find yukky) is popular these days, and there are chopped nuts and various sprinkles. You can make a glaze with powdered sugar and things like lime juice, maple syrup, etc. to brush on warm cookies, or a heavier frosting or ganache. Finding something that hasn't been done before, however, would be a problem.
Also, of course, there are flavorants that can be added to the dough, such as spices (with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg leading the way, but people use cardamom,, coriander, black pepper, etc), extracts, citrus zest or citrus oils, cocoa, different sugars and flours, browned butter...
If you know what you like, choose and make...crystalized ginger, chunk chocolate, nuts, chopped hard candles (e.g., peppermint canes), colored sprinkles etc.
If you're not sure either use small samples from the pantry or buy small portions in the grocery store and make one batch of assorted, then see which turn out best or to the taste of you and your family.
But one thing for sure - buy the best for Thanksgiving and Christmas baking, even if in small amounts, because you all will taste the difference...fresh shelled nuts, chocolate with high percentage cocoa, etc.
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You could even play with that base recipe and try using different flours for different flavour - buckwheat or mesquite perhaps?
But/and your suggestion, Kate P, reminds me of a shortbread recipe (which is just a butter sugar cookie) i make with part wheat and part rye flour. Has a lovely nutty taste, which could be complemented by solid mix-ins or a light hand with spices.
If you're not sure either use small samples from the pantry or buy small portions in the grocery store and make one batch of assorted, then see which turn out best or to the taste of you and your family.
But one thing for sure - buy the best for Thanksgiving and Christmas baking, even if in small amounts, because you all will taste the difference...fresh shelled nuts, chocolate with high percentage cocoa, etc.