Amaranth, millet, and brown rice flours team up to make tender tortillas, perfect for dressing up with beans, cheese, tomatoes, and poached eggs for breakfast. From The Homemade Flour Cookbook by Erin Alderson. PLUS! We’re giving away an alternative flour starter package today, complete with 6 types of Bob’s Red Mill grains/flours, and a copy of Alternative Baker and The Homemade Flour Cookbook. See below to enter.
One of the bigger surprises that came as I was working on recipes for Alternative Baker was that not all alternative flours are created equal. I began my testing using whatever flours my co-op stocked in their (awesome) bulk section. Partway through testing, it occurred to me that these flours might differ from one another in grind, and that this might affect recipes. I was tipped off by a bag of buckwheat flour. The base of flour was a creamy beige, with big flecks of charcoal-hued grain and powder-fine clumps. I noticed that this flour differed greatly from Bob’s Red Mill brand, which had an even, heathered charcoal look and slightly coarser grind that didn’t clump. At that point, I decided that I’d have to standardize my flour selection for the book, so I began only working with Bob’s flours, with a few exceptions. You’ll find the recommended brand of flour in the back of Alternative Baker in the Alternative Grains and Flours section.
(And if you want to nerd out on alternative flours with me, come to Litquake’s Eat, Drink, and Be Literary in San Francisco on Sunday October 9th, 2016. I’ll be signing books, too! Details and tickets here.)
In the end, I had to retest many recipes. For instance, the Oatmeal Teff Cookies and Teff Peach Cobbler needed several tweaks with the coarser variety of teff flour. And my sorghum peach oven pancake required that the milk be reduced by 1/4 cup since the coarser sorghum flour didn’t absorb as much liquid. After all of this, you’d think I would have learned my lesson and shied away from the bulk bin. But no.
So when Erin asked me to bring flours to her home in Sacramento to play with, I didn’t think twice before measuring my powder-fine bulk bin sorghum flour into a jar for the oven pancake.
Erin sauteed pears, blended the pancake batter, poured it into a skillet, and stuck it in the oven. “Does it puff up like a wheat-based oven pancake?” she asked. “A little less,” I said, confidant that the pancake would rise and puff, the pears floating to the top, creating a lovely mosaic of fruit slices.
But the pancake hardly moved, and the pears stayed resolutely hidden beneath a layer of pancake. It was then that I realized my mistake, and remembered the hours of testing that went into perfecting the dry-to-liquid ratio of this very recipe with Bob’s sorghum flour. Luckily, Erin was game to improvise, and cooked up some additional pear slices to serve atop the pancake. She drizzled the whole thing with honey, cinnamon, and a dollop of Greek yogurt. In the end, it didn’t matter much – it still boasted a crackly top, tender middle, and mild flavor, if a bit more dense than the original.
On a more successful note, we made Erin’s quinoa tortillas from The Homemade Flour Cookbook, subbing in amaranth for the quinoa flour just for fun. Since amaranth and quinoa are closely related, with similar flavors and textures when ground to flour, and the same weight per volume, no changes were needed to make the tortillas. Homemade tortillas are heads and tails above storebought, and I was thrilled to learn Erin’s techniques for making them, no tortilla press needed. She simply rolls hers out using a nifty rolling tool that looks like this, then fries them up in a dry skillet, stacking them within a damp cloth to help keep them bendy.
Onto the tortillas we piled Erin’s spiced black beans, some late-season cherry tomatoes, and poached eggs (Erin’s genius idea since we both prefer them to fried eggs). The complexity of the amaranth comes through in these, softened by brown rice and millet flours, and a good dose of salt. Paired with gently spiced black beans, they make me think of amaranth’s Aztec roots. (Another bomb amaranth recipe = Sarah’s amaranth waffles!)
Now that I know how easy it is to make whole-grain, gluten-free tortillas, I’ll be making these on the regular. And so can you! Because today we’re giving away the grains and flours needed to make these recipes.
*THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED*: We’re each giving away a set of Bob’s Red Mill grains/flours – everything you need to make these recipes (Sorghum Flour, Sweet Rice Flour, Oat Flour, Millet (grain), Amaranth (grain), Brown Rice (grain)) and a copy of The Homemade Flour Cookbook and Alternative Baker.
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below about your favorite grain/flour OR leave a comment about a grain/flour you would like to know more about! For your second chance to enter, pop over to Naturally Ella!
THE DETAILS: Open to residents in the U.S. and Canada. Giveaway will run from Sunday, October 2nd through Wednesday, October 5th, 2016. Winners will be notified by email by Tuesday, October 11th.
Get the recipe for the Sorghum Pear Oven Pancake over at Naturally Ella.
Gluten-Free Amaranth Tortillas + Vegetarian Breakfast Tacos
Print Recipe / Pin RecipeIngredients
Tortillas:
- ½ cup (55 g) amaranth flour (or quinoa flour, as per the original recipe)
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (45 g) millet flour, plus more for rolling the tortillas
- ¼ cup (36 g) brown rice flour
- 2 tablespoons (16 g) tapioca flour
- 2 tablespoons (16 g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup (118 ml) cool water
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
Fillings:
- salt, as needed
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (or other neutral vinegar)
- 8 super good eggs
- 1 ½ cups cooked black beans (or 1 15-ounce can)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 8 ounces pepper jack or other tasty melting cheese, grated
- handful cilantro leaves
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 large ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, sliced
- lime wedges
- salsa
- sour cream or Greek yogurt
Instructions
Make the tortillas:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the amaranth, millet, brown rice, and tapioca flours with the cornstarch, salt, and baking powder. Pour in the water and olive oil and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together in a ball; the dough will be fairly soft. Let rest for 5 minutes.
- Preheat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat. Generously flour your work surface with millet flour and divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Roll each ball of dough out into a thin round, using a metal bench scraper to move the dough around, dusting with more millet flour to prevent sticking, into a 5-inch round about 1/8-inch thick. Use the bench scraper to transfer the tortilla to the griddle and cook on each side until lightly golden and forming air pockets, 1-2 minutes per side. Take care not to overcook or the tortillas will become too brittle. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. As you work, stack the tortillas in a clean, damp kitchen towel to keep them soft and pliant.
Make the tacos:
- In a wide, stainless steel skillet, bring 2-3 inches lightly salted water to a boil. Reduce the heat to keep the water at a bare simmer and add the vinegar. Crack 4 of the eggs into 4 small bowls. Holding a bowl close to the surface of the water, slip in an egg; repeat with the remaining eggs. Cook the eggs 4 minutes for a medium poach, then remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining eggs.
- Heat the beans in their liquid in a small saucepan set over medium heat, adding the cumin, chilli powder, and salt to taste, and a splash of water to keep them moist. Cover and keep warm.
- Layer each taco with a scoop of beans (drained if watery), sprinkle of cheese, handful of cherry tomatoes, and a few avocado slices. Top with a poached egg. Serve immediately, passing salsa, sour cream, and lime wedges at the table.
Notes
Nutrition
I love oat flour! And I would love to try hazelnut flour! I am in the process of making acorn flour and would love to know more about it!
As a nutrition graduate student, it is great to see Chefs creating recipes with alternative flours because it encourages others to explore the variety of grains available for cooking. I myself have never used rice flours for cooking but I love to incorporate different flours into recipes to create multigrain alternatives. For instance, multigrain pancakes with spelt and buckwheat flour.
I enjoy brown rice flour – keeps gluten free blends light, but still crispy!
I love Bob’s Red Mill products! They have made transitioning from conventional baking to gluten free baking so much easier! One question I had is the difference between xanthan gum and gaur gum. I know they are both thickeners and emulsifiers, but one day I could not find my xanthan gum and used guar gum instead. My finished cake, which I had made countless times, definitely had a funky texture.
I love oat flour, mostly because of how easy it is to make. I also love coconut flour and chickpea flour. I’ve never tried amaranth flower, so looking forward to trying out this recipe!
I would love to learn more about amaranth, because I have never cooked with it before but I have heard it is a complete protein, so I would love to learn how to incorporate it into my diet. This recipe looks like a great place to start!
I like the ease of oat flour (and that it’s inexpensive compared to a lot of the alternative flours), and have used almond flour and tapioca flour successfully in recipes. I have had many failures with coconut flour–not that the recipes didn’t turn out, just that the mouthfeel was so different and off-putting that the muffins (or whatever) would sit, undesired, until moldy.
i would love to try sorghum and rice flour! so far i’ve only experimented with almond flour and coconut flour (along with good ol fashioned wheat and oat flours)
Yes you must! Sorghum flour is my go-to for a simple 1:1 gluten free substitute and rice flour is perfect for crumbing and creating delicate biscuits
I’m curious about almond flour! I think it has potential to add protein to a dish but not sure the best way to use it! Thanks!
I have recently been loving buckwheat flour! I made your buckwheat chocolate chip cookies this weekend and I was amazed at how well they turned out. I also went out and bought some teff flour and tried the same recipe with that! So, so delicious. Can’t decide which one I like better!
omg omg omg I wanna win!!! (Also why don’t I have Erin’s book already. I need to remedy that…). My fav flour is….can you guess? chestnut flour! And hmm…I guess I’d like to know more about sorghum flour!
Such a beautiful collaboration – these photos look like a true mash-up of both your and Erin’s styles. And I’m DYING to try homemade tortillas now!!
I would be over the moon to win a copy of these books and Bob’s goodies! Brown rice flour is the workhorse in my kitchen followed by almond “flour” then buckwheat. When I have sorghum I love to use it, too. I’d like to experiment with chestnut flour but haven’t gotten my hands on any yet. I’ve never used amaranth either!
TOTAL grain geek here! I’m loving all the health benefits from using whole grains and grinding them myself. I particularly like spelt! It’s perfect for muffins, the texture, consistency is spot on for a mess free muffin…which is crucial for a mom of 4 little ones! 😉
I once made a chocolate cake with teff flour and I fell in love that flour!
I don’t have a favorite flour…yet. Mostly it depends on what other ingredients I’m using. Almond flour is great with gingerbread type spices, buckwheat flour is great with chocolate…I haven’t yet but would love to try teff flour.
Just experimenting with oat flour and would love to try amaranth- thanks for the great recipe to get started!
Favourite flour: coconut. Interesting taste, high fibre, super-power absorbent abilities.
Most used flour: sorghum. Definitely sorghum.
But any alternative flour is a feature in my baking kitchen! I have a massive tub all to myself (as the only gluten intolerant in a household of five) full of gluten free goodies and I would love to refresh it with some new and interesting finds
Spelt and oat flour are my go to flours. I have experimented with others but you know how that goes. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose. I was just over on Sophie’s blog (The Green Life) commenting on how I need to get my hands on The Alternative Baker because yes, experimenting is fun but it’s nice to have quality recipes to turn to. Anyways, this collaboration is wonderful! You two are fabulous and always putting out beautiful recipes and photos to go along with them.
Just starting to use alternate grain flours. Recently purchased millet flour and need to know more about it’s uses. Looking forward to exploring your site.
I’m a wanna-be grain geek, have only tried oat flour. Would love to experiment with millet and sorghum. Thanks for giveaway!
I’ve never worked with sorghum flour before. Looking forward to getting to know more about it.
My favourite is oat flour. I just love the taste of it in recipes. I’m interested in trying new types of flours.
I’d like to know more about tigernut flour.
I need to know about all! My son was just diagnosed with a gluten allergy and I’m leaning how to cook for him. I’m thankful for finding both of your Websites.
I love me some almond flour!! Any sweet treat with almond flour makes it basically impossible for me to avoid. As I was reading this recipe I was thinking “Hmmm, I need to try Amaranth flour.” So that’s definitely the flour I would like to know more about.
Mmmmm……I’d like a few of these breakfast tacos this morning! Gorgeous and delicious recipes!
I am excited to experiment with “alternative ” flours. It is wonderful to have all the options now and to be set free in the food world. Thanks for all the amazing recipes and information.
I really like rice flour, but I’m wondering which flour mostly resembles white wheat flour? My children are getting better at eating my food, however they are children and picky. I wish I could afford to buy lots of different flours to try alas, it’s not in the cards.
Hi Jennifer, I feel you! I usually use a blend of oat, sweet rice, and millet flours to mimic all-purpose. My book has a bunch of recipes that use that combo. :)
I have yet to try amaranth, but I have heard such awesome things about it! We are HUGE into breakfast tacos in this house, and I can see these becoming a major staple!
Making bread with spelt flour is a fantastic way to use alternative flours. I haven’t tried sorghum or teff flours yet. An added bonus with using alternative flours is the wide range of flavors and textures that open up an entire new world in our baking. (I agree, the grind size of any flour makes a world of difference in baking.)
I love brown rice flour for its natural sweetness. Both books look amazing!
I LOVE the flavor of amaranth so i am definitely keen to try these tortillas. As someone with an allergy to wheat I have found i have to get creative with alternative flours in order to produce some decent baking. It’s so nice to get guidance from two awesome cooks, as i tend to be a hesitant baker! Keep up the excellent work you two-it’s much appreciated.
I am new to the world of alternative flours and I would like to know more about sorghum and oat flour!!
I’m currently having a love affair with both millet and chickpea flour.
I have just begun experimenting with alternative flours and am anxious to try more. I’ve found some alternative flours (Bob’s Red Mill) in my local co-op but will need to order others online.
I’d like to try sorghum flour in my baking. I often make pancakes with einkorn, buckwheat and oat flour.
These tortillas look amazing… and the photos… I can’t wait to make them… and dying to get my hands on your gorgeous books! If only I could take a few weeks off to bake :)
I’m obsessed with alternative flours. How does one chose a favourite?!? Depends on the treat… love that nutty, cocoa, warm & rich flavour of buckwheat, which will definitely get used a lot in the fall/winter, and teff’s almost chocolately flavour but more mild and sweet. The earthy graham/gingerbread-like flavour of mesquite is so unique, and of course sorghum and millet are so versatile… love them all! I’d love to experiment more with chestnut & mesquite!
I love using oat flour because of its mild, earthy flavor. I want to branch out to amaranth and teff, among others. There’s so much variety that can give depth to recipes that have become rather mediocre.
Thank you!
I don’t have time to make the tortillas but the fixings inside look great and I’m always looking for breakfast foods other than the cold cereal or oatmeal I usually eat. Also, the double rolling pin you reference is no longer available at the place you mention. Perhaps they are selling it someplace else.
Although I miss sharing these wonderful recipes of yours in person, I at least get to go to the Bob Red Mill’s store in person here in the Portland area.
Oh my, I would love to be having those lovely tacos for breakfast right now! I have been replacing wheat with whole grain spelt flour in all of my baking the past year. I have noticed some issues with liquid ratios and textures, as well as baking times. I’ve been too intimidated to experiment with other flours… I have both cookbooks on my wish list! Thanks too for the heads up about flour quality from different sources… I had no idea.
I’ve totally had the same experience subbing whole spelt flour for wheat. I think subbing by weight can help; spelt flour is lighter than AP so that can be part of the problem. You’re in good hands with my and Erin’s books though – all the recipes are super well-tested. :)
There are so many great ones it would be hard to choose just one! But some of my go-to flours are buckwheat, oat, almond, sorghum, millet, chickpea, and brown rice. You use mesquite flour in your cookie post from the other day…and I’m intrigued! Congrats on the release of the cookbook :)
I would love to learn more about coconut flour and its absorbing property! Also buckwheat flour!
I’ve used oat flour (homemade), almond flour, millet flour and coconut flour in the past. Not super crazy about the coconut; I thought it lent an odd flavor to the items I used it with and am leery about trying it again. I am interested in the nut based flours, especially hazelnut and chestnut, and the amaranth has been on my list to try for a while. Bob’s is my favorite flour and grain brand; I love the variety of products and the prices are terrific.
I actually just received my copy of Alternative Baker yesterday and am really looking forward to trying some of your gorgeous recipes. Congrats on the book; I hope its a huge success for you!
Aw, thanks for ordering the book, Melanie! I had to do a fair bit of experimentation with the coconut flour, but I really love it in the recipes in the book (coconut cream tart, cashew lime blondies, and coconut tres leches cake, to name a few). Let me know if you give coconut flour another chance! :)
What a great idea to get these comments — so much fun and so interesting to read. The developments in the last few years on how to use alternative flours effectively is staggering. It’s like coming out of a dark labyrinth into the light. Thank you to all the creative chefs who have brought about this remarkable change. It’s great to see recipes for some “main line” alternative flours, but it is especially exciting to learn how to use the less common ones — more on amaranth and kaniwa please
Agree with you 100 percent, Gretel! I’d like to try kaniwa, too!
I like to use millet flour and buckwheat flour. I am interested to try amaranth and teff flours! Alternative flours are so fun to use!
Your photos are absolutely beautiful! And this sounds like a fabulous recipe.
I love using oat flour in baked goods. I also love the flavor of buckwheat flour. I would love to branch out and continue experimenting!
My favorite flour has to be chickpea flour/besam because it’s such a key ingredient in some of my favorite Indian foods. But I’d love to learn more about buckwheat flour – it looks so beautiful in the buckwheat bergamot double chocolate cookies from Alternative Baker!
Buckwheat flour! I love to make pancakes with it and I sweeten them with whatever mashed up seasonal fruit I have on hand.
I was in the bulk foods section at the local co-op scooping some amaryth seed into my little bag, the first time I had ever decided to use amaranth seed (trying to spice up some homemade granola) and a middle aged man scooping some neighboring grain looks at me and said, “ah, amaranth, what a magical grain” and nodded approvingly at me. I was nervous that he would ask me what I was making with it because I was embarrassed that I didn’t know any other recipe or use for it. I want to know the magic that that man was talking about with the amaranth seed!!
Haha, that’s fabulous! I have a popped amaranth granola in my book, too! I think it’s pretty magical. :)
I love using teff flour in pancakes and as a porridge alternative. I’ve been experimenting with using it in breads as well just to pack the protein in!
Yesss, teff forever!
I love the simplicity of oat flour in my recipes but I would love to try working with amaranth flour!
I am a fan of rice flour and would like to try spelt flour
I love using sorghum flour. It’s easy to use and easily adaptable for baking. Especially chocolate chip cookies. I would like to learn more about teff and amaranth. I have not used them. Not yet anyway.
I have recently become interested in using alternative flours and am excited to find my favorites! I like cornmeal, especially with the fall weather.
I’ve used millet and quinoa flours with great success. They both make a delicious base for almond butter blondies!
Ooh, yes please!
I would love to learn more about amaranth and quinoa flours (I find the flavor hard to balance)
I use sorghum and rice flours quite a bit, but have yet to try amaranth or millet.
I love sorghum flour! And I’d love to know more about amaranth flour :)
Really liking buckwheat flour lately, would love to do more with it!
This recipe sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it. I’m gluten free for health reasons, so I’ve been baking and cooking with brown rice flour, white rice flour, sweet rice flour and recently quinoa flour. I’m looking forward to more great recipes and products :)
All the best.
Johanna
My sister in law is gluten intolerant and so we have tried many gluten free recipes. We are very impressed with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1 to 1 baking flour. We made the most amazing homemade biscuits from the recipe on the back of the bag. I have also made an amazing seeded whole grain bread from Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day. This bread uses the following flours: brown rice, teff, sorghum and oat.
Oooh, I’ll have to give both of those a try!
Love amaranth as a porridge, and these tortillas look divine! As far as flours go, sorghum is my favorite for its light sweetness and soft texture.
As a pastry chef, I love farro flour! It has a beautiful nutty flavor and adds dimension to any of the wild yeast sourdough breads I am currently working on. Great in biscuits, too. Also love grinding rye berries for my breads. I use lots of whole grains in the “world’s best” granola I make at Banner Road Baking Company. Check us out at http://www.bannerroad.com. Love your blog and site!! Keep up the great work.
I like coconut flour!
I love using oat and almond flour , but I can’t wait to keep trying new ones!
As coming from Europe, unfortunatelly I do not qualify for your giveaway but I just want to tell you that for me, you are a genious cook! I know I told you many times, but I love your recipes and they (and you) make me want to switch entirely to GF cooking. As for me, I am obsessed with buckwheat everything for some time now, and that goes for buckwheat flour as well, although I still find it tricky to work with :) xx Iva
I love everything about this joint giveaway.
Favorite alternative flour: sorghum, because it’s so sweet and versatile. One I’d love to know more about: teff. Thanks for the opportunity, Alanna, and good luck with your events! I hope you make it to NYC :)
Lately I’ve been using sprouted grains – rice, millet, kamut. They have all been really yummy to work with! Made a great irish soda bread using spouted millet and sprouted brown rice.
Ooh, that sounds delicious!
I would like to learn to use wheat flour in more recipe.
I don’t feel like I have one favorite alternative flour. I feel like they each kind of have their place in certain dishes. You both have great recipes and love your photos and website designs. Best of luck to you both with your books!
i’d love to learn more about spelt flour
I am perpetually finding new ways to use buckwheat flour
I’ve just recently discovered I am gluten intolerant and I have been SO excited to see your recipes popping up everywhere. I can’t wait try them out! I haven’t used many alternative flours and I’d especially like to try sorghum and millet flour!
Congrats on the cookbook! I enjoy using buckwheat flour because of the earthy flavor it gives. I’ve never thought of using amaranth flour, and I love that you have teff recipes (I can’t get enough of injera).
Yes – so good!
I really love using almond flour, and have recently started experimenting with hazelnut! It is super fun to try out new things!
I’m a big almond flour fan, but I’d love to try sorghum!
As a devoted taco lover, I will not be able to put these books down! I love new recipes so this would be a nice challenge as well.
I love oat flour, but would love to experiment with other flours after reading this!
Wow, these look like the ultimate breakfast!
I make tortillas all the time, and generally add mesquite flour to mine. Which, unfortunately, leaves me with stiff, brittle tortillas. I am intrigued by the idea of doing tortillas with other flours. I like the idea of doing them with millet and with amaranth.
That sounds so good!
Thank you for this and for your cookbook (I hope I get a copy!). I’m still learning about gluten free cooking, but have been eating Bob’s gluten free oats for breakfast daily. They are the best. I’d say the flour I’m most interested in is Amaranth!
My go to grain is oats in any form…rolled, quick, flour, etc. but, I am open and interested in learning about the many alternatives, like sorghum, etc. Thanks for the chance to win the cookbooks! :)
I love finding new cookbooks I can’t wait to get started! I saw a post from detoxinista on a seed/nut combo that turned into bread and I know I have to try! My favorite flour to use right now is almond. I’ve been using it in apple pie fillings and other fruit desserts. It gives them a slight nutty flavor which is just to my taste!
I would love to win these cookbooks and learn some great new recipes using flours I haven’t used before, like amaranth and sorghum flour.
:)
I would like to know more about Amaranth. It sounds like it would be really interesting to cook with!
I’d like to try amaranth – especially so I can make these tortillas!
I love using spelt flour but I’d be interested in learning more about chickpea flour!
I would love to learn more about oat and spelt flour! Cooking with alternative flours is still new to me but I have enjoyed the little I have been able to try so far.
I absolutely adore almond flour, sweet and nutty and rich. I like to keep it simple, adding as few ingredients as possible, so it’s flavor shines. I’m working on getting to know the other alternative flours, especially the more “exotic” ones like teff, sorghum, garbanzo. Thank you for your cookbook, it helps take the fear out of experimenting with all of these amazing GF flours.
I love Israeli couscous! Also, I have cooked a few times with buckwheat flour and really enjoyed what I made. I would love to try sorghum flour
These tacos look amazing!
I eat breakfast tacos at least once a week because, well, they freakin rock. I am all over those tortillas. They look wonderful!
As for alternative flours… when I do bake (which isn’t very often), I love oat flour. I love its texture and the flavor it adds to pastries.
currently loving millet! have only cooked in whole grain form, would love to play with millet flour.
I have such a soft spot for buckwheat flour… the nutty flavor, the beautiful earthy color, the sandy texture. It feels REAL and comforting and solid. I would love more about how to use hazelnut flour, as that sounds beyond delicious and I’ve never experimented with it before.
As a celiac who loves to bake, I want to give Bob of Bob’s Red Mill a hug every single day.
Aw! I’m totally with you on all counts. :)
Homemade tortillas? Does it get any better than that??
I’ve only recently started cooking using alternative flours so I don’t have a favourite yet. My boyfriend is celiac so I’m trying to figure out GF baking because the alternative is me eating an entire pan of brownies.
I am having trouble locating sweet white rice flour in my town and would like to make your pie crust for Thanksgiving this weekend. Can you suggest a substitute?
Thanks!
Hi Fiona,
I feel you on the whole pan of brownies! But GF brownies are super easy to make – I have a recipe on my blog and one in my book that are adapted from Alice Medrich and they totally rule. As for sweet rice flour in the pie crust, I would go with a GF AP blend, preferably one with sweet rice in the ingredients such as Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1. I’ve also heard good things about cup 4 cup though I haven’t tried it myself (Joy the Baker has several recipes on her site). Let me know what you end up trying! :)
Thank you!
I actually made the trek to the international grocery store two towns over last night and found the flour! I won’t be able to make the trip all the time so thanks for the suggestions on alternatives.
I have made your whisky brownies before (with regular rice flour) and they were a bit hit!
My favorite alternative flour/grain to bake with is sorghum! I also love popped sorghum. One flour I’d love to experiment more with is teff. I love the fact that it’s high in protein. My mom and I do a lot of gluten free baking together and bounce ideas off one another. We both adore your blog and have lived every recipe we have tried!
First of all, congrats on your book Alanna, you did an outstanding job!
Speaking about flours, I’d looove to know more about coconut flour. There’s something magical in it to me (smell, texture, taste) but! my first attempts to deal with this flour were disaster, haha! I’ll keep trying though :)
Oh man, my first coconut flour try went straight into the compost. I feel you! Thanks so much for the sweet words, Natalie!<3
As a bakers’s daughter, I grew up with traditional grains. As an adult who also loves to bake, I’m experimenting with all kinds of alternative flours and my favorites so far is buckwheat and spelt! I would love to know more about coconut! I know it’s super absorbant so learning how to navigate it would be great!
Yes, coconut flour is so tricky to work with, but delicious when you get it right!
Alanna, your amazing food blog is the only one I follow, not only for the very unique and delicious recipies but also for your outstanding photography and writing from the heart. Your promo video is awesome with the folksy music :) I also admire the fact that you support and partner with other makers! Looking forward to ordering your book soon 💟
Aw, you’re so sweet – thank you!!
I’ve been baking with alternative flours since the 70’s when I had to grind my own (by hand). So nice to be able to buy a huge variety of high quality grains & flours now. Love both of your books, thanks for doing the leg work for us.
I just stumbled across your blog after a stop at The First Mess. I am very intrigued! I love all the different flours available but am a big scaredy cat to use them as I’m not the world’s most confident nor competent baker. I must learn more! I am, however, a master gardener, and I’ve grown Amaranth — incredibly beautiful — for its beauty alone. That’s when I first learned it was actually a grain! I would love to eat such beauty. I would love to spend hours admiring your beautiful books, and then more hours experiencing them — learning, baking, cooking. Hopefully, there’s something about buckwheat in those pages. I have failed miserably with buckwheat more than a few times.
Huge First Mess fan here! Thanks for stopping by! Amaranth is SO beautiful. And I have a good handful of buckwheat recipes in my book – it’s one of my very favorites (if not absolute favorite) for its roasty, toasty flavor.
I love to use spelt flour in my muffins and I love to use almond flour in my cookie recipes. After having breast cancer 4 years ago, I switched my diet completely to a healthier diet, and so far I am cancer free. Would love to win this to try out some flours I have not used yet and also I would love to receive a copy of your books. Thanks for all the receipes.
I’m so glad you’re better, Lynn, and sorry that you had to go through that. There’s a ton of breast cancer in my family – stupid cancer! Cheers to a healthy you. <3
These tortillas will be happening soon in my kitchen! I’d love to hear more about semolina flour, as it’s recently showed up in several recipes I’ve been considering.
I recently bought a bag of buckwheat flour. It’s my first time using it, and I bought it specifically so I could use it with your book. I can’t wait! I am also really excited about Erin’s book which will be quite fun for me as well. These tacos are a must-try!
My favorite gluten free flour is buckwheat flour. I just love how nutty and delicious tasting it is. And It can be used for sweet or savory dishes! I would love to know more about amaranth flour! So new to me :)
I’ve loved experimenting with teff flour lately! It’s adds a wonderful earthiness, especially on an apple crumble with lots of cinnamon for fall.
can’t find chestnut flour ANYWHERE!!!
It’s hard to find! You can definitely order it here: http://chefshop.com/Chestnut-Flour-Calleris-P7855.aspx
I’d have to say my favorite flour/grain is spelt it’s so wonderful with baking but I’d love to learn more about einkorn and rye!
My favorite is buckwheat, then corn, then wheat. I like them all, I just don’t use millet because I’m hypothyroidal.
Can these tortillas be used as a wrap? I am looking for a good gf wrap to use for kebab.
Sorry to bother, I have not tried your tortillas but wanted to know beforehand if they are pliable enough to be used as a wrap (alternatively, would you suggest anything?). I would like to organize a kebab night with turkish food for my coeliac friend too but without any soft flatbread it looks sad – Didi
These aren’t that pliable – let me know what you end up trying!
For now I have had the best results with mashed potato and sorghum flour, but they are really brittle before cooking so I have difficulties bringing them to the pan. Once cooked they should be alright. I will experiment further these days to be sure.
Ps: we tried your chiffon cake, it’s extremely soft and un-glutenfree-y (if that’s a word), I don’t usually like soft bland cakes but this one is a keeper – I subbed rice for oat and millet and added some white chocolate chips and matcha powder, for a Japanese twist. My father usually doesn’t like my gf stuff (he says it tastes ‘barbaric’, too strong) but this one he ate without realizing it was gf. So thank you.
I scrapped the potato idea and found an acceptable solution making a very flat but yeasted focaccia with sorghum, tapioca and psyllium. The main problem is that in proportion I have to use a lot of yeast, which is why I am now looking to understand how to make a poolish so that the leavening would be done in one or two days with little yeast. If you have any info on this technique please share (:V)
Hi Alanna!
Love your idea of using alternative Flour, but I am not quite familiar with them. I hope to try some of your recipes and let’s see how it turn out. Where did you get those alternative flour?
At my local co-op, but any Whole Foods should have them.