I was wondering if anybody has ever successfully used all purpose flour instead of bread flour to make their bread in the bread machine? Bread flour is extremely expensive here in Malta, to the extent that baking your own bread is not cost effective.
But plain (called all purpose flour in the U.S.) is very cheap to buy here. If so, could you please share some recipes or direct me to a site which has some good ones? Thank you so much.
By cettina from Mallta, Europe
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Thanks pcheflm. Seems like its ok to use all purpose flour. Just a case of trial and error to see how it comes out. At least, if I'm successful, I can save a ton of money! There are many different recipes for making white bread (using bread flour) so I can try out a few and see which is the best for me.
I have always used All-Purpose Unbleached Flour in my bread machine. I use the recipes from my bread machine cookbook but substitute the regular flour for the bread flour. I have had great results most of the time.
I do like to check on the bread machine while it is mixing the first time. Sometimes, there needs to be more water/liquid or flour added depending how I measured out the ingredients or how humid it is.
Sorry, it's cett here again. What I meant was that I could try out different recipes which state bread flour and substitute all purpose flour and see what results I get.
Yes, you can use regular flour or bread flour. I have used both and the only difference I noticed was that the reg flour loaf wasnt as light as the bread flour but still delicious! There are a lot of recipes out there but I prefer the potato bread recipes. Try one and you wont be disappointed!!! Good luck!
I too use regular flour all the time and don't see any difference. If I have wheat flour, I will substitute a cup of that in it also. Our trusty recipe, that my 8th grade girl makes all the time (she's the official family bread maker!) uses:
1 1/3 cup water warmed to 110 degrees
2 heaping tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons oil
4 cups flour.
We don't especially like the hard crust in the bread machine, so she makes the dough in the machine, and after it has risen once, she'll take it out and put it in two bread pans, lets them raise once, and bakes in a regular oven. Either way works!
Hello Cettina,
Yes, you can use plain all purpose flour instead of bread flour. See how you like it, if you're not quite happy with the result you can try to add some gluten flour. Most of the time you're fine without the gluten though. Adding gluten boosts the rising of the bread and gives a nice crust. Try it and enjoy your homemade bread.
Best of luck! Roxanne
I use regular flour, a good cheap recipe that works to make 1 loaf is
3 cups flour
1 teas dry yeast
1/8 cup sugar
1/8 cup shortening
1/2 teas salt (if desired)
Let the machine do its work, if need to add a bit more flour if want wheat, use 1/ white flour and 1/2 amount wheat flour.
I'm unsure of the amount of white flour and wheat flour. I do want to add a little wheat. Can I just exchange the same amounts? 2 cups white, one wheat?
Go right ahead and use all-purpose; it makes no difference whatsoever.
Hi, I have a breadmaker and had run out of bread flour, I had plenty of ordinary plain flour so I used that and the bread turned out just fine, mixture looked a lot wetter when mixing but turned out just fine , havn't used bread flour since.
Jacque Lee UK
All purpose flour does not contain any yeast so you would definitely need to add it for traditional bread recipes.
Thank you all so much! It's so good to know I can substitute bread flour for ordinary flour. I cant wait to try out the recipes you kindly gave me! I also take the bread dough out after the 1st rise and bake it in the oven. I get much better results too. Once again, thank you, all.
What about doing other recipes, like sourdough bread, rye bread, etc.... same scenario?
AP BM Recipe
I use all purpose flour and in addition replaced non fat dry milk with non dairy dry creamer. My machine is a Breadman 2700. This is the recipe I use for 1 1/2 lb loaf. Made 5 loves before I got it right. Good luck..
1 cup water + 2 tbs [room temp]
2 tbs veg oil [your choice olive, corn, etc]
2 tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tbs non dairy dry creamer
1 tbs vital wheat gluten
2 tsp instant dry yeast [bread yeast]
This is the order I use to add ingredients. You may want to follow a difference order according to your bread machine. I use the medium crust setting which is 3 hrs and 5 min. on my machine. I use 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp vital gluter per cup of flour. You may have to adjust the amount of water or yeast depending on the flour used
Notes.... Best deals I found is 2 lb pkg instant yeast and 3 1/2 lb can of vital wheat gluten at Amazon. Non dary dry creamer I get at Dollar stores or supermarket house brand.
yes works perfect in all my recipes
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I received a bread machine and all the recipes call for bread flour. Can you substitute all purpose flour for bread flour? I was about to try it out until I found out I didn't have the right flour.
By Jill
You can use all purpose flour, though your bread may not rise as high or be as light as with bread flour. Bread flour has a higher gluten content than all-purpose flour; and gluten creates a "fibrous" structure that traps the gasses produced by the yeast fermenting and causes bread to rise. I have used all purpose flour many times, with perfectly satisfactory results! Do try the bread flour, but don't not use your machine if you don't have any on hand! You're going to love it!
I have never bothered with "bread flour." Instead, I purchase a little bag of a product called vital wheat gluten and add a heaping tablespoon per loaf (double that if I'm making rye or whole wheat, which I usually am). This has worked well for me for years. Mine is a 1-1/2 pound machine. Love, love, love it!
I get my gluten at Whole Foods, but your grocery store might have it. Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur have it online - and Amazon, of course.
Thank you for this advice. It is greatly appreciated.
I have been buying King Arthur, and it makes great, light bread plus I can use it for other recipes. Other all purpose flours have made sense, heavy loaves.
