GroundUp: Powerful Super-Flours for Baking Sustainably

Flour seems simple enough, right? Well, it used to be! Once upon a time when you needed flour, you went to the grocer and grabbed the yellow bag that your grandmother or mother used, and put it in the cupboard. This was most likely your standard white flour made from wheat. Over the last 20-30 years, we have seen the evolution of flour and with the introduction of whole wheat and ancient grains, baking began to veer away from the traditional and venture into whole new tasty territory. In the past five years, it is not unusual for your grocer and even corner stores to have rye, potato, spelt, corn, and nut flours, on the shelves!

Recently, we introduced you to Okotoks-based company GroundUp Eco-Ventures, which is upcycling otherwise wasted coffee grounds and barley into nutritious flour mixes. Founder Shawn Leggett has four plant-based products that are in the spotlight today.

GroundUp Gluten-Free Coffee Flour

Made from spent coffee grounds, this gluten-free flour is great to use along with almond and coconut flour to add fibre and reduce calories. It has 2x the protein of rice flour, more potassium per gram than a banana, and more protein per gram than whole wheat flour. With an underlying nutty, chocolatey taste, it is ideal for baking cakes, cookies, bars, and simply getting creative! A dark flour that is sure to impress and bring a wow factor to your baked goods.

Did you know there is a dedicated community of GroundUp customers that share their creations online? There are two culinary students from NAIT who used the flour to make bow pasta for a ‘black tie’ event, while one baker incorporated it into a beautiful dark sourdough. The brand is soon partnering with Maxi Foods, a gluten-free Mexican food company, to make dark tortillas from scratch! Check out GroundUp IG and see these creative uses on the GroundUp Instagram.

GroundUp 100% Brewer’s Barley Saved-Grain Flour

Made from craft-brewery spent barley, this saved-grain flour is going to become your next pantry staple. It contains only ⅓ the carbs of wheat flour, 3.4x more fibre, and 6g of protein per 30g. This flour makes for great sourdough with quadruple the dietary fibre of almond flour and fewer calories than coconut! Make the switch for higher nutritional value with a potency that is just as good for your baking and cooking needs.

This flour has also been gathering attention from the sourdough community because of the incredible nutritional value it adds while still being a potent and active flour for the bread. GroundUp has a great selection of recipes on their website that includes soft pretzels, cobblers, and delicious pancakes.

GroundUp Born Again Protein Brownie Mix

A mixture of both super flours makes for a chocolatey nutty brownie that is delicious and nutritious. This mix is loaded with fibre and protein creating  brownies that will fuel your body and satisfy your sweet tooth at the same time! Perfect for when you want something sweet in the afternoon, but may not have a lot of time to whip it up from scratch. Next month we will be introducing the GroundUp Brownie Baking Challenge featuring three Vancouver-based baking enthusiasts. You will get to know more about them, see the awesome results, and share in the GroundUp brownie baking experience!

GroundUp Coffee Oil

This coffee oil is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory that will become a go-to in your natural skincare routine. With palmitic, linoleic, and polyunsaturated fatty acids, it is ideal for diminishing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, brightening and firming the skin, as well as stimulating collagen. Use this oil in facial skin care, to stimulate hair growth, or treat cellulite, bug bites, and sore muscles.

Explore all the products available for purchase on the GroundUp website.

This is the second of a four-part series on the Alberta-based GroundUp EcoVentures founded and operated by Shawn Leggett. Catch-up with part one here!