Recipes Using Amaranth Flour

freeatlast · March 5, 2011

Hi everyone. I just bought some amaranth flour this past week and now am realizing maybe it's not the best flour for bread, biscuits, or rolls. I'm losing my last five pounds, finally, and have cut sugar from my diet. I usually eat a homemade biscuit or slice of bread everyday with jelly that is really just fruit sweetened with something like white grape juice.

Anyhoo, I haven't been able to find any bread recipes that use amanarth flour. Maybe I should have waited until the fall to bake with it in cupcakes or cakes when I'm back using sugar.

Any ideas for non-sweet, non-yeast breads?

Takala · March 5, 2011

I use amaranth all the time. I mix it half and half with sorghum and store it in a ziplock bag, then use it typically as about 1/3 to 1/2 of a gluten free blend with almond meal that I make by grinding almonds in the blender. This mixture does not need xanthan gum and is mold retardant, a "feature" of amaranth.

I do two types of quick bread with this. The first type I make in a small cast iron skillet, as either a pancake or a quick bread. If doing it as a quick bread, I start it on the stovetop with oil in the pan, then finish it under the broiler.

The second type, I do as a microwave quick bread in a cereal bowl or ramekin.

Here is the recipe:

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Bun in the Bowl, microwaved

in a microwave safe bowl, custard dish, or ramekin, mix together

1 egg

half teasp apple cider vinegar

a bit of olive oil, a spoonful aprox. (teasp. for smaller, tablespoon for larger amt of flour)

a tiny glop of molasses

add to it a mixture of gluten free flours (for a single bun, 1/4 cup. for a larger single bun, a 1/2 cup, for a BIG bun for 2 servings, 3/4 to one cup.)

orig recipe had sorghum, almond, flax. I use almond and whatever else I have, usually sorghum - amaranth. About half almond, the rest sorgh-amar.

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teasp. cocoa powder

pinch of salt

optional - pinches of other spices, such as cinnamon, cumin

teaspoon of sesame or sunflower seeds for garnish

optional - more sugar, honey, agave, or sweetener to make a muffin like taste (can use lemon peel, juice, and poppyseeds, for example) even Splenda works.

If using larger amounts of gluten-free flours, add water to make a batter.

If using extra fruit juice for a muffin flavor, you may not have to add much water.

Adjust liquids to get thick cake batter type consistency with your flour/meal mixture

Mix together until well blended, and microwave right in the bowl for approximately 1 minute 20 seconds to 1 minute 30 seconds. The Big Bun in a Big Cereal bowl, in a slower microwave, may take up to 1 :45 or even 2 minutes - keep checking. Be careful not to over microwave the smaller ones or they turn into flax hockey pucks which taste of sawdust. The middle may not want to cook thru on the bigger cereal bowl. This is where you dump it out onto a plate, and finish microwaving it upside down.

Makes one bun. Once you figure these out, they are really, really handy to make instant hot gluten-free bread with. And you can even slice them and toast them. The big ones can be cut in half to make 2 half rounds, and then split to make two small sandwich breads for lunch.

To make almond meal, put almonds in blender, in small amounts such as a 1/3 of a cup, and whirl on high, pulsing, until it turns to a ground up meal/flour.

This recipe would probably work with other nut flours or other flour blends, but the result may be different, as well as the cooking time will vary every time you change ingredients. The original recipe had some flax, which I personally don't care for, but others might like. Lemon juice may be substituted for the vinegar, in larger amounts. The acid is necessary to interact with the baking soda, so add the soda last.

A muffin like flavored bread can be made by using whatever form of sweetener is desired, plus the grated peel of a citrus fruit such as lemon or mandarin or orange, and the juice from the fruit, as a substitute for some or all of the liquid . Poppyseeds can be added.

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Skillet Quick Bread, using Almond, sorghum, amaranth

Turn on the broiler, set the rack about 6" under it.

Use the above "large" recipe, for plain, but mix it in a bowl, then-

make it in a pre heated small (8") cast iron skillet to which you have added a good dollop of olive oil.

Cook on the stovetop until the bottom is done. (it will change scent, be browned on bottom, a few bubbles may have come up to the top. DO NOT ABANDON THIS COOKING PROCESS or get distracted, because these nut recipes burn easily)

You will be using about 3/4 of a cup to one heaping cup+ of gluten free almond/sorghum/amaranth.

Typically I use 1/2 cup of almond meal

1/2 cup or a bit more of the sorghum/amaranth blend.

mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then add together. You can add extra vinegar for 1 teaspoon, the vinegar has no taste.

(note. with these ingredients and egg, no xanthan gum is necessary. If you use something else without the almond and amaranth, you may have to add it. The amount of liquid will vary, due to egg size, humidity, etc. Make a thick cake batter consistency. )

When the bottom is done cooking, put skillet under the broiler. The top will quickly finish. Watch it carefully !

Test by using potholder and pulling the pan out, touching top carefully to see if it springs back, then sticking a table knife in it to see if it comes out clean. When done, pull from oven and let cool a bit in skillet. Slice into 4 triangle quarters. Will be thick enough to slice crosswise for toast or small sandwiches.

Store leftovers in ziplock bags or covered in plastic wrap in refrigerator. Also can freeze. This stuff is mold retardant and keeps well for making toast. Also is dense enough that it can be a good emergency purse travel food, especially if extra nuts or seeds are added to it. The sunflower seeds tend to turn green inside of it, if you use them, don't be afraid, it is not mold but merely a chemical reaction.

I have done this with just almond and amaranth, and with a bit of extra sweetener, it's very much like cornbread.

freeatlast · March 6, 2011

Wow! These look GREAT Takala. Thank you soooooo much!!!! I will definitely try them.

Also, I have a question about sorghum and buckwheat flours. I have left them in the pantry for over a year and a half. My other flours in the refrigerator. Should I just toss them and buy new, or should they still be good? They smell fine, but the last time I used each of them, the baked goods tasted funny. I'm just not sure if it was b/c they were old. Do you keep yours in the refrigerator?

Takala · March 6, 2011

I try to store everything in the refrigerator or the freezer, as some of this stuff can go rancid or "off" pretty quickly at room temperature. To me, buckwheat and amaranth smell funny anyway when fresh, but then taste okay when baked. I am about the opposite of most people, especially with things like bean flours. I kept trying to do something with chickpea flour to get it to taste weird, and finally succeeded when I mixed it with yogurt and heated it, where it tastes bitter. I thought, oh, okay, this is what it must taste like to the supertasters. :lol: Whatever I do with adding vinegar and cumin to most of the stuff I use it for must negate that.

freeatlast · March 6, 2011

I try to store everything in the refrigerator or the freezer, as some of this stuff can go rancid or "off" pretty quickly at room temperature. To me, buckwheat and amaranth smell funny anyway when fresh, but then taste okay when baked. I am about the opposite of most people, especially with things like bean flours. I kept trying to do something with chickpea flour to get it to taste weird, and finally succeeded when I mixed it with yogurt and heated it, where it tastes bitter. I thought, oh, okay, this is what it must taste like to the supertasters. Whatever I do with adding vinegar and cumin to most of the stuff I use it for must negate that.

Very funny!!!