It’s a key ingredient in all our favorite breads, pastries, and pastas. It gives deep fried food that crunchy coating, and it serves as a thickening agent for soups and sauces. We’re talking about flour – possibly the most useful ingredient in your pantry.
Generally speaking, flour can be used to describe any powder that is made by grinding raw grains, nuts, seeds, roots, or beans. If you’re thinking that this category sounds pretty broad, you’d be right. There are tons of different types of flours and they all have specific uses, depending on the dish you’re cooking, and your health and dietary needs.
You’re no doubt familiar with all-purpose flour, and maybe you’ve used bread or cake flour or tried a gluten-free variety before. But there are so many more great types to explore, and once you know how to use them, you can open up a new world of cooking and baking. Read on to find out how to choose the right flour for your needs and how to use all the different kinds of flour that you’ll find in the baking aisle.
Table of Contents
All Purpose Flour
All-purpose flour (also sometimes called AP flour) is the workhorse of flour varieties, thanks to its versatility in all kinds of recipes. Made from the innermost kernel of the wheat grain (typically red, hard wheat), all-purpose flour is a mild flavored white flour that’s perfect for cakes, muffins, breads, flaky pie crusts, and lots more. This variety of flour has a longer shelf life than other whole grain flours but contains less nutritional value than other varieties.
All-purpose flour comes in both bleached and unbleached varieties and they can generally be used interchangeably. Bleached flour has chemicals added to speed up the flour’s aging process and produce a brighter white color and a finer, fluffier texture. You might choose bleached over unbleached flour if you are baking something that needs to have a really bright white color, but in most cases, it doesn’t really matter which one you choose.
Self-Rising Flour
Self-rising flour is simply all-purpose flour with a leavening agent (typically baking powder) and salt already added. It’s usually made with a lower protein version of all-purpose flour, and is a staple in southern recipes like biscuits, cobblers, and scones. Due to the leavening effect, you should use caution when trying to substitute self-rising flour for any other variety. Many recipes will also call for baking powder, and you should not add additional baking soda to self-rising flour.
Bread Flour
As its name suggests, bread flour is ideal for making bread, but it’s also great for things like pretzels and pizza crust. It has the highest protein content of any flour (12-14% versus 10-12% for all-purpose flour) providing baked goods with a great deal of structure which allows them to rise high without collapsing. This also contributes to the gluten development – and higher gluten content helps to give breads that perfect chewy yet airy texture. All-purpose flour, on the other hand, is great for producing more tender and fluffy baked goods.
Cake Flour
Cake flour doesn’t have the protein content (and thus the strength or gluten-forming potential) of bread flour. And that makes sense, when you think about it – when making a cake, you’re looking for a softer texture and tender crumb. The lower protein content of cake flour results in less gluten development, which is ideal for producing a light and fluffy cake texture. But if you don’t have cake flour, you can definitely substitute all-purpose flour in your cake recipe – you’ll just get a crumb that’s slightly more coarse.
Pastry Flour
Although not the same thing, pastry flour can often be used interchangeably with cake flour. Both are soft wheat flours with a fine texture and a low protein content. The main difference between the two is that pastry flour has a slightly higher protein content at about 9 percent. Cake flour is generally around 7-8%. Much like cake flour, pastry flour is also great for giving your cakes and muffins that wonderful light and airy texture.
Both cake and pastry flour can be replaced with all-purpose flour in most recipes, if you make a simple alteration. For every cup of cake or pastry flour that your recipe calls for, take one cup of all-purpose flour and remove 2 tablespoons, then replace them with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Whole Wheat Flour
Whole-wheat flour is made by grinding whole unprocessed wheat kernels. Unlike all-purpose and other refined flours, whole wheat flour does not have the germ and grain removed before the milling process – it uses the entire wheat kernel. This results in a flour that is more flavorful and contains more nutrients and fiber. Whole grain flour can be made from many types of grains and seeds, not just wheat. But whole wheat flour is the most common of the whole grain flour varieties and also tends to be the most affordable.
Almond Flour
Almond flour is the first gluten-free variety of flour on our list, so it’s an essential ingredient for anyone who has Celiac disease or is on a gluten-free diet. It’s made of pure ground almonds, so the flavor and texture are a bit different from that of wheat flour. Since it’s made from nuts, it has a much higher fat content and is much higher in fiber and lower in carbs than wheat flour, so it’s a great option for anyone following a low carb diet. As you might expect, almond flour has a mild, nutty flavor, and due to its high fat content, it’s great for making tender and moist baked goods. Try using almond flour in cookies, muffins, cakes, and quick breads. You might find that they have a slightly denser texture than those made with wheat flour, but they are equally delicious.
Closely related to almond flour is almond meal, and you might hear the terms used interchangeably, although they are technically not the same thing. Almond flour is made from skinless raw almonds, while almond meal is made from almonds with the skin on. Almond meal has a slightly darker color and a coarser texture.
Coconut Flour
Coconut flour is a grain and nut-free flour that’s made from coconut meat that’s been dried and ground. Like almond flour, it’s nutritious and high in fiber, and it has a mild coconut flavor. Coconut flour can be used to replace some of the wheat flour in a recipe, and it’s also sometimes found in gluten-free flour blends. Coconut flour works well in baking, particularly in recipes that contain flavors that pair well with coconut, such as chocolate or banana.
When using coconut flour, keep in mind that it can’t be substituted one for one for all-purpose flour. As a general rule, it should make up no more than 25% of the total flour in a recipe, as it absorbs a great deal of liquid and can make baked goods soggy if it’s the only flour used in a recipe.
Semolina Flour
If you want to try your hand at making homemade pasta or pizza crust, you’ll want to get familiar with semolina flour. This type of flour is made from durum wheat, and it has a high protein content, making it excellent for gluten formation. Although it’s best known for its use in making pasta, semolina flour also works great in combination with bread or all-purpose flour in all kinds of baked goods. You can substitute semolina for about 25% of the flour in muffins, cakes, and waffles to give them a wonderful texture and flavor.
00 Flour
00 Flour is an Italian specialty flour that’s known as the best choice for making pizza dough. The ‘00’ references how extremely finely ground the flour is. In Italy, flour is categorized by the grind, ranging from the coarsely ground type 2 flour to 00 on the other end of the spectrum. Most of the 00 flour in the United States is made from durum wheat and has a fine powdery texture. It can be a little more expensive than other flour varieties and it isn’t always easy to find. But if you’re looking to get that perfect crispy pizza crust with lots of big airy pockets, the Italian-style 00 Flour should be a staple in your pantry.
Spelt Flour
Spelt is an ancient grain from the same family as barley, wheat, and rye. When ground into a powder, it’s a tasty and more nutritious alternative to all-purpose flour that you can use in baking. If you’re used to using wheat flour, you’ll find that the spelt variety behaves a little differently, producing a stickier dough that can become crumbly if it’s overmixed. For this reason, spelt flour often produces the best results in combination with another kind of flour.
High in fiber and rich in vitamins and minerals, spelt flour is not only delicious, but it has a number of great health benefits and it’s widely available at grocery stores. If you’ve never tried this nutritious alternative to wheat flour, add spelt flour to your grocery list.
Gluten Free Flour
Gluten-free flour is a broad category encompassing a variety of flour blends and flours made from gluten free grains, nuts, and seeds. The previously mentioned almond and coconut flours fall into this category, as do oat flour and corn flour. (But keep in mind that oats are sometimes processed in a facility that contains gluten, so look for certified gluten-free varieties.)
All flours made exclusively from nuts and seeds are naturally gluten free, but you can also find gluten free specialty flours that are typically made from a blend of different ingredients. Many of these contain white and brown rice flours, and they may also contain sorghum or millet flour, or potato starch. King Arthur and Bob’s Red Mill are among the most popular gluten free flour blends. Most gluten free flour blends can be substituted for all-purpose flour one for one and they produce baked goods that are so light and fluffy that you’ll never miss the gluten!
No matter what you’re making or what dietary restrictions you’re managing, you can be sure there’s a type of flour out there that meets your needs. I hope this guide has helped to demystify the many flour options out there, so you can stock your pantry with some new staples and bake all your favorite treats with confidence.
Leave a Review!