Golden Quinoa Flour

I’m revamping my flour mix and experimenting. I like the rice flour mix that I found in my Annalise Roberts GF book (and the same one that Bette Hagman uses), but with all the muffins and baking I’ve been doing I feel like it’s lacking some nutrients.

I’m experimenting. I use lots of different flours depending on the recipe and cookbook I use, but it’s always nice to have one mix for convenience. It isn’t easy, especially since I’m particular about some of the flours. I’m not picky, per se, just particular. Some flours and premade flour mixes use bean flours, either one or a variety and for me the taste is just too … well beany. If one has grown up using bean flours or eaten baking with them, they may not notice it. But for me, it’s too overpowering and I have trouble eating something sweet-ish and tasting bean. There’s a bakery downtown that makes a gf cupcake and it tastes like beans and I just can’t go back. Oh, I shouldn’t have thought of that. The taste is coming back to me.

Recently I was at Homesense (which has become one of my favourite stores; I just go there too often) where I found some quinoa flour. There was a shelf full of different brands so I picked up a few (the price was too good to pass up). I’ve decided to make some more muffins this week so I can use it some more.

This Golden Quinoa Flour is packaged by Ecoideas, a company based in Ontario. So far I’m impressed because the quinoa comes from the Canadian Prairies, is non-GMO, and for ¼ cup there is 10% of your daily value of iron and 12% for fibre. I know that there has been a lot of hype regarding quinoa this past year and seeing that little nutrition sticker really hit home why it’s become a new ‘superfood’.  Upon opening the bag I quickly noticed a nutty aroma. It wasn’t strong, just there, and it was pleasant. I was impressed in how my muffins turned out and I’ll try it again to make sure it isn’t a fluke. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it will make my flour mix a little healthier.