Hi Everyone,

   I have a question regarding flour, what is the difference between all-purpose and self-rising flour. I only use the all-purpose and this brownine recipe that I want to try calls for self-rising. Could I use the all-purpose what effect would it have on the brownies.

Thanks

Grammasgirls

If you use plain flour instead of self rising, your brownies won't rise and may be hard and flat.  You'll need to add baking powder and salt to plain flour to make it self rising.

Self-rising flour is all-purpose flour with added salt and leavening (baking powder).

You will notice that recipes that call for self-rising flour do not call for baking powder.

Make your own self-rising flour

For 1 cup self-rising flour use:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Hi Alabama Cooker,  Thanks for the info on flour.  I have have a question about flour, if you don't mind.  I've heard if you are using 'All-Purpose Flour' for baking, that even if it's got clumps, you shouldn't sift the flour.  Why is that?  Why can't you sift it?  My mom always used a sifter, but I never noticed what kind of flour she used.  Guess I wasn't paying attention to much was I?  Thanx!

chicagosinger

Hi CS!  I think the reason many old recipes say to sift the flour is because a long time ago there were so many hard bits and pieces in flour.  Flour processing technology has just about eliminated the need for that now.  Most flour we buy today is presifted to get the hard pieces out.

Sifting flour also aerates it and makes it a little softer and fluffier.  I don't think it hurts at all to sift flour again, though.  After packaging, loading, shipping, unloading and stocking sacks of flour, it compacts.

The only thing you have to do is measure the flour before you sift it, unless the recipe states 1 cup sifted flour.  Then you would sift it first, then measure out 1 cup.  I put my measuring cup on a flexible cutting sheet, sift the flour into the cup then dump the extra back into to the flour bag.

With flour, dry mixes and cake mixes, I usually whisk it to get the lumps out and aerate it instead of sifting it.  I just find a whisk easier.  A whisk mixes dry ingredients into flour nicely, too. 

Hi,

 Thanks so much for sharing that info with me, and also for the recipe for making my own self-rising flour. Of all the years of my baking never had a recipe call for self-rising flour, but when it does I will have the recipe. Again my many thanks

You are very welcome, grandmasgirls!