August 17, 2009 - 12:52pm
Whole Grain Pastry Flour
Dang! I just bought Arrowhead Mills whole grain pastry flour, instead of white pastry flour. It wasn't marked well at all, and I opened it before I realized it. Does anyone have any good recipes that it will work well in? I can't even imagine whole grain pie crust, which is what I wanted it for. :(
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I never use anything but whole wheat pastry flour and while it is certainly a bit different from white flour in can be used just about anywhere. Make your pie crust with it and you may be surprised at just how good it is and how well it works.
Jeff
Does it come out flaky?
That was supposed to be 'flakey'. :)
I think that there exists this image from the past of a pie crust that is darkish brown, chewy, and suitable for caulking large cracks in cement work. Such crust went by the name of whole wheat or whole grain and was theoretically good for you. YUK !
Whole wheat pastry flour is milled from soft white wheat and is generally of a finer texture than flour from hard wheat. Mixed in the 50/50 ratio with AP flour it simply adds a wonderful dimension of flavor and color to the crust. Used by itself it makes a great crust that is unmistakably whole wheat but not as described in the first paragraph. If you can make a flakey crust with white flour then you can do it with this flour.
Jeff
I agree with the previous posts. It comes in handy to just substitute for a portion of AP flour in many recipes, especially if you want to help ensure tenderness.
There are probably some recipes on the package, or on their web site.
I just made this Challah recipe from KA that specifically calls for ww pastry flour for part of the flour. It is delicious, that is, unless one has an aversion to whole grains. I braided it, but still just baked it in a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Nice and soft.
Millie's Whole Wheat Challah:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/millies-whole-wheat-challah-recipe
Well, this has been most enlightening AND encouraging! I knew you guys would help! And I just want to say that I usually make whole wheat bread, but never thought it would work in a pie crust. I'll try the Challah!
I've used this very brand of whole grain pastry flour for soft sandwich breads, banana bread, cookies and scones in place of all-purpose flour or cake flour and it works very, very well -- this is based on being adventurous and replacing *all* of the AP flour with this ww pastry flour. As already noted by fellow TFLers, it lends great flavour to the baked goods that simply can't be replicated by white flour. (Haven't tried it in pie crust yet though.)
Challah sounds like a great way to use it and likewise with zopf. Or, maybe a few loaves of honey whole wheat? Dinner rolls?
Whole Wheat Zucchini-Nut Bread
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/whole-wheat-zucchini-nut-bread-recipe
Blueberry Pie with a Twist
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/blueberry-pie-with-a-twist-recipe