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.
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.
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.
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!
*Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this vegetarian breakfast taco recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.*
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
Constantina Kalimeris says
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 💟
Alanna says
Aw, you're so sweet - thank you!!
suzanne says
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.
Kathy says
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.
Alanna says
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.
Lynn flynn says
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.
Alanna says
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
Heather T says
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.
Amanda @ Cookie Named Desire says
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!
Amisha says
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 :)
Maia says
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.
Zan Romeder says
can't find chestnut flour ANYWHERE!!!
Alanna says
It's hard to find! You can definitely order it here: http://chefshop.com/Chestnut-Flour-Calleris-P7855.aspx
Fatimah S. says
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!
Didina Gnagnide Angorinie says
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.
Didina Gnagnide Angorinie says
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
Alanna says
These aren't that pliable - let me know what you end up trying!
Didina Gnagnide Angorinie says
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.
Didina Gnagnide Angorinie says
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)
Kate says
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?
Alanna says
At my local co-op, but any Whole Foods should have them.
Alene says
Hi! I just learned that I cannot have anything made from rice. At all. What can I substitute the rice with in these tortillas? I am devastated. I found out that I have been poisoned by arsenic, in rice. Just unbelievable. Thank you.
Alanna says
That's horrible, I'm really sorry to hear that. Actually, the reason I started working with different GF flours was because I found out about arsenic in rice and I wanted to limit my exposure too.
I would also be devastated if I couldn't have any rice ever again. Organic white rice from California seems to have the lowest levels of arsenic. Lundberg Farms in CA tests for arsenic, just in case that's helpful.
For this recipe, I'd recommend omitting the rice flour and upping the tapioca flour to 1/4 cup, and adding 2 extra tablespoons of millet or amaranth flour. Please let me know if you give it a try!