Bleached vs. Unbleached Flour

Flour is the vital ingredient that ties most baked goods together. Isn’t it in almost every baking recipe you’ve seen?! It plays a crucial role in so many baking goods from cookies and cakes, to sourdough bread and pies. When shopping for all-purpose flour, you’re faced with 2 different choices: either bleached or unbleached flour.

Which one do you usually buy? Which one should you choose? Do you know the differences between them?

Let’s get into it!

The Difference

To start, technically, all flours are considered “bleached” but the process of bleaching is what sets these two flours apart. Bleached flour is treated with chemical agents to speed up aging, while unbleached flour is bleached naturally with time and as it ages. These different processes can affect the finished baked goods in both their texture and composition, but only slightly. 

Bleached Flour

Bleached flour uses two bleaching agents known as benzoyl peroxide and chlorine gas to speed up the flour’s aging process. This results in a whiter, finer-grain flour with a soft texture. However, the taste is hardly noticeable between this bleached flour vs. unbleached flour even with the presence of chemicals.

Foods made with bleached flour tend to have a softer texture, more volume, and a brighter color than those made with unbleached flour. However, it’s only noticed if you’re looking for it and comparing the two side-by-side. It’s also made with heavy chemicals that are approved by the FDA but also unnatural.

The best baked goods to make with bleached flour: cookies, pie crusts, quick breads, muffins, and pancakes.

Unbleached Flour

Unbleached flour is flour that has aged naturally after being milled. I prefer this type for my baking because I prefer ingredients without chemicals in them. This flour has a creamy, off-white coloring which continues to dull as time goes on. Because it doesn’t use chemicals to soften the flour, it tends to be a more dense grain (but again, hardly noticeable unless compared) and it typically is a little more expensive then bleached flour.

TIP: Just because this type of flour isn’t suppose to be bleached with chemicals doesn’t always mean that companies don’t use chemicals in other ways. All brands are different, so it’s important to read the nutrition label to know which companies have the best ingredients. (For more nutrition label education, sign up on the homepage of theheapingharvest.com, for a FREE Nutrition Label Education guide!) 

The best baked goods to make with unbleached flour: yeast breads, cream puffs, eclairs, and pastries. (However, I use unbleached flour for most of my baking.) 

Best for Baking?

As you have read, these two flours are different in their coloring, texture, and composition. So how do you know which is always best for baking?

Like I said earlier, I make most of my baked goods with unbleached flour because I prefer buying ingredients that contain as few of toxins and chemicals as possible. In my opinion, King Author Flour is the best flour for baking. My husband and I use it for sourdough breads, croissants, and even pancakes. In general, the overall outcome in baked goods is the same with any type of flour but the brand that I trust for everything is King Arthur Flour. 

The choice of flour is completely up to you to make! Either flour will make your muffins rise, your cookies delicious, and your layer cake a crowd pleaser!

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