When baking, there are several ingredients that vary by type and amount. One of these is the kind of flour used in your recipe. Some flours will not work in your dough or batter because they do not bake properly or taste better than the other flours you use.
Some people believe that using bread-style (or all-purpose) flour instead of cake or pastry flour will cause your banana bread to be too dense and heavy. This article will discuss whether this theory is true!
I have made both types of banana bread before and can tell you with certainty that it does not make a difference when baking. In fact, some recipes call for only one kind of flour! So if you would like to mix up your favorite recipe, then you are already good to go!
If you want more tips on making delicious banana cakes and snacks, check out my other articles here on AllCookedCharts.
Why is flour important?
When baking, your bread or cookie dough will not rise properly if you do not have enough of an ingredient called gluten. Gluten is like dry powder that helps make things stick together.
Bread needs lots of this kind of glue to help it hold together so that all parts of the loaf join together and bake into each other. Without it, then the finished product may feel soft and flaky instead of sturdy and chewy.
That would be fine if you like that style of bread, but we are talking about banana bread here! And most people know what good banana bread tastes like – fluffy, sweet, and slightly salty. That does not work when there is no solid structure.
What is needed to create that perfect texture depends on the type of wheat used to make the flour. There are some types of whole grain flours that use less glueten than others.
The best option is probably white rice flour since it has almost none.
Does the taste differ?
When baking, what kind of flour you use makes a big difference in the flavor of your finished product. There are many types of flours that can be used to make breads and cakes!
Most people agree that better quality wheat products will have more flavor than those made with lower grade grains. That is why there are so many different kinds of bread recipes- you get lots of variations.
And while some say that using whole grain flours adds to the health benefits of your food, others argue that it changes the way the gluten interacts with other ingredients, which could affect how well the dough rises.
We really do not know whether or not eating foods that are higher in fiber is good for us, but we do know that switching up the type of flour in your baked goods is an excellent way to experiment!
So if you would like to try making banana bread with white bread flour, go ahead! It may take a little bit longer to bake, but they both rise and cook similarly. We hope this article has inspired you to explore all of the great gluts in the world and find one that works for you.
Does it affect the recipe?
When baking, there are three main ingredients used to create your finished product- dry matter, sugar, and fat. Different types of bread flours contain different amounts of each ingredient depending on what kind of bread they are used in.
Mostly, when people refer to “bread” they mean white wheat flour. This is because most people know how to make bread with white wheat flour! That is not wrong at all, but it is definitely not the best way to make banana bread.
Banana bread is made from bananas, chocolate chips, and cream of milk or butter (depending on whether it has calories or not) mixed into a batter that is spread into an oven and baked. The final texture comes down to the type of bread you use in the dough stage!
Some types of bread do not perform well when incorporated into a batter and then spread onto a pan like a classic loaf style bread. These types of bread will break up while mixing into the wet parts of the mixture, which does not work for banana bread.
We have some good news though! You can use brown rice flour instead of whole wheat flour in this recipe! And even though it says ‘white’ bread in the name, we call this recipe Chocolate Chip Brown Rice Cake Bananas due to the resemblance.
This article will discuss why using brown rice flour works in this recipe and what effects it may have.
Bread flour is often more expensive
While using bread flour can help give your banana bread some extra texture and flavor, you should not use all-purpose white wheat flour instead! Using too much of either ingredient will result in very heavy or thinned out buns that do not taste good nor set well.
Using less than one cup of bread flour per half batch of dough will make the bun soft and possibly even gluey. One whole batch will leave it hard and crisp, but what fun are those!?
Bread flour does have a higher protein content than regular all-purpose flour, so if you like softer bananas then maybe add one tablespoon of milk to keep them slightly moist.
Some people are allergic to wheat
Many people are known to be allergic to gluten, which is what makes breads like white or plain baguette bread and multigrain bread work so well — they contain some form of wheat flour.
Bread made from only rice or potatoes will not taste good because those foods do not have an adequate amount of moisture in them. If you are someone who has a sensitivity to gluten, you can probably eat banana bread using whole grain spelt or oat flour instead of regular wheat flour.
You could also use coconut milk as the fat source in the batter instead of butter.
Some people are gluten sensitive
Gluten is a protein that comes from wheat, rye, barley, or grasses like oat and corn plants. Because it takes hard work to cook these grains, we often use them in making other products such as breads, pasta, and cakes.
However, some individuals cannot process this protein because of an allergy or sensitivity. People with a gluten allergy may have symptoms such as hives and a wheezy breathing pattern after eating foods containing gluten.
People who are gluten intolerant usually suffer from abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea soon after they eat food or drink beverages that contain gliadin, which is a major component of gluten.
Always read the ingredient list
While most recipes call for all-purpose flour as the baking powder, you can use bread flour instead. The difference is that plain old white all-purpose flour has some bran and wheat germ in it to help give dough strength.
Bread flour does not have these components so it will produce thinner, softer baked goods than using regular all-purpose flour.
Substitute with:
Although using all-purpose flour is the most common way to make banana bread, you can use either white or whole wheat bread flours instead! The texture and flavor of the finished product will differ slightly, but not much!
Most recipes call for half cup of each type of flour used. To make sure your dough does not get tough due to lack of gluten, bake it for the same amount of time as normal, just know that it will probably need another 5 minutes in the oven!
Remember, if you like thinner bananas than we suggested before, add some more milk! If you like thicker ones, use less milk! General tips about baking apply here as well.