Whole grains. Most people use bleached white flour instead of unbleached white flour or whole wheat flour. It's what we've grown accustomed to. When you are offered a choice between white bread or whole wheat, which do you choose? Here's the difference.
Whole wheat flour by it's name sake is the whole grain ground and nothing removed so it retains all of its nutritional value. One of the difficulties with whole wheat for baking is that the shells and husks from the grain will cut the gluten so the baked goods are less doughy and more crumbly, although it is only a subtle difference.
Bleached white flour is processed to keep only the endosperm of the seed, which is the most abundant component and is white in color. The outer shell (wheat bran) and the germ (seed embryo) are removed.
The advantage of white flour is with the outer shell removed dough made from white flour is smoother and more elastic so breads will rise nicer and have a softer texture. With the germ removed the flour also has a longer shelf life. In some cases, whole wheat flour may give the baked goods a slightly nutty texture.
A disadvantages of white flour is with the endosperm and germ removed, a lot of the vitamins and minerals are also removed. White flour contains less nutritional value, more calories, lower protein, and much lower fiber.
1 cup of whole wheat flour contains...
- 407 calories
- 16g protein
- 87g total carbohydrates
- 15g fiber
- 1/2g sugars
1 cup of white flour contains...
- 455 calories
- 13g protein
- 95g total carbohydrates
- 3g fiber
- 1/2g sugars
Another thing to consider is bleached white flour vs unbleached white flour. Bleached flour uses bleaching agents (commonly benzoyl peroxide and chlorine gas, among others) to speed up the flour’s aging process. This results in a whiter, finer-grain flour with a softer texture.
Unbleached white flour is flour that has aged naturally after being milled. Bleaching occurs as the flour ages and is exposed to oxygen. It has an off-white color, which continues to dull as it ages, and a more dense grain than bleached flour.
Anybody else?
Lol! Ikr? I already eat beans already. I didn't realize that helped.
Popcorn...