All Purpose Flour- A Guide To What I Bake With

If you are a baker, you use a lot of flour. Today, learn about All-Purpose Flour – A Guide To What I Bake With.  Yes, flour!  You know that white stuff that gets all over your clothes and flies out of the Kitchen Aid mixer to cover your countertop and cupboards.

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What is flour made of? In the past couple of years, we have seen the explosion of different types of flour and different brands of flours, from nut flours for gluten-free baking to varieties of flours milled by smaller companies.  Today’s guide is focusing on the best all-purpose flour or AP flour. 

Since I am a baker, flour is obviously one of my most important ingredients; after all, the gluten in the flour is important for how well my bread bakes or how chewy my cookies are.  

What is all-purpose flour?

This is the most popular flour used for cooking and baking, and is perfect for the home baker. The uses for this finely milled flour are endless, including most varieties of baked goods and cooking.

All-purpose flour has different proteins

Why is protein in flour important?

Flours have different amounts of protein and that protein is turned to gluten once it gets wet, and the more you work a dough such as cookies, biscuits, or yeast bread the more the gluten develops. That’s why you stop mixing a scone dough as soon as the flour is incorporated so the scones stay fluffy and tender, and that’s why you knead yeast dough, so you create a structured dough that helps the yeast rise. 

• Soft wheat flour is lower in protein and is used for all-purpose flours. It is perfect for recipes where you want less gluten. Use this type of flour for tender cakes and pastries.
• Hard wheat flour has a high protein content and is perfect for when you want more gluten for elasticity in your baked goods such as bread.

The difference between Bleached Vs. Nonbleached flour

Do not fret over which flour you use as you will get great results with both, mostly it comes down to preference, and what is available in your stores. 

• Bleached flour is just what the name implies; the flour has chemical additives to make it whiter, which is great when you want a really white cake, such as an angel food cake or a white wedding cake. The added chemicals also help make baked goods really light and tender. 
• Unbleached flour is naturally aged and doesn’t use any chemicals; because of this, it has a bit of a yellow tint and retains some nutrients.  Unbleached flour may be more expensive in some varieties.   

My favorite flours

I do not bake gluten-free, but I have become interested in the new and different types of flour products on the market, and after doing some research, I have become interested in using better types of flour for my baking besides the usual all-purpose flour.

Ancient Grain Wheat vs. Modern Grain Wheat

I am no authority on flour, but this is what I have come to realize: basic AP flour is causing most people problems with their health.  Even though my family is not experiencing problems, I started learning about and trying different flours.

Most of the wheat grown today has either been genetically engineered (GMO) or hybridized. Wheat is an ancient grain, and we have been consuming it for years.  However, why then, in the last ten years, have more and more people been diagnosed with celiac disease or just found wheat products intolerable to eat? Common sense points to the new types of so-called “modern wheat.”

I found two flour products that I have researched and love to bake with.  Please note that I am not being paid by either company; it’s just what I like to use and want to share with you.  The first one that I truly love is einkorn flour. The brand I  buy is from a company called Jovial, and their site has a great explanation of einkorn flour.

According to Jovial, einkorn is the world’s most ancient wheat and has never been hybridized. ” Einkorn means ‘one grain’ in German. That’s because einkorn only has one grain attached to the stem, while other wheats have groups of four grains.”

You can see examples of the different wheat from the Jovial site. It is really interesting to see up close to what the wheat really looks like. 

Why use Einkorn Flour?

It actually has a rich flavor, a bit toasty and nutty, but nothing overwhelming. This flavor really comes through in your baked products.

Einkorn flour is pale yellow. The reason for this is it contains higher amounts of tocotrienols, (vitamin E), and beta carotene lutein than modern flour; both of these compounds are important nutrients.  I feel that using einkorn flour is more natural than modern AP flour and is better digested.

Jovial flour is sold in small two-pound bags and is best kept in the fridge to keep it from going rancid. 

I use einkorn flour for cookies, biscuits, quick bread, waffles, and scones, plus I love the golden color of my baked goods.

According to their site, einkorn flour is more nutritious and has a different gluten makeup. Noted from their site: “It appears that the improved digestibility of einkorn is because of its starch structure.”  It is also unbromated.

Try this recipe for einkorn flour bread which bakes up moist and tender. It’s perfect for sandwiches or your morning toast slathered with butter and some homemade strawberry jam.

What is bromated flour?

Bromated flour has been treated with potassium bromate, a potential carcinogen, which I don’t need to be adding to my food. I know my end products, cookies, biscuits, bread, etc., all have a better, fresher taste than when I use the regular AP flour.

 I made biscuit dough for comparison to see the color difference between einkorn flour and Gold Medal flour. You can see the dough on the right is the golden color that comes from the einkorn flour.

When using einkorn flour, I do have to adjust some of my recipes, since it does not absorb as much liquid as AP flour.  I start with the amount of flour my recipe calls for and reduce the liquid a little bit.  For many of my recipes, I do not have to make any adjustments, but you may have to play around with your batters and dough to get them right.

Another thing you will notice is the dough’s density. If you compare the two doughs above, you will see the regular AP flour dough is taller and puffier. And when you bake these biscuits, you will also see that they do not rise as tall as the regular AP-flour biscuits. But the flavor is definitely different, with a fuller, more pronounced character. 

Why use Wheat Montana Flour?

The other flour I like to use is called Wheat Montana Natural White flour. This is an unbleached, unbromated high-protein AP flour made from hard red winter wheat.  Wheat Montana is a family-owned business, and its products are also non-GMO and chemical-free. I just feel that with this flour I am getting a fresher and healthier product.

This flour can be found in larger grocery stores, Wal-Mart and Target, so no ordering online, which makes me happy. Here is their site; they have an incredible history of their farm and products. Check out their website for their amazing story – Wheat Montana history.

This is the flour I use most often for all types of baking and cooking.  I love that I can buy it in a 10-pound bag.

Why use King Arthur flour?

Protein is so important when baking, and King Arthur’s AP flour has a higher protein content of 11.7%, which helps add structure to your baked goods, providing a nice rise and flakiness to biscuits and scones, and that beautiful loft to yeast bread. This is a hard wheat flour. Yes, you pay more for King Arthur flour, but the quality is consistent, and that helps make your baked goods consistent.

I buy unbleached, unbromated flour and use it mostly for cookies, pastries, muffins, pie dough, yeast bread, and biscuits.

Why use Gold Medal Flour?

Gold Medal is a popular flour readily available in most stores, and its price is right for the everyday baker. This all-purpose flour protein content is 10.5% and is a blend of hard and soft wheat. I stick with the unbleached variety and love this flour for pastries, cookies, cakes, pie dough, quick bread, pancakes, and pizza dough. This is a good flour to use for cooking, especially for making sauces or thickening.

Bake with what you like

You are probably wondering whether I keep all these flours in my pantry? Right now, I happen to have all of them. Sometimes I may just use one for weeks, then switch off and use another one. It all depends on what I am baking. 

Other flours that are commonly used

• Whole wheat flour
• Cake flour
• Pastry flour 
• Bread flour
• Self-rising flour
• Organic flour
• Gluten-free flour

The price of flour

At first, I was concerned about the cost of the flour, considering how much I use it.  Here is the breakdown of the flour I purchased in 2021.

Here is an idea of how much the flour costs to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies that calls for 2 cups of flour, which is about 8.8 ounces. When you figure out the cost of using any of the flours, this really puts the price into perspective.  Even with the high price of einkorn flour, it is still my first choice for most baking.  When I’m using yeast, I reach for the Wheat Montana flour as I can control the moisture level for a better rise.

• Gold Medal = .24
• King Arthur = 48
• Wheat Montana = .70
• Jovial Einkorn =2.00

Thank you for stopping by the One Hot Oven blog.  Please leave a comment to say Hello, or just let me know what you are baking these days. I always love hearing from fellow bakers.Have any questions or just want to chat about the recipe? My contact information is on my about page, and I’ll be happy to help.                                                                                                                                                     

About Jere’              

From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending.  Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing both sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.