The Top 12 Flour Varieties Used in Baking

Flour is one of the most important ingredients in baking. While many recipes call for all-purpose flour, there are a variety of other flours that are used specifically for certain types of baked goods.

Several of these flours are certainly recognizable to you, but there are others that you may have never heard of.

The following is a list of several varieties of baking flour. They are presented alphabetically, and the functions of each flour in baking are also indicated.

Types and Uses of Flours for Baking

1 – All-Purpose Flour

Background: Among all the flours available, all-purpose is most likely the most often used. It is made from a blend of soft and hard wheat and has a protein content ranging from 8 to 11%. Since the germ and bran have been removed, it has a greater carbohydrate content.

White flour must include iron, thiamin, riboflavin, folic acid, and niacin, according to the FDA. If the all-purpose flour has been bleached, it has been lightened using a peroxide.

This flour is most often used in baking products like as cakes and cookies, biscuits and pizza dough, and it is also used in many culinary recipes to prepare sauces and gravies. It is also used to thicken liquids.

Storage: It is recommended to place a fresh bag of flour bought at the grocery store in the freezer for 48 hours to destroy any undetected insect eggs.

It may then be moved to a glass or plastic container and stored for up to a year. It may also be stored in the freezer and does not need to be defrosted before use.

2 – Almond Flour

Background: Manufactured from pulverized almonds, this flour has grown in popularity in recent years due to its many health advantages. Almond flour is gluten-free, low in carbohydrates, and high in fiber and healthful fats.

It has a reduced glycemic index, so it won’t cause your blood sugar to jump, and since it’s composed of almonds, it’s been linked to decrease cholesterol levels.

Most often used for: Almond flour is increasingly being used to substitute conventional wheat flours in recipes for those on special diets. Although it may be used in the same amounts as conventional wheat flours in baking, the baked products are more dense and flatter.

Almond flour will keep in a plastic or glass container in the freezer or refrigerator for 9 months.

3 – Amaranth Flour

Background: Prepared by crushing amaranth plant seeds, this flour was popular among the Incas and Aztecs in ancient times. It’s trendy again since it’s high in protein and gluten-free.

Grinding the seeds produces a highly regarded flour that contains the amino acids methionine and lysine. It has also been examined and shown to have antioxidant properties.

Most often used for: This flour is used in conjunction with all-purpose flour to increase its gluten-free and other healthful features.

Amaranth flour was tested in amounts ranging from 25% to 50% added to all-purpose flour by a large flour firm. They discovered that 50% for pancakes and banana bread and 25% for scones, cinnamon bread, and muffins worked well.

Amaranth flour can keep in a properly sealed jar in the freezer for six months.

4 – Barley Flour

For certain recipes, use all-purpose flour. Background: Made from a combination of ground and dried barley, this flour may be used on its own for certain baked products, but it also makes a beneficial addition to whole wheat and other flours.

Each cup of barley flour has 7 grams of fiber, however it contains gluten, thus it is not suitable for celiacs. It has a one-year shelf life and may be stored for that long.

This flour is most often used to make basic barley bread and barley chocolate chip cookies. Online, you may discover a variety of recipes that use barley flour, including a vegan zucchini bread.

Storage: If kept in an airtight container in the freezer, barley flour will last approximately three months.

5 – Bread Flour

Background: If you’ve been baking bread with standard all-purpose flour, don’t panic; you’re not doing anything wrong. Using any sort of flour will result in a delicious loaf of bread.

So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of using bread flour instead of all-purpose flour? Bread flour was developed specifically for baking yeast-requiring loaves of bread.

Bread flour contains gluten and has 12% to 14% protein, which is more than the 8% to 11% protein found in all-purpose flour. Bread flour with a greater gluten percentage produces a lighter and more elastic bread dough. This produces an airy, chewy piece of bread.

Bread flour may be used to produce dinner rolls, bagels, cinnamon buns, and even pretzels, in addition to white bread and sourdough.
Although all-purpose flour may be used to bake bread, substituting pastry flour or cake flour does not provide the same results.

Bread flour will keep in an airtight jar in the freezer for a year.

6 – Buckwheat Flour

Background: Despite the name, this flour is not made of wheat. Instead, it is created from the seeds of a plant and is most often linked with wild rhubarb and sorrel.

It is gluten-free and may be used in lieu of white or wheat flour in a variety of recipes. It is low in fat, has about 4 grams of protein per serving, and is high in vitamins and minerals. Each meal provides 10% thiamin, 12% niacin, and 14% vitamin B-6.

Most often used for: It may be used in recipes that call for whole wheat or white flour. Breads, muffins, and cookies may all be made using buckwheat flour.

This flour may be stored in the refrigerator for 3 months, the freezer in an airtight container for 6 months, and in a dark cold place in an airtight container for a year.

7 – Cake Flour

Background: You’ve most likely always used all-purpose flour while baking a cake, so do you actually need cake flour? The difference between the two kinds of flour is that cake flour is lower in protein, softer, and lighter than all-purpose flour.

Cake flour makes a difference in recipes that avid bakers favor. To check for yourself, just substitute 2 teaspoons of cornstarch for 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour in your cake recipe per cup.

Most usually used for: Making cakes, however it may also be used to make pancakes, muffins, and breads.

Cake flour may be kept in an airtight glass or plastic container for up to eight months. It will keep in your freezer forever if kept unopened.

8 – Oat Flour

Background: When individuals started to avoid gluten, oat flour has grown in popularity. Oat flour is manufactured by grinding oats into a powder, and it is gluten-free since it is not derived from wheat.

It may be used in lieu of white or whole-wheat flour, and although it offers a richer taste to baked items, the texture is chewy.

4 cups rolled oats, ground in a blender to produce your own oat flour, or buy it online or at most grocery shops. You may take one (1).

Most often used for: There are oat flour-specific recipes that allow you to produce muffins, breads, pancakes, waffles, cookies, and cakes.

If you want to alter it on your own, you may use oat flour for up to 30% of the wheat to minimize the quantity of gluten in the recipe.

Storage instructions: Keep your oat flour in a sealed jar in a dry and cold area for up to a year.

9 – Pastry Flour

Background: If you like baking, you are already familiar with pastry flour. This flour is designed primarily for baking pastries and varies in protein content from both all-purpose flour and cake flour.

Whereas all-purpose flour contains around 11% protein and cake flour has about 8%, pastry flour is bang in the center with 9 percent.

Substitutions: You may use pastry flour in place of all-purpose flour in a 1:1 ratio. If you don’t have pastry flour, you may use 2 teaspoons cornstarch for 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour.

If you don’t have pastry flour but have cake flour, just add 2 teaspoons of cake flour to finish the recipe.

Pastry flour is the flour of choice for creating cookies, cakes, and muffins, among other things. It is not suitable for creating bread.

Storage instructions: Store your pastry flour in a cool, dry area for 1 to 2 years.

10 – Rice Flour

Background: Rice flour originates in China, Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia, which produce 90% of the world’s rice. Rice flour was introduced to our society in the 1980s and quickly gained popularity as a baking ingredient.

Rice flour is made by grinding and milling rice kernels into a powder. The kind of rice depends on the type of rice ground, how the rice is milled, and the starch concentration of the resulting flour.

Rice flour comes in two varieties: white and brown. Both are used to manufacture gluten-free breads. White wheat has no flavor, but brown rice has a slight sweet and nutty flavor.

Despite they have almost the same number of calories, brown rice four provides more protein, fiber, and folate than white flour.

When using rice flour, you must utilize recipes that ask for this kind of flour since rice flour cannot be substituted with other flours. Rice flour can be used to make muffins, cakes, and other sweet baked goods, according to recipes.

Storage: If stored in an airtight container and maintained in your freezer, both varieties of rice flour have a shelf life of 6 months to a year.

11 – Self-Rising Flour

Background: Self-rising flour is made using a cup of all-purpose flour, one-quarter teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of baking powder.

Since this is not a sort of flour you will use often, you may purchase it fully made or create your own.

Self-rising flour is most often used to produce biscuits, pizza crusts, sugar cookies, various types of pancakes, and dumplings.

Storage information: Since this flour contains baking powder, the shelf life is just 4 to 6 months. Baking powder loses its efficacy after a short amount of time, so be sure it is fresh when called for in a recipe.

12 – White-Wheat Flour and Whole-Wheat Flour

Background: Whole wheat flour includes both white and whole wheat flour. Winter wheat or hard spring wheat is used to make white whole wheat flour.

Whole wheat flour has the same nutritional value as white flour but is lighter in color and has a softer flavor. One of these flours may be swapped for the other.

Most often used for: When baking using white-wheat flour and whole-wheat flour, your baked products will have a nicer color and a more nutty taste. They’re great in pancakes, banana bread, waffles, and muffins.

Both varieties of wheat flour may be kept in an airtight container in a cold, dry area for up to three months. If you want a longer shelf life, place the container in the freezer for up to a year.

How Should You Store Your Flour?

Whether you keep your flour in the fridge or the freezer, it should be stored in an airtight glass or plastic container.

You may alternatively store your flour in a zip-lock plastic storage bag designed exclusively for freezing. You should write the date on the bag or put a date label on the airtight container.

What is the Most Accurate Way to Measure Flour?

If you are a home baker who cooks for guests and family, a nice set of measuring cups will suffice.
Fill the measuring cup halfway with flour and level it off with the flat side of a butter knife.

It weighs 4 ounces. This method of measuring yields exact and reliable results for your recipes each time. If you are a dedicated baker, you should consider investing in a compact baking scale. One cup of flour weighs 4 12 pounds and approximately 120 grams.

It is usually preferable to use the kind of flour specified in the recipe, but if you must make a change, you may discover that the difference is little.