Substitute Sundays: Flours

In a pinch, substitutes can be life-savers. Well, maybe meal-savers. Today I’m going to cover what to do when out of various types of flour.
Note that substitutions are going to have an effect on the final product.

(Note: this is part of an ongoing series of posts covering the fundamentals of baking. For more information, check out the ‘Ingredients,’ ‘Substitutes,’ ‘Cooking 101,’ and ‘Cooking 201’ pages.)

All-purpose flour
For thickening, substitute cornstarch or quick-cooking tapioca.
1 C. all-purpose= 1 & 1/8 C. cake flour
1 C. all-purpose= 1 C. minus 1 Tbsp. whole-wheat flour
1 C. all-purpose= 1 C. self-rising, but omit baking powder and salt from recipe
1 C. all-purpose= 7/8 C. rice flour
1 C. all-purpose= 1/2 C. cake & 1/2 C. whole wheat flour

Bread flour
1 C. bread flour= 1 C. all-purpose & 1 tsp. wheat gluten (can omit gluten if must)

Cake flour
1 C. cake flour= 3/4 C. all-purpose flour & 2 Tbsp. cornstarch. Sift 5-6 times (must sift so many times to both mix everything together and give the flour the “airy” feel of cake flour).

Pastry flour
1 C. pastry flour=3/8 C. all-purpose flour & 5/8 C. cake flour
2 C. pastry flour= 1 & 1/3 C. all-purpose & 2/3 C. cake flour [ratio different from above…choose whether you’re going for a “lighter” product or a heavier, denser product.]
1 C. pastry flour= 2 Tbsp. cornstarch plus enough all-purpose flour to equal 1 cup

Self-rising flour
1 C. self-rising= 1 C. all purpose -and- 1 & 1/3 tsp. baking powder -and- 1/3 tsp. salt

Whole-wheat flour
1 C. whole-wheat= 7/8 C. all-purpose & 2 Tbsp. wheat germ

Women’s Health Magazine provides some substitutes in situations in which you want to just get rid of some regular flour for various “health” reasons. I personally don’t recommend them because they affect taste…but I have included them in case some of my readers are interested!

• Almond flour: can be used for coating chicken or fish; in meatballs, crab cakes, or anywhere else you’d use bread crumbs. It can also be used for replacing up to one-fourth of the white flour in cakes, muffins, pancakes, and cookies.
• Soy flour:  can be used for thickening sauces, gravies, or soups. You can also replace up to one-third of the white flour in non-yeast recipes.
• Quinoa flour: Cut it with an equal amount of white flour—the texture will be a bit more grainy than usual, but the result will be so much better for you.
• Barley flour: use in place of wheat flour in biscuits, breads, and pancakes.
• Spelt flour: use in baked goods, pizza crusts, and breads. It can be exchanged one-for-one without changing the consistency of the end product.