The Essentials of Baking: Flour and its Substitutes, a Firm Foundation
Flour is a staple ingredient in most recipes. It adds structure and texture to cake, cookies, pastry, and pretty much everything you bake. All purpose flour is the standard, but there are other common varieties you’re probably familiar with, whole wheat is another popular type. There are also different types of flour made for specific uses, cake flour, bread flour, pastry flour, and 00 flour are a few. Add to that, flour substitutes like almond, coconut, rice, oat, and even soy flour, which are great for diabetic, or gluten free folks. And finally there are some products that can work instead of flour in a pinch, rolled oats, flaxseed, wheat germ, and cornmeal.
In this post we’ll be talking about flour, its uses, substitutes, and purpose in a recipe. You can use this information to make baked goods healthier (whole wheat flour has tons of health benefits!). You’ll also be able to tweek recipes to account for gluten free friends, or make substitutions if you’re out of all purpose flour. Finally, you’ll be able to use this information to craft your own recipes, an exciting step in any novice baker’s journey!
So what exactly does flour do?
Flour provides the structure for your baked goods. When we hydrate flour, the proteins in the flour interact, and form a web. This is what we call “gluten development”. You’ve probably heard this term thrown around before, but it is actually an essential element in you baked goods. Gluten develops when you knead the dough. When you knead bread dough, you get a chewy, open texture we know and love. However, when we make cookies and cake, we don’t want a chewy texture. In this case it is imperative not to overmix the dough, to avoid gluten development. Knowing how much to knead your dough, based on the texture you want, or type of good you’re baking, will help you gain confidence, and develop your own recipes.
White vs whole wheat, pros and cons-
There are two basic categories of wheat flour. Whole wheat and white. Whole wheat flour is made by grinding down the whole wheat germ. This yields a more flavorful flour and, as you’ve probably heard, has more nutrients then white flour. However, grinding down the whole wheat germ yields a coarser flour, and may lead to a grainy texture if used incorrectly.
The second category is white flour. There are several different kinds of white flour which I will discuss later. In general, it is made from grinding only one part of the wheat germ. This results in a paler, finer, texture then whole wheat flour. White flour is the standard for most baking, and yields a softer texture in the final product. Unfortunately, it doesn’t boast the health benefits of whole grain varieties.
White flour, infinite possibilities
Bleached vs unbleached, self rising vs all purpose, bread, cake, pastry, 00, it seems like the list goes on and on! With all these choices, how are you supposed to keep track of all the factors, let alone choose the right one for your needs? Honestly, there isn’t really a shortcut for this, you just have to get familiar with the uses for each one. Some are pretty easy, it doesn’t take much to remember that bread flour is used for bread. But it may be harder to know when to use bleached or unbleached flour. My advise, is to save the post and keep it as a reference, or make your own simplified list from this post. That way, you’ll always have it on hand for when you need a refresher.
So lets get into it. We’ll start with bleached vs unbleached, as they’re pretty easy to figure out. All white flour is technically bleached in some way, but flour marketed as “bleached all purpose” has been bleached with chemicals. Unbleached flour however, has been lightened naturally. As result of chemical bleaching, bleached flour is usually finer in texture than unbleached. When baked, the difference between the two is minuscule. However, if you really want to get specific, some bakers prefer unbleached for sturdier baking (yeast breads, quick breads, etc) and save the bleached for lighter baked goods (cakes, muffins, etc). When choosing between the two, it’s really up to you, as both will achieve the same products. If you don’t like the idea of chemical bleaching, opt for unbleached, but otherwise the two are mostly interchangeable.
Next up we have All purpose and self rising. Both are common in recipes, but they will impact other ingredients you use, and it’s important to understand the difference. Self rising flour is essentially all purpose flour that already has salt and baking powder added to it. It is usually used in recipes that are meant to be quick and easy, as measuring small amounts of baking soda/powder can be fiddly. All purpose flour is your standard, base level flour. Most recipes will call for it, and it’s good to always have some on hand. If you bake a lot, you’ll go through tons of this stuff, I try to buy mine in bulk, to avoid having to get more every other week. All purpose is used for every baked good under the sun, and works well in anything, if you’re not sure which flour to use, all purpose is always a safe option. Self rising on the other hand, works best in recipes for quick breads, muffins, and anything that is meant to be quick and easy.
Okay, now we’re going to get nit-picky. Bread flour is made from a grain that has more protein than what’s used for standard all purpose. Remember the gluten development we talked about earlier? More protein=better gluten structure. For bread, this only makes things better, it gives breads the chewy, air-pocket filled texture that makes bread so delicious. This kind of flour comes in bleached and unbleached varieties, but is generally darker and courser then all purpose. Cake flour is the opposite. It is made from winter wheat, which is softer than traditional wheat. Cake flour is usually heavily bleached, and this process, combined with the grain its milled from, produce a soft fine, almost velvety, flour. Bread flour makes for tender, delicate pastries and cake. Choosing whether or not cake or bread flour are best for your recipe is pretty straight forward. Making bread? Go for bread flour. Looking for a delicate cake or pastry? Opt for cake flour. Luckily, these two are easy to remember!
Unfortunately, these next two aren’t as simple as the previous ones. In fact, you may have never heard of them at all! Pastry flour is almost always whole wheat, but it is milled from a softer grain then standard whole wheat flour. Because of this, pastry flour is finer, and has less protein. This means that, you guessed it, less gluten is formed when it’s hydrated. As a result, pastry flour makes for more tender, delicate pastries then traditional whole wheat. 00 flour is an Italian flour, and is the most fine of all the flours listed here. It has moderate protein content, but the type of grain it’s milled from makes it develop an elastic texture when hydrated. This makes it perfect for pasta and pizza, very Italian right? If you’re making fresh pasta or pizza dough, 00 is definitely the way to go. If you like the idea of whole wheat flour, but want a delicate result, go for pastry flour. Pastry flour is most commonly used for cookies and pie crusts, but it’s use can be extended to other baked goods, try it out next time you’re looking for an all purpose substitute!
Flour substitutes, a whole new world
One of my family members is low carb, and I have several gluten free friends. Whenever I bake for them, I think it’s important to accommodate their dietary restrictions, and everything should be just as delicious! Luckily, there are tons of options when it comes to flour alternatives, and it’s relatively easy to substitute them. These substitutes include almond, coconut, spelt, oat, rice, buckwheat, quinoa, millet and rye flour. You can also use flaxseed, rolled oats, wheat germ, and cornmeal in a pinch. I will post another article specifically about flour substitutions in the future. Stay tuned for that post, where I’ll go into specifics about how much of each is equivalent to all purpose flour. If you aren’t baking for anyone with dietary restrictions, I would suggest getting familiar with traditional flours first, as they are usually the standard for most recipes.
Flour in recipes, how much is too much?
Once you gain confidence in the kitchen, you may be interested in making your own recipes. At the end of the Essentials of Baking series, there will be an article that details how I develop my own recipes, and tips to help you make yours. I still think it’s important that you have a basic understanding of how much flour is usually used in common baked goods. Keep in mind that these ratios are generalized, different ingredients and recipes will obviously require different ratios, but these are a few standard ratios to get you started.
For sponge cake, the ratio is easy to remember. 1:1:1:1. One part flour, to one part egg, to one part fat, to one part sugar. Pretty simple right! Cookies are almost as simple, 3:2:1. Three parts flour, to two parts fat, to one part sugar. Bread is a little different with a 5:3 ratio. That’s five parts flour to three parts liquid. Once you’re familiar with the basics of flour, use these ratios to try your hand at winging it!
Flour is essential in almost all kinds of baking. It may seem intimidating to try and remember the different kinds, and their uses, but with a little practice, it’ll become second nature! By learning about different kinds of flour, you’ll no what to look for when a recipe calls for something, as well as how it will impact the texture of the finished product. Using the ratios I’ve included, you can start to branch out on your own. There’s nothing more rewarding then having your own recipe turn out well!
I would encourage you to try substituting a different flour if you think it would benefit the recipe. You’d be suprised by the difference such a small change can make! If you create your own recipe with these ratios, or make a flour substitution, I would love to here about, and see pictures! If you have any questions or comments on this or any post, please comment below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Also, I am happy to give you feedback and tips on any recipes you’re working on, just email me on the contact page, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Until next time, happy baking!
