When Out of All-Purpose Flour, What's the Best Substitute? (2024)

FAQs

When Out of All-Purpose Flour, What's the Best Substitute? ›

If you're stuck without all-purpose flour and aren't looking for a gluten-free alternative, you can turn to other wheat flours. Pastry flour has less gluten than all-purpose flour, making it a great choice if you're making pie crust, muffins, and cake.

All-purpose flour is the most common flour called for in recipes, for both cooking and baking. But if you don't have any in the pantry, or can't find any in the store, there are other flours you can use in its place. Bread flour and cake flour—on their own or mixed together—can substitute for all-purpose.

Substituting Plain Flour in Your Recipes

For each cup of all-purpose flour, simply use one cup of plain flour. Keep in mind that plain flour in the UK has a slightly lower protein content, which may affect the texture of your final baked goods.

Dr Veronica Giacintucci, Teaching Fellow in Food Science, shares her top 4 alternatives using ingredients found in your cupboards. Rice, quinoa, almond and pulse flours are great alternatives when you're running low on your usual supplies.

If a recipe says “use flour,” it's highly likely that the recipe refers to all-purpose flour. All purpose flour is equivalent to plain flour in the UK.

For example, if you are making 1 cup of all purpose flour, you would mix together 1/3 cup of white flour, 1/3 cup of whole wheat flour, and 1/3 cup of corn flour. Once you have mixed together the ingredients, you can use the flour in any recipe that calls for all purpose flour.

Thankfully, it's easy to make self-raising flour from the plain flour that is already in your cupboard; just add baking powder! This easy, make-at-home substitute for self-raising flour can be prepared in advance and stored in an airtight container for use in future recipes.

While cornstarch shouldn't be used as a substitute for flour in baked goods, you can easily substitute it in for flours when coating fried chicken, fish or other dishes. Not only will cornstarch work in the same way that flours do, but it will hold up better against sauces and absorb less of the frying oil.

Do I have to use all-purpose flour? ›

If a recipe doesn't specify a certain type of flour, it's generally advisable to use all-purpose flour. All-purpose flour can be used for breads, muffins, cakes, and more.

In addition to a lack of nutrients, a diet based on refined white flour can lead to health complications. Weight gain and obesity. In the U.S., two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese. Refined flour promotes fat and prevents the body from burning fat for fuel.

All this said, it's generally fine to substitute all-purpose flour for “00” flour. You'll notice a texture difference if you grew up in Europe or are very familiar with with products made from “00” flour, but all your recipes will still come out just fine. Trust me — you'll use it way more than you might think.

Either cake flour or pastry flour can be used as a 1:1 substitute for all-purpose flour in most baking recipes. Steer away from cake flour for chewy bread baking, though, and opt instead for bread or whole-wheat flour for your no-knead and sourdough loaves.

There is arrowroot flour, cornstarch, potato starch, tapioca powder, rice flour, corn flour, almond, quinoa, coconut and more. If your recipe calls for regular flour there are products that will substitute perfectly such as cup for cup, or any gluten free one for one blends.

Whole-Wheat Flour

Whole-wheat flour is much heartier than all-purpose flour and produces denser baked goods with a more robust flavor. Milled from wheat berries with the nutritious bran and germ still intact, whole-wheat flour is rich in fiber and essential micronutrients like iron, magnesium and vitamin B6.

Making self-rising flour at home is easy. Just use this basic formula: For every 1 cup of all-purpose flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon fine salt. Whisk the ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl or put them in a glass jar and shake well.

Cornstarch has twice the thickening power of all-purpose flour, which means you'll want to use twice as much: For every 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, you'll want to use 2 tablespoons of flour.

As long as the recipe you're making calls for leavening agents (as banana bread does), you can substitute self-rising for all-purpose flour. According to the baking pros at King Arthur Flour, look for recipes that use about ½-teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour.

Rice Flour

All types of rice flour can be used as a substitute for all-purpose flour, but there are various types of rice flour that yield slightly different results.