TL;DR: If you’re most interested in baking easy cakes, cookies, and the periodic batch of muffins or fast breads, all-purpose flour will work for the bulk of your tasks. But if you’re interested in bread baking, you may desire to thinkabout keeping a bag of bread flour in your kitchen.
Do all bread dishes need bread flour?
Sourdough boules, bagels, and your standard loaf of bread all rely on the high protein level of bread flour to establish a strong gluten network. But not all homemade bread dishes call for bread flour. When it’s an ultra-tender, fluffy bread dough we’re after—as in our dishes for no-knead focaccia, challah, and cinnamon rolls—we reach for all-purpose (AP) flour. AP flour can supply appropriate structure to fragile bread doughs while keeping them soft and luxurious. There are some exceptions to this guideline: BACHELOR’SDEGREE’s Best Bread dish calls for AP flour—specifically King Arthur all-purpose flour, which consistsof 11% protein (higher than most other brandnames)—but makes a sturdy, crusty loaf. That’s why it’s part of BACHELOR’SDEGREE’s Best—you can make it anytime, even if you wear’t keep a completely equipped bread kitchen.
Wait, what about bread flour vs. cake flour…and pastry flour too?
Glad you asked. Bread and AP flour aren’t the just identifies you’ll see in the baking aisle: There are likewise low-protein flours particularly crafted for cakes and pastries. Whereas bread is expected to be chewy (and forthatreason chock complete of gluten), cake is expected to be fluffy and tender. Accordingly, cake flour is low in protein, normally around 9%. Pastry flour has an even lower protein material than cake flour, clocking in at around 8%, and is primarily utilized to make pie crusts, biscuits, and scones—anything where you desire a tender, crumbly, or flaky texture. In a pinch, feel complimentary to swap cake or pastry flour for AP flour in dishes where inflammation is preferable (like pancakes), however not for stronger doughs like flatbreads.
Can I swap one type of flour for another?
BA’s homeowner baking specialist S