assorted flour types for spaetzle

Flour Types - What's the Difference?

What kind of flour should or could I use for Spaetzle? Always Plain to start!

Depending on your diet or adventurous spirit, you can try any flour or a combination of flours. Chick Pea flour gives it a lovely nutty taste but I would mix that with a wholemeal or plain flour to start.

All-purpose Flour – All purpose flour has a medium protein content that makes it suitable for most baking uses.

Arrowroot Flour

This flour is made from the fleshy root stock of the tropical arrowroot plant. Its white, fine, and powdery texture is very similar to cornstarch but it has no flavor at all. It is typically used as a thickener for puddings, sauces and other cooked foods.

Barley Flour

Barley flour is made from barley ground very finely. It is rich in protein, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, and B vitamins.

Bean/Legume Flours

Made easily by grinding all types of beans, this flour can be used to enhance the flavor and health benefits of your breads, and they also make easy soups and dips.

Bread Flour

The best flour for bread making, it is ground from hard wheat. It has a high protein (gluten) and low starch content.

Brown Rice Flour

Ground from brown rice, this flour has a slightly sweet flavor. It is used alone or combined with wheat flour in breads and batters.

Buckwheat Flour

Buckwheat flour is ground from the seeds of a plant originating in Asia, has an earthy, slightly sour flavor that is usually tempered in commercial products by the addition of a little wheat flour.

Chestnut Flour

Chestnut flour is made from dried, ground chestnuts and usually sold in ethnic markets.

Corn Flour

A yellow, finely ground version of cornmeal, corn flour is used to add a mild corn taste and a pleasing texture to baked goods.

Flour – Is a term that commonly refers to all-purpose flour, a blend of hard and soft wheats. Natural, pale yellow unbleached flour yields more crisp results; bleached white flour yields more tender results.

Gluten Flour – Gluten flour is made from hard wheat, and contains a high percentage of gluten, the protein in wheat flour that gives dough an elastic quality and helps it rise. It is often used in combination with low-gluten flours.

Millet Flour

Made from a small round grain resembling mustard seed, this flour has a slight nutty flavor.

Oat Flour

Oat flour is a fine flour ground from dried oats, has a characteristic nutlike flavor. It is used in combination with wheat flour.

Pastry and Cake Flours

Pastry flour is lighter and has a lower protein level of ~9-10% as opposed to ~ 12-13% found in bread flour. The soft, flakiness of pie crust is attributable to the softer flour. Cake flour is lighter than all purpose flour. It is not used much anymore, but if it does come up, you can substitute all-purpose/plain flour by removing three tablespoons per cup of flour and replacing it with corn starch or potato flour.

Potato Flour

This is a gluten-free flour made from cooked, dried and ground potatoes. It is mostly used as a thickener. It is also known as potato starch.

Rice Flour

This very fine powdery flour is made from pulverized long-grain or glutinous rice, used to thicken cakes and puddings as well as to make noodles and very fluffy breads.

Rye Flour

Rye flour is a fine flour ground from grains of rye grass, a close relative of wheat. It has a slightly sweet-sour flavor.

Self Rising Flour

Self-rising flour contains baking powder.

Semolina Flour

Semolina flour is made from the finely ground endosperm of Durum wheat. Usually used in pasta making, it is a tasty, high protein addition to breads.

Seven-grain (or nine-grain) Flour

Seven-grain flour is a commercial blend commonly made up of millet, rye, corn, wheat, barley, oats, and flax or triticale.

Soy Flour

Soy flour is high in protein and is usually mixed in with whole grain flours in recipes.

Spelt Flour

This flour is lighter in protein and more easily digested than regular wheat flours. This flour is sometimes known as Farro.

Triticale Flour

Triticale is a hybrid cross of durum wheat and rye grains. It is high in protein, and is excellent for making bread. It may take longer to rise than regular wheat breads.

Vegetable Flour

Made from dried vegetables, use these flours to flavor breads and soups.

Whole Wheat Flour

Whole wheat flour is milled from the entire berry, brownish in colour and the one mostly used for Spaetzle.

assorted flour types for spaetzle
chickpea buckwheat flour

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