Can I use amaranth flour or another grain flour as a substitute for white flour in tortillas?

I am trying to make a healthier tortilla, which I have always made with all-purpose white flour. Is there another grain flour I can use that will produce a tastier and healthier tortilla, and still give me a tender tortilla?
Best Answer
You might try to add some amaranth flour or any other kind of flour, but it's difficult -impossible I think- you can make a bread or a tortilla out of 100% amaranth flour. Wheat flour (that you call "all purpose white flour") contains gluten, that is functionally used to make dough stick together. If you use amaranth, rice or other kinds of flour you'll find that it's difficult to make the dough.
If you want to make a healthier tortilla use whole wheat flour, and add whatever you want inside: amaranth, sesame seeds, linseed, nuts, peanuts, almonds, etc.
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Quick Answer about "Can I use amaranth flour or another grain flour as a substitute for white flour in tortillas?"
Amaranth has an earthy, nutty flavor and tends to take on the flavor of other ingredients. It can replace 25% of wheat flour but should be combined with other flours when baking. The best use of this type of flour is for making tortillas, pie crusts and bread.Can I substitute amaranth flour for all-purpose flour?
Amaranth Flour The flour is too dense to be used on its own but can substitute for all-purpose flour in baked goods by up to 25 percent. Amaranth flour has an earthy, grassy taste. Therefore, it works better in savory dishes like breads and pizza dough as well as to thicken sauces, gravies and soups.How do you convert amaranth to flour?
Place 1-2 tbsp on a hot, dry pan, cover with a lid and wait for them to pop. They'll start popping after 2-3 seconds, and finish after 10-15 seconds. Once cooled, grind into a fine powder using a flour mill or clean coffee/spice grinder. Grind small amounts at a time or the seeds can gum up the blades.What does amaranth flour do?
Amaranth flour is used as a thickener in gravies, soups, and stews. Sprouted amaranth is used in salads. The cooking of amaranth improves its digestibility and absorption of nutrients. Amaranth flour lacks gluten proteins present in wheat; hence, it is not suitable for bread making.Is amaranth flour bitter?
Dry or cooked, amaranth seeds have a similar texture to fine bulgur wheat or whole wheat couscous." Beitchman added that amaranth tastes slightly sweet, nutty, earthy, and has some bitter notes. "Along with teff, amaranth is thought to be among the smallest so-called grains that humans consume."The Best Gluten-Free Flour Alternatives| The Healthiest Flours To Use
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Answer 2
I've been to a restaurant which proposes pizzas made of 100% of amaranth. So it is definitely possible to make some kind of dough, although I'm not sure how much complicate and lengthy it can get.
Answer 3
You would probably have to nixtamalize most gluten-free grains and pseudocereals (including amaranth) in order to use them successfully in tortillas if you don't want to add gluten. These doughs from nixtamalized grains are known as masa. Corn is usually used for this, however, but other things are possible. You can buy masa harina, which is dried and powdered masa de maíz (which is masa from corn) at the grocery store and make corn tortillas with it. If you use regular corn meal, it will probably fall apart and be grainy (or else thick like fry bread).
'… nixtamalized amaranth flour can be used to replace maize for tortilla production.' This is an excerpt from Pseudocereals and Less Common Cereals: Grain Properties and Utilization …, edited by Peter S. Belton and John R.N. Taylor (p. 236). So, yes, what you suggest is possible, although it might take some learning and time. Companies should really sell masa from all kinds of grains and pseudocereals, although advertising it to people who don't know what it is might be the hard part. They could call it tortilla flour, I guess (but I imagine there are many more uses).
You would probably need to nixtamalize the amaranth before grinding it into flour, however. That's how it's done with corn. So, I wouldn't buy amaranth flour for this purpose.
Nixtamalization may make the food more nutritious in certain ways. It does for corn, anyway. I'm not sure about amaranth.
Other gluten-containing grains (e.g. barley, rye, kamut, spelt) might be workable for tortillas, but likely not as ideal as wheat flour, without some kind of process like nixtamalization.
Apparently, you can make tortillas with oat flour, with a very simple recipe.
FYI: Oats don't contain gluten. However, they are often contaminated with it (hence gluten-free oats being sold particularly) and they contain a similar protein called avenin. Even with gluten-free oats, avenin can cause issues for people who need a gluten-free diet if they haven't been on the diet for a certain amount of time.
You can even make a flour from wheat that has been nixtamalized: Masa de harina de Trigo. I imagine it's even easier to make tortillas with it than with regular flour (however fine or white it is).
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