One thing is true about living gluten-free, it can get expensive. Especially if you’re a baker. You can easily pick up a store bought cake mix or whip up some cookies out of a box (which will set you back $5 per package, at least), but sometimes it’s fun to play, to experiment, to create from scratch.

But gluten-free, specialty flours are also costly. Luckily, with one, cheap little kitchen appliance, you can whip up your own gluten-free flours in no time. All you need is a (clean) coffee grinder.

It’s true that some flours are best store bought (or milled using a grain mill for a finer texture – think brown rice, sorghum, coconut), but for others, you can simply grind them up in a coffee grinder and bam, you’ve got flour. My favorite homemade flours are: quinoa, millet and amaranth.

The process is simple. Add these grains (or seeds in quinoa’s case), either raw or toasted (which I highly recommend for quinoa to remove its bitter taste) to your coffee grinder, grinding until you have a fine, flour like powder. Now, depending on your grinder, you may need to sift the flour to remove the coarse grains, but the result will be an effortlessly, light, homemade gluten-free flour. Easy-peasy and budget friendly!

Alyssa is the quinoa-obsessed girl behind the gluten-free blog, Queen of Quinoa. Check her out at: www.queenofquinoa.me or connect with her on: Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Pinterest