So Many Choices! The Best Flour to Use for your Holiday Baking

Holiday baking is the best.

I mean, who doesn't want to hang around in fuzzy socks, watching cheesy Hallmark movies and eating shameful amounts of sugar? Because Christmas.

Holiday baking with kids is the best!

Here's my absolute favorite cookies to make this time of year:

Peanut Butter Blossoms, from my Grandma Ruth.

Peanut Butter Blossom Recipe from my grandma's kitchen. 

(We know the recipe by heart at our house, but here is a link to the dessert in case you've never made it and want to check it out: Peanut Butter Blossoms)

During a recent trip to Kroger to prepare to make my beloved Peanut Butter Blossoms, I went down a rabbit hole.

There are SO MANY types of flour. Seriously. So. Many.

I've always just bought all-purpose flour- and usually store brand, at that. But during my last trip to Kroger, I counted eight different kinds of flour. Eight! I wondered if I had been using the right kind of flour all these years!

Well, after some research, the simple answer is yes. If you, like me, always just go with tried and true all-purpose flour, then you're probably good. But if you want to switch up your flour, here's a quick tutorial on which type to use when.

Here is the article I recently wrote for Zulily, which includes a pretty comprehensive breakdown of flours!

Different Types of Flour Available 

The difference between the types of flour available is the protein content. The higher the protein content, the more gluten the flour has. The more gluten in the flour, the tougher the baked good it produces is. Quite simply, if you want a soft, spongy Angel Food Cake, you may want to use cake flour. But, if you're making a chewy, dense pretzel, you'd be better off using bread flour. 

If you are wanting something gluten free for dietary reasons, you have a couple of options. You can buy gluten-free all-purpose flour, or you can purchase a specialty flour such as almond flour. Both can be swapped pretty seamlessly for their full-gluten counterparts.

Here's a quick break-down on the different types of flour available:

Cake Flour has a very low protein level (between 5 and 8 percent). Use this in a soft baked good such as Angel Food Cake. 

Pastry Flour has a protein content of 8 or 9 percent and is perfect for pie crust.

Bread Flour is the toughest of all the flours because its protein content is between 12 and 14 percent. This flour should be your go-to for pretzels or pizza crust.

Whole Wheat Flour also tends to have a high protein content, usually 13 to 14 percent, which means it yields denser baked goods. Break out this flour for pancakes.

White Whole Wheat Flour is not the same as unbleached flour, even if I did mistakenly think that at first! It has a high protein content of 13 to 14 percent but a sweeter taste than whole wheat flour thanks to a lower tannin count. Try this flour in muffins.

If your recipe doesn't call for a specific type of flour, all-purpose flour is fine to use. Just make sure you measure... I learned the hard way in my early days of baking that too much flour is not a good thing!

I have so many friends that are gluten-free that I'm excited to try out some new recipes this season! This one is top on my list of GF cookie recipes to try (with gluten-free flour, obviously!): Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownie Cookies. Yum! Almond flour is also a great Gluten-free alternative. 

Happy Holidays from the EA Crew!

(I'd love to know your favorite family cookie recipes- please share them in the comments!)