The last time you went shopping for flour, you might have been faced with a mind-bogglingly wide array of options. In part because of our raised awareness of gluten intolerance, the market has responded with flour made of everything from almonds to amaranth. But did you know that even coffee has entered the ring as a flour contender? There are in fact two types of coffee flour on the market today, and both have been touted as tasty as well as nutritious.

The founders of the startup CoffeeFlour were troubled by the waste generated during the coffee bean harvesting process. Coffee “beans” are in fact seeds of cherries that grow on coffee plants. When the seeds are extracted, the cherry pulp is typically discarded, which is not only wasteful but can harm native ecosystems by releasing caffeine and acids into the water supply. The CoffeeFlour team decided to see if they could make something useful from it instead, so they developed a lightly caffeinated flour that is packed with protein, potassium, and fiber. In addition to providing a great gluten-free flour alternative, CoffeeFlour aims to increase sustainability by adding a new product to native coffee marketplaces and keeping at least half of the sales within the country of origin.

The second type of coffee flour, which is made from the coffee bean itself, was developed by biophysicist Daniel Perlman at Brandeis University and was patented last year. Perlman realized that the antioxidants for which coffee beans are known are mostly destroyed by the roasting process. So, he reasoned, why not make a product that would harness the antioxidant power of the green bean? He baked the beans at low temperatures for a short amount of time, then milled them finely into a flour that packs a punch—a muffin made with Perlman’s coffee flour would contain the caffeine of a cup of coffee and four times its antioxidant content!

Neither coffee flour can be substituted one-for-one with traditional flours, but adding a portion of to your baked goods can wake you up, provide nutritional benefits, and maybe even help the planet!