The Science / What We’re Expecting: All-purpose flour (aka plain or AP flour) is the gold standard for baking. If a recipe calls for “flour,” you can safely assume that all-purpose flour is what it’s referring to.
Flour. Most cookie recipes call for all-purpose or pastry flour. If you use bread flour with its high gluten protein content, or cake flour, which is high in starch, you’ll end up with cookies that tend to spread less when you bake them.
All-Purpose Flour
Best used for: anything! Its name says it all. The most versatile type of flour, all-purpose flour can be used in a lot of baked goods–making it a staple among staples.
Flour affects color, texture, and spread
Higher protein flours, such as bread or unbleached flour, can create more of the strong elastic gluten that makes cookies chewy. If cookies are too crumbly, use bread flour and sprinkle it with a little water (to form gluten) before combining the flour with other ingredients.
Instead of all-purpose flour, use bread flour. Bread Flour helps make chewy cookies (as well as chewy pizza dough!).
Which flour is best for baking?
If you are going to bake cookies, muffins, and brownies, you will want a good, all-purpose flour that ranges in the 10 to 12 percent protein range. If you’re going to make sturdier products, such as bread, pizza, and pasta, you’ll look to semolina, tipo 00, whole-wheat and/or bread flours.
What flour do professional bakers use?
With protein levels somewhere between cake flour and all-purpose flour (8-9 %), pastry flour strikes the ideal balance between flakiness and tenderness, making it perfect for pie dough, biscuits, brownies, tarts and many cookies. Whole Wheat Flour – Whole wheat flour means business.
Using cake flour instead of all-purpose flour will make your cookies lighter, more delicate, fluffier, and more tender. Some people use cake flour when trying to make soft cookies. This makes sense, as it turns out more “cake like” instead of dense or chewy.
Which flour is best?
Here are 5 of the healthiest flours for every purpose, plus their nutrient profiles.
- Coconut flour. Coconut flour is a grain- and gluten-free flour made by grinding dried coconut meat into a soft, fine powder.
- Almond flour.
- Quinoa flour.
- Buckwheat flour.
- Whole wheat flour.
If you like the flavor and “bristly bran” texture of traditional whole wheat flour, feel free to use it in cookies. But if you’re trying to “get away with” using whole wheat flour, white whole wheat is your best choice.
Carbon dioxide gas and water vapor form the bubbles which make cookies rise. Rising doesn’t just make cookies taller. It also opens up space to keep the cookie from becoming too dense. Salt slows down the decomposition of baking soda, so the bubbles don’t get too big.
If your cookies look like the first one in the above picture, it’s probably because the dough contained too much sugar leaving your biscuit overly crunchy (as in don’t feed them to grandpa) and dark brown. They probably also got stuck to the baking sheet. Ease up on the sugar in the recipe.
Baking cookies quickly in a hot oven – at 375 degrees F as opposed to a lower temperature – will make for soft results. They’ll bake fast instead of sitting and drying out in the oven’s hot air. Ever so slightly underbaking your cookies will give you softer results than cooking them the full amount the recipe says.
Normally the cookie should not be too flat – should be rounded in the middle, should snap if it’s crispy or bend and break if it’s chewy. If it has nuts, there should be enough of them to have a piece in every bite. The cookies should be big enough to get a good taste of the cookie but not so big that it’s a full meal.
If you’re looking to bake lighter, crunchier cookies, self-rising flour might be an ideal substitution. Although the flavor itself won’t be affected by swapping self-rising flour for the all-purpose flour that your recipe calls for, the finished cookie will have a slightly different consistency and a lighter texture.
Cookie chemistry: We’re taking a 180° turn from our crunchy cookies, substituting higher-moisture brown sugar and butter for their lower-moisture counterparts: granulated sugar and vegetable shortening. That, plus a shortened baking time, yields a cookie that’s soft and chewy all the way through.
Which is better cake flour or all-purpose flour?
All-purpose has protein content of 10-13% and it will perform very well, time after time. But if you want to make really soft cake layers, reach for cake flour. Cake flour has 8-9% protein, making it the weakest flour on the shelf, and it bakes up into meltingly tender cake layers.
What is the healthiest flour to bake with?
Healthiest Flours for Baking
- Coconut flour. Coconut flour — made by milling dried coconut meat into a powder — is a grain- and gluten-free option.
- Oat flour. Oat flour — made from ground-up rolled oats — is a whole-grain flour that is gluten-free.
- Quinoa flour.
- Buckwheat flour.
Often, these mixing methods are categorized by the baked item you are making, and the degree of mixing used to ensure the best baked good possible.
There are three major mixing methods used in baking which consist of:
- The Muffin Method.
- The Biscuit Method.
- The Creaming Method.
What are the 4 types of flour?
Different Types of Flour and Uses
- All-Purpose Flour.
- Whole Wheat Flour.
- White Whole Wheat Flour.
- Pastry Flour.
- Cake Flour.
- Bread Flour.
- Self-Rising Flour.
- Vital Wheat Gluten Flour.
Is bakers flour the same as all-purpose flour?
Baker’s flour and plain flour are two such types of flour that are usually confused with each other when selecting the best type of flour to utilize in various recipes. Baker’s flour has a higher protein and gluten content than plain flour. Baker’s flour is ideal for baking bread.
How do different flours affect baking?
Wheat flours are milled from hard wheat, soft wheat or a combo: Hard wheat has a higher protein content for strong gluten bonds, ideal for making pasta and loaves of bread; soft wheat has a lower protein content that turns out light and tender baked goods, like biscuits and cakes.
For softer, chewier cookies, you will want to add much less granulated sugar, slightly more brown sugar, and a fair bit less butter. For cakey cookies, you will often be including even less butter and sugar.
Baking soda is generally about three times stronger than baking powder, so adjust your recipe accordingly. Baking soda and baking powder can produce cookies with different textures. Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies.
What’s the difference between flour and cake flour?
What Is Cake Flour? Cake flour is little more than all-purpose flour mixed with a bit of cornstarch to lighten it up. What makes it unique is its low protein content—roughly 8% compared to the 10% to 11% found in all-purpose flour. That protein is what becomes gluten when liquids are introduced.
What are the 3 main types of flour?
In the domestic field, you have 3 main choices when it comes to flours: All-purpose, bread, and pastry.
Which flour is used for cake?
Cake flour is a finely milled flour made from soft wheat that’s usually bleached. It’s used in cakes and cupcakes to produce a fine, tender crumb and fluffy texture. Because the texture is finer, cake flour weighs less than all-purpose flour and has a slightly lower protein content.
Which brand of cake flour is best?
Top 10 Best Cake Flour for Baking 2022
- Granoro Farina “00” Dolci Super Fine Cake Flour. Image Credit: shopee.
- King Arthur Unbleached Cake Flour. Image Credit: Amazon.
- Prima Cake Flour. Image Credit: Shopee.
- MH Food Cake Flour.
- Dr.
- Royal Fan Cake Flour.
- Superfine Cake Flour.
- House of Ingredients Superfine Cake Flour.
Whole wheat flour adds more nutrition, not to mention nutty and tasty flavor, to baked goods and other flour-based recipes. However, this flour can sometimes make the finished product seem drier and produce a coarser texture than using a more refined all-purpose flour.
It’s not recommended to use pure whole wheat flour for baking, except where you want the effect (as in pumpernickel, for example). You’ll get cookies which will be rather tough, moist and will seem underbaked (but no amount of baking will remove the impression). Nothing crumbly about them.
Cookie, brownie, and bar baker’s tips:
Most cookie/bar recipes calling for all-purpose flour can be made with 50% all-purpose, 50% white whole wheat without changing their flavor, texture, or look (beyond the slightest darkening).
Q: Why are my cookies so puffy and cakey? Whipping too much air into the dough. That fluffy texture you want in a cake results from beating a lot of air into the room temperature butter and sugar, and it does the same for cookies. So don’t overdo it when you’re creaming together the butter and sugar.
Flour is the main ingredient that provides structure in a cookie – without it, there would be no cookie! The gluten in flour forms a web of sorts – the framework that catches the air bubbles/gasses given off during rising. This helps provide the structure.
Water vapor escaping from the dough in combination with the carbon dioxide released by our baking soda is ultimately what makes our cookies light and airy.
While brown sugar keeps your cookies moist and soft, white sugar and corn syrup will help your cookies spread and crisp in the oven. Using more white sugar in your cookies will result in a crispier end product.
Eggs are responsible for giving baked goods structure, which means the amount you use directly affects the resulting texture. Using too few eggs will make your desserts dense, but using too many will make them rubbery. The explanation for this lies in the fact that eggs are made up of protein.
Too much butter causes cookies to spread a lot and ultimately crisp out on the outside being able to completely cook. Extremely chewy cookies (when the recipe isn’t meant to make chewy cookies). This is because of the liquid content in the butter. Moisture helps develop gluten and gluten helps make chewy cookies.
It’s all about moisture. To keep it simple, cookie recipes that contain a lot of butter, brown sugar or egg yolks are going to yield soft and chewy cookies, because those ingredients add moisture and retain it for a longer amount of time.
However, it may look a bit puffy or soft in the center, too. This is normal and simply means that the cookie may continue baking on the sheet and rack once removed from the oven. Taking cookies out of the oven at this stage will make them softer and chewier. Whereas, overcooking can create brittleness.
Keep those cookies crisp by storing them in an airtight container. Some people toss a piece of bread in with the cookies to help absorb any excess moisture. You could also re-crisp them by baking on a wire rack in a 300 degree F oven for a few minutes.
Butter makes the most traditional cookie, giving it a smooth, rich taste. But ultimately it’s personal preference, as some cooks prefer to use softer margarine. And if margarine is all you have, recipes should still work.
Here are our seven favorite ways to gild the chocolate-chip-cookie lily:
- Brown your butter.
- Whisk coffee grounds or espresso powder into the flour.
- Use hand-chopped chunks, not chips.
- Stir crunchy cereal into the dough.
- Fold in your favorite snack food.
- Sprinkle dough balls with flaky salt before baking.
1. Granulated sugar. Using granulated white sugar will result in a flatter, crispier and lighter-colored cookie. Granulated sugar is hygroscopic, so it attracts and absorbs the liquid in the dough.
BuzzFeed’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Guide
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What if I use self-rising flour instead of all-purpose?
Substituting Self-Rising Flour
To substitute self-rising flour for all-purpose flour, omit the baking powder and reduce the amount of salt in the original recipe. This works well for quick breads, biscuits and recipes that do not contain added baking soda or acidic ingredients.
What happens if use self-raising flour instead of plain?
Bread recipes usually ask for plain flour, and that’s because the raising agent comes from the yeast working with the water, flour and salt. If you use self-raising flour, your bread won’t rise evenly and you could end up with a stodgy crumb.
How To Make Thicker Cookies (Using 10 Simple Tips)
- 1 – Refrigerate Your Cookie Dough.
- 2 – Use Room-Temperature Butter.
- 3 – Use the Correct Fat.
- 4 – Focus on Your Mixing Technique.
- 5 – Add Less Granulated Sugar.
- 6 – Add More Flour.
- 7 – Use Bleached Flour.
- 8 – Check Your Rising Agent.
The most common cause is using a different flour than usual, such as cake flour, and measuring flour with too heavy a hand. Using larger eggs than called for can make cookies cakey, as will the addition of milk or more milk or other liquids than specified.
Why are my cookies dry? The most common reason cookies are dry is too much flour. Over-measuring flour is a very common reason for most any baking recipe to fail. If you scoop your measuring cup down into the flour container to measure, then odds are you’re using too much.
Good for making cakes (especially white cakes and biscuits) and cookies where a tender and delicate texture is desired. To substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour.
What is cake flour used for?
Cake flour is ground extra-fine, which results in a lighter, loosely-structured crumb and fluffy texture. Cake flour is ideal for baked goods with a tender texture due its low gluten content, which makes it easier to achieve lighter, tender textures when baking delicate sponges, cupcakes, muffins, and pastries.
What is all-purpose flour used for?
All-purpose flour is suitable for most purposes such as baking, cooking, coating meats, vegetables and as a thickening agent for sauces and gravies. A mixture of hard wheat which contains more gluten and soft wheat are ground together to make all-purpose flour.
Which flour is best?
Here are 5 of the healthiest flours for every purpose, plus their nutrient profiles.
- Coconut flour. Coconut flour is a grain- and gluten-free flour made by grinding dried coconut meat into a soft, fine powder.
- Almond flour.
- Quinoa flour.
- Buckwheat flour.
- Whole wheat flour.
Which flour is best for losing weight?
Almond and whole wheat flour. Almond flour is considered as one of the best flour for weight loss because unlike wheat flour it is low in carbohydrates, high in protein, contains healthy fats and vitamin E. It is also gluten-free and a powerhouse of magnesium, iron, and calcium.
A variety of cookies are prepared using the four basic ingredients viz., flour, sugar, shortening, and liquids (milk and/or eggs). The ingredients used in preparation of cookies affect size, color, and sensory qualities. Additional ingredients are also added for flavor and texture.
Why Cream Butter and Sugar? Creaming butter and sugar together adds pockets of air that aerate the batter. This air puffs up cakes and other homemade treats as they bake, giving them a lighter and more appealing texture. The air is added by beating room-temperature butter with sugar on high speed.
Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for your cookie dough until they are light and fluffy. This should take about 5 minutes on a medium/high speed. Scrape down the bowl at least once about half way through the mixture.
Yes, you can use cake flour in cookies! It will change the texture, but will still be delicious! What is this? It will change the texture, if the recipe calls for plain or all-purpose flour, but this might be preferable if you want a lighter texture.
What flour do professional bakers use?
With protein levels somewhere between cake flour and all-purpose flour (8-9 %), pastry flour strikes the ideal balance between flakiness and tenderness, making it perfect for pie dough, biscuits, brownies, tarts and many cookies. Whole Wheat Flour – Whole wheat flour means business.
What is the most commonly used flour?
All-Purpose Flour
Its name says it all. The most versatile type of flour, all-purpose flour can be used in a lot of baked goods–making it a staple among staples.
Can you use bread flour for cookies? Yes, you sure can! Thescience of why these cookies are so chewy is because bread flour produces more gluten, causing a more chewy cookie. The results is crispy, chewy cookies, which are dare I say: perfect!
Can I substitute bakers flour for plain flour?
If tenderness is what you want, you can swap cake or pastry flour for all-purpose flour in the recipe. All-purpose flour is fine for pancakes, for example, but cake or pastry flour won’t work well for a flatbread. Bread flour has a protein content that exceeds even all-purpose flour, at over 12 percent protein.
Is bakers flour and self-raising flour the same?
Self rising flour is not the same as bread flour.
In short, self rising flour is a mixture of all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt, and is used for cakes and non-yeast breads. On the other hand, bread flour is just flour that has a high protein content, making it ideal for sourdough and similar types of breads.
If you like the flavor and “bristly bran” texture of traditional whole wheat flour, feel free to use it in cookies. But if you’re trying to “get away with” using whole wheat flour, white whole wheat is your best choice.
Often, these mixing methods are categorized by the baked item you are making, and the degree of mixing used to ensure the best baked good possible.
There are three major mixing methods used in baking which consist of:
- The Muffin Method.
- The Biscuit Method.
- The Creaming Method.