[This tip comes from a reader named Laura.]
It's been a year or two since I first heard of white wheat bread, and I'll admit I immediately assumed it was just a marketing ploy based on tiny print and asterisks. Not true. White whole wheat flour is making a good run at becoming part of mainstream American baking.
Traditional all-purpose, or white, and whole wheat flours are milled from hard red wheat berries; both flours contain the wheat's endosperm, while whole wheat flour also contains the bran and germ.
Whole wheat white flour is milled from the hard white wheat berry. It contains the entire wheat berry; the difference is in the white berry's bran, and the result is a lighter colored, sweeter tasting flour. Retaining the bran and germ yields a flour with more fiber and naturally occurring nutrients.
It's often assumed that whole wheat white flour is made from soft white wheat berries; it's actually whole wheat pastry flour that is milled from the soft white berries. Ultimately, you can always check the label, but do know that King Arthur Flour and Bob's Red Mill (two of my favorite brands) both use the standards described above.
For the home baker, whole wheat white flour can be substituted in cookie, muffin, quick bread, and brownie recipes, for a start. It lends a milder flavor to yeast breads containing whole wheat.
P.J. Hamel, Editor of King Arthur Flour's Baker's Catalogue, gives this tip in a recent issue of The Round Table e-mail newsletter: "When making brownies with (white) whole wheat flour, I've found it s best to let them rest overnight before serving. This extra time gives the bran a chance to soften, negating any possibility someone will notice a 'branny' texture."
(Thanks, Laura!)
ooooh oooooh! is this how they're able to have 'whole grain' chips ahoy (and other super-processed cookies) on the market these days?
for the home baker, is white whole wheat more used for bread baking or pastry? it produces a white-colored bread with all the benefits of whole wheat, n'est pas?
I've used white whole wheat for baking muffins, etc, but I've decided that what's really preferable is whole wheat pasty flour because you can substitue it one for one with regular white flour. White whole wheat is still a little too sturdy to do that.
I have baked all our bread (four loaves a week, literally thousands!) for years and switched to white wheat about five years ago because we prefer the taste. I don't buy flour, I grind wheat from whole grains in my kitchen, so my experience is mostly based on that.
White wheat is more a bread flour than a muffin flour because it is quite high in protein. When you knead bread, you are helping the proteins to link up (called "developing the gluten"), which is what gives the bread its structure when the yeast gives off CO2. Otherwise, the gas would just escape from the bread and you would get a brick from your oven instead of a loaf of bread. The protein is like a little balloon membrane. The more protein, then easier to develop the gluten. If you use a high-protein flour in quick bread, then you run the risk of developing this gluten and having tough, chewy bread instead of a more cake-textured one. It is merely a risk, however, and if you take care not to stir a lot you can probably make it work. Like Caitlyn, I use pastry flour for quick breads because its low protein minimizes the risk.
As for bread, keep in mind it is still whole wheat. You can't just sub it in for white flour and expect the same results. It won't produce a perfectly white loaf, but a tan one. Because it contains the bran and germ, whole wheat flour, (whatever the variety) will be heavier than refined flour. The bran and germ weigh it down some. This can be overcome, however, with a good kneading arm (or powerful mixer with a dough hook)
If you knead really well and don't demand your bread to double in size on the first rise, then you can get a nice light loaf just the same. If you want super duper light, you can add wheat gluten, too, but I think that tastes like cardboard, personally, so I don't do it. YMMV.
hope that helps some.
I have baked bread, using half white flour, half whole wheat flour, for the amount called for. It was a softer, less dense, loaf of bread, than all whole wheat. Ally
Hi- I work for Oldways, the parent company of the Whole Grains Council. www.wholegrainscouncil.org is a non-profit that created the black and gold Whole Grains Stamp and has a wealth of information on all things whole grains. I'd also be happy to answer any questions. The half WWW and half white flour works well. Also, King Arthur is coming out with a cookbook in December just for cooking with whole grains.