What is White Whole Wheat Flour?

Published:  01/08/2017

Have you noticed that you now have a choice of several different types of flour to choose from at the grocery store? One newcomer is white whole wheat flour and this can be used instead of white all-purpose flour to maximize the nutrient content of your baked goods. 

To review, all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour are made from red wheat berries sometimes called hard red wheat.This gives the flour a tan color.

Whole wheat contains the entire grain, including the fibrous husk, bran and endosperm. All-purpose flour is regular wheat that has been stripped of the husk and bran, which are loaded with nutrients: antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. Sp whole wheat is more nutritious, 

Unbleached all-purpose flour has been bleached to make it look white.

White whole wheat is a type of wheat. It's 100% whole wheat; not a mixture of white and wheat flours, and certainly not bleached. Packed with fiber, proteins, vitamins, and minerals, it's nutritionally equivalent to classic red wheat. 

White whole wheat flour however, is made from white wheat berries so it is naturally white in color. It contains the bran, germ and endosperm.

All-purpose and unbleached all-purpose flour has the bran and germ removed making it less nutritious than whole wheat. White whole wheat flour and whole wheat flour are the same nutritionally.

Whole wheat flour tastes nutty, slightly bitter and is stronger in flavor than whole wheat white flour. White whole wheat flour has a milder almost sweeter flavor, and also means that products made with white wheat require less added sweetener to attain the same level of perceived sweetness.

When substituting either whole wheat or white whole wheat flour in baking recipes, it's important to remember that because it contains the bran, the germ, and the endosperm it can cause your product not to develop gluten and hence have a heavy texture. To ensure the best products, I’d recommend investing some time into learning how to bake with whole wheat flours.

In recipes that call for whole wheat flour use can use 100% white whole wheat flour. 

In any recipe calling for all-purpose flour use 50% white whole wheat flour and 50% all-purpose flour. This will add more nutrition to your baked goods.