Quinoa flour

Not as a straight swap in most recipes: quinoa flour has no gluten, so cakes and biscuits can turn dense or crumbly. Start by replacing about a quarter of the flour in a recipe; for bread, combine it with a gluten-containing flour or a tested gluten-free blend.

Toast it in a dry frying pan over a low heat for a few minutes, stirring until it smells nutty, then cool it before using. Many commercial flours are already heat-treated, so taste a pinch first and avoid toasting it again if it is already pleasantly mild.

Use it for some or all of the flour in a pancake batter, and let the batter stand for about 10 minutes so it thickens. Cook small pancakes in a lightly oiled pan over medium heat for roughly 2 minutes per side; flip when the edges look set and bubbles appear.

Keep it tightly sealed in a cool, dark cupboard and use a clean, dry spoon. For longer storage, refrigerate or freeze it in an airtight container, as the natural oils in the flour can develop stale or bitter flavours; bring it to room temperature before opening to limit condensation.

It works well in pancakes, savoury flatbreads, biscuits and quick breads, and adds a nutty flavour to batters for fritters. Pair it with strong flavours such as chocolate, cinnamon, herbs or cheese, rather than expecting it to taste neutral.

Quinoa itself contains no gluten, so pure quinoa flour is naturally gluten-free. If you need to avoid gluten strictly, choose flour labelled gluten-free because milling and packing can introduce traces from wheat, barley or rye.

They are made from the same seed, but flour is milled for baking while whole quinoa is cooked as a grain. Per 100 g, quinoa flour has 13 g protein and 7 g fibre, compared with 14.1 g protein and 7 g fibre in quinoa grain.

Neither is best in every respect: per 100 g, quinoa flour has 7 g fibre, while amaranth flour has 15.1 g; amaranth also has 265 mg magnesium compared with 213 mg in quinoa flour. Both provide substantial protein, with 14.4 g in amaranth flour and 13 g in quinoa flour.