I found a recipe the other day for chocolate chip walnut cookies that called for barley flour. I thought it would be fun to try it out, but I couldn't find any barley flour at the store so I made my own out of pearl barley.

Barley flour looks and feels a lot like your regular all-purpose flour, so I figured if it made a good cookie it would be a great white flour substitute.

I changed up the recipe a bit because it was rather runny. I added some spelt flour which is supposed to be a great whole grain flour to use in baking. I just wanted to see how the cookies would turn out. I also used applesauce instead of oil, added some oats and extra baking powder, and threw in some chopped almonds and pecans because I didn't have any walnuts on hand. The cookies turned out nice and plump, which is how I prefer my cookies.
Aspen really liked them, and Eric did too. I thought they were pretty tasty. They have a firmer texture than your basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, but were flakier and lighter than if I had used whole wheat flour. I definitely want to try using barley flour again!
Barley Chocolate Chip Nut Cookies (Chelsi's version)

1/2 C barley flour

1/2 C spelt flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 C honey

2 t vanilla

1/4 C applesauce

1 egg

1 C chopped nuts

1/2 C dark chocolate chips

1/8 C oats

Preaheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flours and baking powder. Beat egg and combine with applesauce, honey and vanilla. Combine wet and dry ingredients, then add in nuts, chips and oats. Bake for 10 minutes.