Flour Musings

I'm going through a phase where I'm baking a lot. I bake a loaf of bread at least 1 to 2 times per month, sometimes 4 times. When I first started baking sourdough bread, I used only all purpose flour. When a recipe called for whole wheat, I'd simply add more all purpose. I read a lot about people making dense loaves - bricks - with whole wheat. I was not interested. But more and more, the push to eat a little bit healthier made me reconsider my "no whole wheat flour stance". I found a flour mix in the supermarket - Ultragrain All Purpose flour - that contained 30% whole wheat flour. I grabbed it up on sale (and with coupons) one day and loved the results that I got. I don't know if it was my improved skill or the flour but I made some great loaves. (See round braided loaf of this post: Things I've Made Lately)

It was through reading about Ultragrain flour that I learned about white whole wheat flour. Essentially, this is flour made from a white wheat instead of the traditional red wheat. It's milder and of course a lighter colour. I took the plunge a couple months ago and bought a bag of Prairie Gold white whole wheat on Walmart.com. My breads have been interesting. They have not risen as much as I'd like which may be a problem with my yeast and not with the flour. Whole wheat is going to take very active yeast to get a good rise. However, they are really flavourful.. You definitely get more of a white bread than whole wheat taste. It's like white bread with an oomph.

I loved the white whole wheat enough to order another bag on Walmart.com. This time I went for the Gold Medal brand. By the way, you can find white whole wheat in stores. I have seen it in at least one store near me and it's rare that they have "unique" items around here. I just wanted to use my Walmart gift cards from Swagbucks and since the Walmart store near me doesn't have the white whole wheat, it was just easier to order it online. Back to GM. While the Prairie Gold from Wheat Montana was a creamy beige coloured flour, the Gold Medal is whitish with brown flecks. I wonder how much difference that will make. I am assuming that there is a difference in the milling process. But specific to my purposes, I wonder if those flecks will make it harder for me to develop gluten.

I used a bit of the GM flour to make laxoox this morning which was delicious! And I just fed my starter half white whole wheat and half all purpose flour. We'll see how my starter reacts. I've seen a lot of people mention baking their favourite desserts using white whole wheat so I think I may try a chocolate lava cake or dark chocolate cupcakes with it. I'm sure it will be delicious since the flour doesn't have a strong flavour. Adding Bob's 10 Grain flour to desserts is a challenge. A muffin can handle that flavour but a cupcake couldn't. That reminds me, I want to make some chocolate chip muffins. I think I will mix those up for the oven at the same time that I am making this week's bread. I wanted to use a low carb recipe that I found but I think I will deviate a lot. I want to use my remaining oats for slow cooker granola. And I don't have apple sauce. Hmm. I also don't have eggs. Ha. OK, the muffins will be delayed.

Wow..this went from flour to a what I want to cook soon post. Ha. The ramblings of my brain.

Until next time...

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