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Learn how to make quinoa flour at home in a food processor! This flour alternative is high-protein and perfect for gluten-free baking.
Maybe you’ve already made oat flour or almond flour at home, but you’re wondering what other types of flour alternatives you can make.
Well, let me add quinoa flour to your list.
Turn toasty popped quinoa in fine textured flour, for a protein-rich addition to your gluten-free baking.
Use it to make quinoa flour pizza crust, quinoa crackers, or quinoa pancakes!
Why Make Quinoa Flour?
- Quinoa is highly nutritious and naturally gluten-free; when it’s ground into flour, it retains its nutritional qualities.
- Quinoa is a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids, which is great when making gluten-free breads!
- Quinoa flour is versatile and has a mild, nutty flavor that works well in various gluten-free baking recipes.
What You'll Need to Make Quinoa Flour
Quinoa
Of course, to make quinoa flour, you need raw quinoa seeds!
You can use any type of quinoa, I used white quinoa to achieve a flour that looked similar to wheat flour. White quinoa also has a milder taste compared to red quinoa or black quinoa.
Equipment
To grind quinoa into flour at home, you have three main options:
A high-powered blender such as a Vitamix, can effectively grind quinoa into flour. This is especially great for making small batches.
A food processor is another excellent option. It takes a bit longer and doesn’t produce quite as finely, but it can still produce a satisfactory flour consistency, especially if you process the quinoa in multiple batches.
A coffee grinder works well for smaller quantities but may require multiple batches for larger amounts of flour.
How to Make Quinoa Flour
Here’s a step-by-step guide to making your own quinoa flour in a food processor:
1. Toast quinoa until it smells toasty and starts to pop.
2. Grind quinoa into a fine flour-like consistency.
3. Sift quinoa flour through a fine mesh strainer.
4. Your quinoa flour is ready to use!
Top Tips
- Toasting - Use a wide pan instead of a pot to speed up the toasting process.
- Patience - Let the food processor do its magic; it took a lot longer than I expected when I first made quinoa into flour with a food processor because the seeds are so tiny.
- Sifting - Make sure your strainer is very fine, or else the seeds will be able to escape through the holes.
How to Store Quinoa Flour
Store homemade quinoa flour in an airtight container, like a mason jar, in a cool, dark pantry.
While it can last a couple of months, I recommend making a small amount of freshly ground flour whenever you know you will use it.
Whole quinoa has a longer shelf life due to its protective outer layer, making it less susceptible to spoilage compared to ground quinoa flour, where this protective barrier is broken.
Quinoa Flour Recipes
Use quinoa flour to make these delicious recipes:
- Gluten-Free Bread - Quinoa flour enhances gluten-free bread with its nutty flavor and high protein content.
- Breakfast Favs - Add depth of flavor to breakfast favorites with quinoa flour pancakes or quinoa flour muffins.
- Cookies - Incorporate quinoa flour into gluten-free cookie recipes for improved structure and texture.
- Pizza - Make a vegan quinoa pizza crust for a protein-rich and flavorful gluten-free meal.
- Crackers - Create gluten-free crackers to pair with tofu ricotta or chickpea chicken salad.
- Thickening Agent - Use quinoa flour to thicken sauces, soups, and gravies, providing a smooth texture.
FAQ
You can generally replace ½ the amount of all-purpose flour ( or a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend) in a recipe with quinoa flour.
However, I recommend using quinoa flour in recipes specifically tested and developed with the properties of quinoa flour in mind.
If your quinoa packaging doesn’t say that it has been prewashed, rinse the quinoa to wash off the saponins. You do not need to wait for the rinsed quinoa to dry before toasting it though.
Toasting the quinoa before grinding it into flour enhances the flavor with a nutty quality.
Quinoa flour can be combined with various other gluten-free flours, such as almond flour, oat flour, chickpea flour, or tapioca flour.
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📖 Recipe
How to Make Quinoa Flour
Equipment
- Food Processor or high speed blender, coffee grinder, spice grinder
Ingredients
- 2 cup dry quinoa
Instructions
- Toast the quinoa over medium heat for about 10 minutes until it smells toasty and starts to pop. Stir occasionally to ensure all the seeds are toasted.
- Transfer the popped quinoa into a food processor and let it cool to room temperature.
- On the highest setting, grind quinoa into a din flour-like consistency. Depending on the power of your food processor or blender this can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes.
- Sift the quinoa flour through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any larger seeds.
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