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
Kimberley Doerksen says
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!
Alanna says
Yesss, teff forever!
Donna F. says
I love the simplicity of oat flour in my recipes but I would love to try working with amaranth flour!
Adele says
I am a fan of rice flour and would like to try spelt flour
Daryl Jones says
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.
Sarah R says
I have recently become interested in using alternative flours and am excited to find my favorites! I like cornmeal, especially with the fall weather.
Rachel says
I've used millet and quinoa flours with great success. They both make a delicious base for almond butter blondies!
Alanna says
Ooh, yes please!
Andrea says
I would love to learn more about amaranth and quinoa flours (I find the flavor hard to balance)
MelissaD says
I use sorghum and rice flours quite a bit, but have yet to try amaranth or millet.
Melissa @ treats with a twist says
I love sorghum flour! And I'd love to know more about amaranth flour :)
Lara says
Really liking buckwheat flour lately, would love to do more with it!
Johanna says
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
April Rickey says
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.
Alanna says
Oooh, I'll have to give both of those a try!
Amy (Wooden Spoon Baking) says
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.
Anne Croy says
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.
Steph says
I like coconut flour!
Megan M says
I love using oat and almond flour , but I can't wait to keep trying new ones!
Iva@culinary postcards says
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
Gena says
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 :)
Margreta says
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.
Alanna says
Ooh, that sounds delicious!
manda says
I would like to learn to use wheat flour in more recipe.
Kim says
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!
Judith says
i'd love to learn more about spelt flour
Anna says
I am perpetually finding new ways to use buckwheat flour
Jess says
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!
Briana S. says
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).
Alanna says
Yes - so good!
Landen says
I really love using almond flour, and have recently started experimenting with hazelnut! It is super fun to try out new things!
Ali F says
I'm a big almond flour fan, but I'd love to try sorghum!
Brenda Guardado says
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.
Allison says
I love oat flour, but would love to experiment with other flours after reading this!
Carrie says
Wow, these look like the ultimate breakfast!
Susan says
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.
Alanna says
That sounds so good!
Kathryn says
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!
Jerilyn says
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! :)
Jenna says
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!
Pam Caceres says
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.
:)
Carolsue says
I would like to know more about Amaranth. It sounds like it would be really interesting to cook with!
Breanne says
I'd like to try amaranth - especially so I can make these tortillas!
Frances says
I love using spelt flour but I'd be interested in learning more about chickpea flour!
Emily says
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.
michelle says
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.
Elise Gahan says
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
Matt @RealFoodByDad says
These tacos look amazing!
Brian @ A Thought For Food says
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.
Vanessa Lauria says
currently loving millet! have only cooked in whole grain form, would love to play with millet flour.
Alexandra Brown says
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.
Alanna says
Aw! I'm totally with you on all counts. :)
gerry @ foodness gracious says
Homemade tortillas? Does it get any better than that??
Fiona says
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!
Alanna says
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! :)
Fiona says
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!
Laura Gordon says
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!
Natalie says
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 :)
Alanna says
Oh man, my first coconut flour try went straight into the compost. I feel you! Thanks so much for the sweet words, Natalie!<3
Jess says
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!
Alanna says
Yes, coconut flour is so tricky to work with, but delicious when you get it right!