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What is White Whole Wheat Flour? Delicious.

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Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

I was searching through old photos today and found these whole wheat blueberry muffins I made a while back.  Since I remember them tasting just as delicious as they look, I decided that they shouldn’t be kept hidden on my hard drive any longer.

The muffin recipe came from Elise at Simply Recipes and the only change I made was to use King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat Flour instead of all-purpose flour.  If you haven’t started baking with white whole wheat flour yet, now is the time to start!

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The name “white whole wheat flour” might seem confusing since we are used to associating the term “white flour” with something that has had most of the nutrition processed and bleached right out of it.  But white whole wheat flour is a whole grain flour that has been milled from hard white spring wheat, rather than traditional red wheat.  It offers all the same nutritional benefits of traditional whole wheat, but has a milder flavor, lighter color, and finer grind, making it perfect for quick breads.

I happen to really enjoy the flavor of traditional whole wheat flour and still use it for yeast breads, but I find myself turning to white whole wheat for things like cookies, quick breads, pancakes, pizza dough, and even pie crusts.  It’s wonderful stuff!  And if you’re new to baking with whole wheat flour, white whole wheat might make for an easier transition – especially if you’re baking for picky eaters!

I haven’t tried any brands other than King Arthur Flour, but I know Trader Joe’s (who unfortunately stopped selling King Arthur) is now stocking their own brand of white whole wheat and Hodgson Mill is also producing a white whole wheat flour.  I’m sure there are even more brands out there now.

If you’d like to try experimenting with white whole wheat flour, I think a batch of muffins is a great place to start.  You can use it in any recipe, just replace the all-purpose or traditional whole wheat flour with an equal part of white whole wheat flour.

One thing to keep in mind:  while white whole wheat flour does bake up a bit lighter than traditional whole wheat, it is still a whole grain flour and will not perform exactly like the processed all-purpose version.  Your quick breads might not rise quite as high, and the crumb might be a bit more dense than in breads baked with all-purpose flour, but I really enjoy the flavor and texture of whole grain baked goods and think you will, too.

And really, who is going to say no to a blueberry muffin that looks like this?

Buttered Blueberry Muffin

If you’d like to try these blueberry muffins, head over to Simply Recipes and print the recipe.  Just don’t forget to use white whole wheat flour!

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  6. Tamara says

    I saw the white whole wheat at the store (even Kroger's stocking 'alternatives' now), but wasn't sure it was worth the extra price because it isn't quick bread season for me. I crave fruit-filled muffins in summer and fall, but not really in winter...when fresh berries are back in season I may give it a try!
    Reply

  7. Frieda says

    Psssstt....wanna hear another secret? SOFT white wheat flour is also known as PASTRY flour, which is excellent for cakes, soft cookies, etc. What a way to sneak wheat goodness into baked goods!
    Reply

  9. Megan says

    I've never heard of white whole wheat flour. I find that whole wheat flour always makes baked goods more dense than white flour. Maybe this white whole wheat flour is a happy medium. Love that it has the nutritional benefits of whole wheat flour.
    Reply

  10. Carolyn says

    Was VERY happy to discover that Trader Joe's now carries their own brand of white whole wheat flour, as it was a good bit cheaper than King Arthur (although I still buy KA in a heartbeat if that's all that's available). Regular whole wheat still has a place in my pantry, but it is now used more as a 'specialty' ingredient, like wheat germ. Will definitely try the muffin recipe from Elise per your suggestion. And I love using white whole wheat in regular bread recipes, so don't be afraid, bakers! Try it half and half with bread flour if you're a virgin in whole grain territory.
    Reply

  12. Michael says

    A teaspoon of vital wheat gluten to a batch of whatever your making should make it rise a little better and not be so dense. If you find yourself wondering what to do with the rest of the wheat gluten there are some interesting recipes to make meat substitutes with it on the vegan sites. I know, why would anyone want a substitute for meat. My daughter is a vegetarian so I thought I might give it a try.
    Reply

  13. Tania says

    Hi! just came across your site recently! its fantastic!! ive switched to white whole wheat when baking muffins as i do find reg. whole wheat much too dense and often leaves me with a very heavy muffin!
    Reply

  17. Shelley says

    I've used the King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour before -- thankfully, I can get it locally at ONE grocery store in town -- and I think it is so great. We use whole wheat flour almost exclusively, but the white whole wheat flour was a new thing. I've tried it in my no-knead bread recipe and found that it works well (I like experimenting with different flours in that super-simple but very delicious recipe), but I bet it would work even better with a teaspoon of vital wheat gluten in it, as Michael suggested. I have used both regular whole wheat and the white whole wheat in differing amounts with plain bleached flour and KA's bread flour. Always interesting! Thanks for the lesson, because now I'll try it in quick breads, too!
    Reply

  18. Robin says

    Thanks for this - there's a fig/goat cheese muffin recipe in this month's Eating Well that I made that called for white whole wheat, but I didn't have any so I used half white/half wheat. I didn't know about white whole wheat until I saw the recipe. I liked the muffins a lot and think I'll try the white whole wheat next time I make them. Here's a link to the muffin recipe that uses it - http://www.mnn.com/food/cooking-recipes/blogs/tackling-the-bulk-bins-dried-figs
    Reply

  19. Karen says

    @Frieda - pastry flour is not the same as White Whole Wheat, the subject here. Pastry flour usually has been sifted to remove the bran and germ, just like all-purpose, though now you can get Whole Wheat Pastry Flour at Whole Foods. In the US, the term pastry flour designates flour with 7.5-9.5% gluten, while all-purpose has 9.5-11.5% gluten ("cake flour" has 6-7% gluten). White Whole Wheat is really a 'bread' flour, with gluten above 11.5%, though as a Soft White Wheat it does have lower gluten than the Hard Red and other wheats used to make up traditional whole wheat flours. (Source: page 29, Bread Bakers Apprentice") Obviously it can be used in other ways, just as traditional whole wheat can, with adjustments based on your tastes and preferences. One way to overcome the "less rise" issue would be to let the flour soak in the wet ingredients for a while, before adding the leavening, to let the gluten begin softening. Adding even more gluten would probably not help though it's a good addition if you substitute White Whole Wheat in a traditional Whole Wheat yeast bread recipe. In this case, adding a little bit more leavening would help, as would the soak.
    Reply

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