10 Types of Flour and How to Use Them In Your Baking

Baking is both a science and an art; it’s creativity and chemistry. Formulating a recipe for delicious chocolate chip cookies isn’t merely an exercise in innovation, but a scientific experiment. Each ingredient has its purpose and properties that, when correctly proportioned, stimulate a unique culinary reaction. Eggs are a binding agent, baking soda gives rise, butter acts as a tenderizer, sugar adds sweetness and moisture, salt strengthens the dough’s protein and enhances flavor. 

Flour is perhaps the most important ingredient to get right in the science of baking, as it provides a base and a structure to baked goods. Add too much flour and your cookies will be hard, but add too little and you might as well be making crackers. With ten varieties of flour staring up at you, the baking aisle can prove even more intimidating than the baking itself. We’re here to walk you through it, with a full breakdown of 10 different flours and how to use them. 

Before diving into each category, however, it’s important to understand the basics. Flour is most often made from wheat, but can also be made from corn, barley, rye, rice, and other non-grain plants and grasses. Flour begins with “wheat berries,” or wheat without the hull. Wheat berries contain an endosperm (the innermost part), germ (the embryo), and bran (the outer coating), and they come in a multitude of textures and colors. Flour’s primary components are carbohydrates (or starch), proteins, lipids, sugars, and enzymes. To a baker, protein content matters most. Wheat contains gluten-forming proteins that absorb water when a dough is mixed to form, you guessed it, gluten. The quality and quantity of these proteins determine how a flour performs. In short, protein content is the chief differentiator in flours.  

High-protein wheat varieties (10-14% protein) are classified as “hard wheat,” while low-protein varieties (5-10% protein) are classified as “soft wheat.” More protein means more gluten, and more gluten means more strength. High-protein flours produce dough with more elasticity and extensibility, i.e it stretches and holds its shape better. This is why a harder flour is better suited for crusty breads or yeasted products. In more chemically leavened goodies like cakes, cookies, and pastries, where the goal is tenderness or flakiness, soft flour is prime. 

With that, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty...

All-Purpose Flour

For most recipes, all-purpose flour is your go-to gal. Being milled from a mixture of hard and soft wheat, she has a moderate protein content between 10-12%. Essentially, her name says it all. 

Standard all-purpose flour is white flour, meaning the wheat grains were stripped of their germ and bran, leaving only the starchy endosperm. Oils in the wheat germ are what cause flour to go bad, which is why all-purpose flour has such a long shelf life. It can sit in your pantry in an airtight container for up to eight months, and in the fridge for up to a year. Unfortunately, with most of the nutrients and natural flavor of the wheat having been removed during processing, it does have a lower nutritional value than other flours. 

Nonetheless, all-purpose flour behaves predictably in baking and is certainly the most versatile of flours. It’s apt to shape sugar cookies or prepare poultry; capable of a flaky pie crust and a fluffy pancake, chewy breads and soft biscuits. All-purpose flour is a staple in the kitchen and should always have a place on your shelf. 

Bleached vs. Unbleached

All-purpose flour, amongst others, is sold as bleached and unbleached. The two are generally interchangeable, though you should adhere to your recipe’s specific instructions. The bleaching process is really a refining process: After the wheat grains have been ground into a fine powder, the flour is treated with chemical agents such as potassium bromate, benzoyl peroxide, or chlorine. These help whiten, soften, and speed up the aging of the flour, which improves certain qualities for baking. Protein levels in bleached and unbleached flours are the same, but the bleaching process can significantly change the taste, texture, appearance, and nutritional profile. 

Due to this kind of processing, I was always taught to use unbleached flour, which I still use today. In fact, for years my mom ground her own wheat, which we used to bake the bread that we sold when I was in high school. She would even soak wheat kernels for wheat cereal when I was growing up. When she did use white flour, she was selective and particular about buying unbleached.

Bread Flour 

As was mentioned above, and as is the case with each item on this list, the main contrast between each flour is protein. Bread flour is the strongest of all flours, with a protein content of 12-14%. Providing the most structural support (because more protein=more gluten=more strength), this flour is perfect—even essential—for baking good bread. Surprise surprise. 

If you look at a slice of bread closely, you will notice it actually comprises many tiny pockets of air. The reason for this is when you knead bread dough, you are developing a network of stringy gluten strands that trap air to create those holes. Gluten gives bread its structure, elasticity, and characteristic chew, so most breads need a high-protein flour that can generate lots of it. Especially in yeasted breads, a strong gluten network is paramount to contain the CO2 gasses produced during fermentation. Fermentation is what happens when you leave your dough covered in a warm place to “proof”. During fermentation, carbon dioxide is produced and trapped inside the dough, causing it to rise. In short, that extra protein is a major plus, not only for volume’s sake but for a browner crust and a better crumb. Bread flour is milled entirely from hard wheat and comes in white and whole wheat varieties. It is best used for artisan breads, yeast breads, pretzels, bagels, and pizza dough. 

In my experience, bread flours can vary in weight and texture. Some feel heavier and some, in my opinion, are just higher quality than others. Contact us for recommendations. When using bread flour in recipes, I would suggest watching the dough and adding the flour little by little to make sure you get a smooth mix instead of a lumpy dough. 

Whole Wheat Flour

In the milling process, a wheat kernel is separated into its three parts: the germ, the bran, and the endosperm. For white flour, only the endosperm is milled. For whole wheat flour, varying amounts of the germ and bran are added back into the flour. Even though the protein content of whole wheat flour is high (13-14%), it’s gluten-forming ability is compromised by the presence of the germ and bran. This is why whole wheat flour usually begets a much stickier dough, a denser bake, and a darker color. Packed with oils prone to rancidity, wheat germ makes wheat flour much more perishable than white. However, it is high in fiber and contains nutrients lacking in other flours. If you do use it, keep your whole wheat flour at a cool room temperature. Though it will only stay at its best for up to three months, it can be transferred to the freezer for extended use. 

White Whole Wheat Flour

White whole wheat flour and whole wheat flour are prepared exactly the same way. The only difference being that white whole wheat flour comes from hard white wheat berries, and whole wheat flour comes from hard red wheat berries. In other words, white whole wheat flour is whole flour made from white wheat. 

Red wheat berries have a nuttier flavor, while white wheat berries are sweeter. White whole wheat flour has the same protein content as whole wheat flour, and they retain the same health benefits, so it really comes down to preference. If you prefer the texture and taste of white bread but want the nutrients of whole wheat bread, this flour is your ticket. White whole-wheat flour can be easily swapped out for whole-wheat flour, and vice versa. You can also use this flour in lieu of all-purpose, just don’t expect to yield the same exact result. 

Cake Flour

Most of what you need to know about this flour is, once again, in the name. Cake flour is ideal for all things fluffy and light. Sponge cake, angel food cake, layer cake, pound cake, muffins, cupcakes, and biscuits alike. Cake flour ranks lowest on the protein content spectrum (5-8%), and since gluten-development is not the goal with cakes, it is ideal for a tender bake. Cake flour is also chlorinated—a bleaching process that further weakens the gluten and alters the starch to increase its capacity for absorption. This ensures a moist cake. Cake flour absorbs more sugar and liquid than all-purpose flour, ensuring a moist cake.

Pastry Flour

Pastry flour falls somewhere between cake flour and all-purpose flour. Striking the perfect balance of tenderness and flakiness, pastry flour is made from soft wheat and has an 8-9% protein content. What’s fun about pastry flour is you can actually make your own. Simply combine 1⅓ cups of all purpose flour with ⅔ cup cake flour. If you’re working toward a perfect pie crust, or tarts and cookies with just the right crumble, maybe give pastry flour a try. 

Self-Rising Flour

Think flour, but with a secret ingredient. Self-rising flour is flour to which salt and baking powder have been added during the milling process. It is made from low-protein (8-9%), soft wheat, and has become somewhat of a staple in many Southern recipes. You might consider it the softer, lower-protein version of all-purpose flour. You can make your own self-rising flour at home by mixing together 1 cup of pastry flour, 1½ teaspoons of baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Self-rising flour is best used within six months of purchase, and kept tightly wrapped in its original bag or box. After six months, the efficacy of the baking powder will begin to wane. 

Gluten-Free Flour

I have become exceedingly familiar with gluten-free flours in recent years. My daughter, Kelsea, was diagnosed with Celiac disease several years ago, and a few of my other kids have since developed gluten intolerance. It’s taken trial and error, research, and many failed recipes to arrive at our favorite gluten-free flours and flour blends. I even tried mixing my own gluten-free flour and spent upwards of $300 experimenting with the blend. It’s a tricky game, but worth the work if it means someone you love gets to actually enjoy the food they eat. 

Ingredient bases for gluten-free flour range from rice, corn, potato, and tapioca, to buckwheat, quinoa, sorghum, or nuts. If you plan to start baking with gluten-free flours, know that they lack the gluten to create that distinct chewiness, structure, elasticity, and hold. To help stimulate the texture and bind characteristic of gluten, Xanthan gum—a thickening agent and stabilizer that prevents ingredients from separating—is often added to gluten-free flour. 

Gluten-free flours have vast textures and flavors because they are sourced from a wide variety of grains, nuts, and starches. Keep in mind, gluten-free flours may react differently depending on the recipe, so conduct a few test runs to really iron out which flour you like to use for what. The two most commonly used gluten-free flours are all-purpose gluten-free flour and almond flour.

All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour

All-purpose gluten free flour is usually a combination of various starches and flours, such as rice flour, potato starch, garbanzo bean flour, whole grain white sorghum flour, fava bean flour, and tapioca flour. It has a finer texture than almond flour and is, for the most part, more robust in terms of its binding ability. The flavor and feel may take some getting used to, but the results are often comparable to those of a regular, all-purpose flour. All-purpose gluten-free flour cannot always be substituted 1:1 for white flour though, so if you plan to swap the two, make sure to check your specific recipe. 

Almond Flour

Though they are generally interchangeable, almond flour and almond meal are two separate things. Almond meal is made from raw (unpeeled) almonds and best used for heartier bakes. Almond flour is its blanched counterpart made from almonds that have been blanched in boiling water, then ground and sifted into a powder. Almond flour is high in fiber, protein, and healthy fats, and low in carbohydrates. It has a noticeably fluffy, somewhat grainy texture, as well as a nutty aroma and flavor. If replacing another flour with almond flour, start by replacing them 1:1, then add a rising agent like baking soda or baking powder to accommodate the weight of the almond flour. 

When I first started baking gluten-free for my daughter, I used almond flour. I soon realized this was not my cup of tea, so to speak, because the flour did not seem to have enough substance to it. Almond flour dough will most likely be wetter and stickier, as opposed to all-purpose gluten-free flour dough. Now, anytime I bake gluten-free, my choice of flour changes depending on the recipe. Sometimes I’ll create a blend of many, sometimes I’ll stick to just one. Sometimes I’ll add Xanthan gum, sometimes I won’t. Again, this all really comes down to personal preference.  

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