Your Whole-Grain Pantry -- Flours
All-purpose flour is actually a blend of soft and hard wheat flours
that makes it suitable for both cakes and breads. To r3eplace
all-purpose flour with whole-grain flours, consider the following
attributes of these of these substitutes:
Whole-Wheat Flour:
This classic ground red wheat is high in protein and fiber and gives
breads, bagels, and rolls a distinctive chewiness.
Spelt Flour:
Closely related to wheat, spelt has a milder flavor and less gluten,
resulting in baked goods that are dense without being heavy.
Whole-Wheat Pastry Flour:
Also called graham flour (as in graham crackers), whole-wheat pastry
flour is milled from "soft" or low protein wheat. It gives pancakes,
cookies, muffins, and cakes a fine-grained teture that's similar to
all-purpoe flour.
White Whole-Wheat Flour:
White wheat has fewer bitter tannins and a paler color than red wheat
for higher, milder tasting baked goods that still have all the
benefits of whole wheat.
Non-Wheat Flours:
Such as oat, barley, corn, brown rice and buckwheat can be thrown
into a flour blend to add flavor and nutrients to muffins, flat
breads, waffles, and pancakes.
Get The Ratio Right:
For minimal changes in texture and flavor, start by substituting
whole-grain flours for 1/4 to 1/2 of the standard flour in a
recipe. See how it tastes, then gradually go higher. (Pancakes,
waffles, banana muffins, brownies, and pumpkin bread work well with
100% whole-grain flours, but layer cakes and cookies fare better with
a partial substitution.) As soon as you exceed 50% whole-wheat or
any whole-grain flour in a recipe, the dry ingredients will absorb
more liquid and fat than white flour. They can also mask the
sweetness in recipes, so be ready to dial up the liquid and
sweeteners, starting with 1 - 2T at a time.
Source:
"vegetarian Times, Dec 2013"