Self Rising Flour vs. All Purpose Flour (A Comparison!)

Have you ever wondered about self rising flour vs all purpose flour? Let's compare these two flours and explain which is best in your next recipe!

When it comes to baking and cooking, selecting the right type of flour is a crucial step in ensuring your delicious recipes turn out just the way you want them.

There are so many different types of flour that recipes call for. There's cake flour, bread flour, pastry flour, and whole wheat flour just to name a few. From Bisquick vs self rising flour to all purpose flour vs self rising flour, the baking aisle can be confusing!

Two commonly used flours in the kitchen are self-rising flour and all-purpose flour. Both are fantastic to make muffins, cookies, and even dinner rolls. Let's dive into the difference between the two!

What is All Purpose Flour?

If you look in your pantry, I'm sure you'll find a bag of bleached or unbleached all purpose flour. It's a pantry staple in many homes because it is so versatile and can make lots of different recipes!

All-purpose flour is a type of hard wheat flour that is versatile and commonly used in a variety of cooking and baking applications. It is commonly referred to as plain flour, regular flour, or white flour.

It is a blend of hard wheat and soft wheat varieties, which gives it a moderate protein content. The protein content typically ranges from 8% to 12%, making it a great in recipes like pie crusts, pizza dough, and banana blueberry muffins.

What is Self Rising Flour?

Self-rising flour (often called self-raising flour) is a type of flour that comes with the raising agents built-in. That means that the baking powder and salt are already mixed in. Basically, it's like an all-in-one package – flour with a little extra help to make your baked goods rise.

First thing you've got is a flour base. Like any other flour, it starts with a base of wheat flour, usually unbleached all-purpose flour.

Next, we've got baking powder. This is the magic ingredient that helps your baked goods puff up and become light and fluffy. Have you ever wondered how baking powder works? Baking powder is a leavening agent that produces carbon dioxide gas when it reacts with moisture and heat, causing your dough or batter to rise.

Finally, we need some salt. A touch of salt is added for flavor. When recipes use self-rising flour, they rarely have any extra salt added to the recipe.

With self-rising flour, you get the convenience of not having to measure and mix in these extra ingredients separately.

How To Make Homemade Self-Rising Flour

Self rising flour is really easy to make at home and keep in your pantry. Of course, you can buy a bag at the grocery store too. It's in the baking aisle with all the other flours and cake mixes.

For every one cup of flour, use 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon of salt.

Can You Substitute All Purpose Flour for Self Rising Flour?

The answer is yes, but with a few things to think about before you substitute them. If a recipe calls for self-rising flour and you only have all-purpose flour on hand, you can make your own self-rising flour by adding baking powder and salt.

Likewise, if a recipe calls for all-purpose flour and you only have self-rising flour, you can use it, but reduce or eliminate additional baking powder and salt.

Make sure not to add more salt to self rising flour. It will become too salty and almost inedible. You also do not want to use self-rising flour in recipes that call for yeast. Since the rising agents are already in the flour, you don't need to add yeast.

How To Use All Purpose Flour

All purpose flour is great in most recipes and to add to sauces and soups as a thickening agent. It is often used in quick breads, cookies, and waffles.

You can make carrot cake muffins, almond milk pancakes, and sweet potato cornbread.

All purpose flour to great to thicken recipes too like in Instant Pot broccoli cheddar soup and New England clam chowder.

How To Use Self Rising Flour

Self-rising flour is a great choice for banana bread with self rising flour, 3 ingredient dinner rolls, pancakes with self rising flour, banana muffins with self rising flour, and waffles with self rising flour along with other recipes where you want to create a light and fluffy texture.

Since the leavening agents are already in the bag of self rising flour, you don't need to add the baking powder, baking soda, or salt to the recipe.

Storage Tips

There is always a bag of self-rising flour in my pantry! I love to bake with it! Both self-rising and all-purpose flours should be kept in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight and moisture. The most important thing to remember is to store them in an airtight container or in a gallon Ziploc bag. Flour can often have bugs in it if it is not stored properly.

Believe it or not you can also freeze flour! Place either of the flours in gallon sized Ziploc bag or freezer safe bags. Make sure to label the bags and then freeze the flour for up to 6 months. Sometimes you can even freeze the flour for longer!

Self Rising Flour vs. All Purpose Flour FAQs

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