Want to know what is self rising flour and when you should use it for baking? Today I’m sharing a helpful guide on what self rising flour is, the benefits of self rising flour, and how and when you should use it in recipes.
Curious about self rising flour?
If you’ve been following my blog for awhile, it’s no secret that I love to use self-rising flour in many of my favorite baking recipes.
With that said, there’s often several misconceptions in the baking world about self rising flour and I also regularly receive questions about self rising flour on many of my recipes.
So today I’ve put together a helpful guide on what is self rising flour, how and when to use it, and a roundup of some of the best self rising flour recipes you should definitely make!
Self Rising Flour: A Helpful Guide + FAQ’s
If you walk through the flour aisle of any grocery store, you will see many different types of flour products.
This includes all-purpose flour, cake flour, bread flour, and of course – self-rising flour.
If you’re not familiar with how different flours work, you might be wondering: What is self-rising flour, and how do you know when you should use it?
Understanding what makes self rising flour unique and how it reacts in baking can help you better understand when it should be used and why it should have a place on your pantry shelf.
What Is Self-Rising Flour?
Unlike all-purpose flour which needs the addition of a leavening agent in order to rise properly, self-rising flour is just as the name says: it’s self-rising.
Self-rising flour is a blended flour mixture made with all-purpose flour, baking powder, and a small amount of fine salt.
The mixture is thoroughly combined so that the baking powder and salt distribute throughout the flour.
What Are the Benefits of Self-Rising Flour?
Self-rising flour has several benefits, including:
Convenience + Ease
Reliability/Consistent Rise
Creates Soft + Tender Baked Goods
Convenience
Since it is premixed with a leavening agent, it is a convenient solution for making many types of baked goods that depend on leavening for the final texture and consistency.
Not only do you save time when using self rising flour, but you also reduce the risk of measurement errors when you eliminate the need to add leavening and salt to your recipe.
Reliability/Consistent Rise
Many bakers like myself rely on self-rising flour for specific baked goods, since it helps ensure a consistent rise.
Since the baking powder is mechanically combined with the flour during manufacturing, this distributes the leavening agent evenly throughout the flour mixture.
The even distribution of leavening creates a more reliable, consistent rise in baking.
Creates Soft + Tender Baked Goods
One of my favorite reasons to use self rising flour in baking is because in many instances it creates more soft and tender baked goods.
This is due to the fact that it has a lower protein content than other flours like all-purpose flour.
So far, we’ve answered the question “What is self-rising flour?”, and discussed the benefits of using self rising flour in your baked goods.
But another important question to answer is “What is self rising flour used for?”
Even when you understand the advantages of self-rising flour, you still need to know when best to use it and when all-purpose flour is a better choice.
The Science Behind Self-Rising Flour
Understanding the right applications for self-rising flour starts with understanding the role of the leavening agent (baking powder) that it includes.
As identified below, the baking powder mixture in self rising flour results in a fast-acting rise compared to yeast which takes a long time to rise.
Baking powder is a mixture of baking soda and cream of tartar.
Cream of tartar contributes the acidic component needed to activate the baking soda, eliminating the need for additional acid in the recipe you use it in.
What Recipes Are Best for Self-Rising Flour?
Self-rising flour is ideal in recipes that need faster results, such asbiscuits, cookies, pancakes, waffles, muffins, and quick breads.
It is also a great choice for cobblers, fried hand pies, pizza dough, and certain cakes/cupcakes.
On the other hand, all-purpose flour is better suited for traditional pie dough, yeast pizza dough, cakes, doughnuts, and pastries.
Are Flour Types Interchangeable?
As mentioned above, it is important to consider the use of self-rising flour carefully in baking and only use it when specifically called for.
Before baking, make sure you consider which type of flour your recipe calls for and other ingredients the recipes might use.
The baking powder component of self-rising flour plays an important role and can alter the final texture of foods.
For example, if you use self-rising flour for pie crust, you will not get the flaky, light texture of traditional pie pastry, but instead your crust will be thicker and fluffier.
It’s also important to note that some recipes will rely on all-purpose flour because the recipe itself contains baking soda and buttermilk.
The acid of the buttermilk activates baking soda, so you get sufficient leavening.
If you use self-rising flour in a recipe like that, you may get too much rise out of the final product, altering the texture, taste and structural integrity of your baked goods.
What Is the Self-Rising Flour Shelf Life?
Self-rising flour has a shorter shelf life than all-purpose flour because the baking powder begins to lose effectiveness once exposed to the other ingredients.
It typically only lasts 6 months.
When you purchase self-rising flour, or if you make your own, it is important to store it in an airtight container.
I hope you enjoyed today’s helpful guide on what is self rising flour and how to use it. As you can see, self rising flour has so many amazing benefits, uses, and is a must-have for every baker’s pantry!
