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I need to know if my mother in-law was right.

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posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 06:16 PM
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Ok. My wife works at a high end jewelry store and they are closing early today to do inventory.

Tomorrow they are closed and are going to finish the (unenviable) job.

She wants to make cookies as everyone is bringing something.

I went by the recipe on the back of Nestle milk chocolate morsels.

It called for FLOUR.

We are at her parents house for the weekend so I bought all of the ingredients specified in the recipe.

I swear to the Big guy upstairs I didn't know that there were two different kinds of flour.

Bleached and un-bleached.

Of course I bought the un-bleached. The recipe does not call for either specifically.

And of course my mother in-law pointed out that I bought in-bleached flour.

"Does it matter"? I asked

"I'm not sure" she replied.

Damn it!

I didn't want to call Ellen so I hauled my butt up to the store and bought "bleached" flour.

So, I ask you ATS'ers who bake.

Did I make the right call?

She pointed it out by pure passive aggressiveness like she always does.

I just want some peace of mind.



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 06:23 PM
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I don't know, but I use the back of package recipe and bake with a 50/50 mix of standard flour and whole wheat flour and you can't tell the difference. We always get compliments on our cookies.

I have tried 100% whole wheat and it changes the texture.

If you can go 50/50 with no differences, then I don't see what difference bleached/unbleached is going to make.



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 06:23 PM
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a reply to: Spader
I looked this up for you and from what I saw, bleached flour has finer grains and makes baked products such as pastries and cookies fluffier. The texture is much better, in other words. Your best bet is to go with the bleached flour. I hope this helps.



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 06:26 PM
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a reply to: Skid Mark

Still not sure it will make a huge difference in a cookie. Cookies aren't fluffy like a cake or bread would be.

Of course, that depends on the texture of the cookie you are making.



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 06:31 PM
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a reply to: Spader
Not wanting to worry you- but does American flour also have the difference between what we call "plain" and "self-raising"? In the latter case, the raising agent is already mixed in, making it appropriate for cakes and scones etc.



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 06:32 PM
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I'm not sure, but in Aus we have Plain Flour and Self Raising Flour... Self Raising is what I use, though I could also use Plain with a smidge of baking power.

I just had a quick google, and I found this:

"All purpose, bleached and unbleached flour can all be used interchangeably. The main difference is that unbleached flour has slightly more nutrients in it then the others. All purpose flour is what is used mostly in baking. For a beginner cook use all purpose flour unless the recipe states otherwise."

"Unbleached and bleached flour can be used interchangeably in recipes, to achieve similar products. However, their chemical content (and affect upon health) is a different issue."



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 06:47 PM
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a reply to: DISRAELI

What you call "self-raising" flour is what we call cake flour in America. it has baking soda mixed into it.



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 06:52 PM
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a reply to: Skid Mark
Thank you Skid Mark.
She was correct.
No matter how much it pains me.

But I will tell her she was right because a friend of mine named Skid Mark advised me on the matter.

Jeez. I'm going straight to hell




edit on 2-4-2016 by Spader because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 07:16 PM
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a reply to: Spader

To me the operative words would be "All Purpose" flour. It contains bleached wheat flour and malted barley flour. It's a product of Gold Medal and is the only flour my mother and I have ever used simply because it lives up to its name...All Purpose. Unless you'd choose based on a particular dietary issue I'd say you were right. Plus, wouldn't the "proof" be in the cookie? How'd they turn out?! I bet they were great!!



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 07:16 PM
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a reply to: Spader

I've never noticed a difference in flours, I usually get the unbleached just because it sounds more natural.
All my baking turns out way too good (I'm trying to lose 10 lbs)

That said, I don't think it's possible to screw up chocolate chip cookies



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 08:25 PM
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I do laundry with bleach, not my food.

The less processed the better for you, plain and simple.
Heres one of my favorites. just supplant crisco with 8 oz. (two sticks or one cup) of butter.

Chewy chocolate chips cookies. Don't over cook them or they will become hard. Just slightly brown around the edge of the bottom.

recipe link



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 09:39 PM
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a reply to: Spader
It takes a big man to swallow his pride and admit he was wrong. I know, I've had to do it quite a lot.



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 09:42 PM
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a reply to: intrptr

It's about knowing your oven.

I always use a tablespoon to scoop dough, and my oven cooks hot. So I set it about 25 degrees cooler than the recipe. If I do those two things, a tray of cookies should cook for almost 8 min exactly to reach the perfect doneness - just golden brown on the bottom.

When my oven breaks, the break-in period is gonna be rough.



posted on Apr, 2 2016 @ 11:15 PM
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Unbleached is fine. Different brands of flours have different properties though. King Midas is different from Pillsbury and Dakota Maid is different than either of those. The amounts of liquids needed is sometimes different and when making pasties, the amount of water needed for the dough is sometimes different to make the crust roll right.

Cookies don't vary that much though, but the dough could be a little different because of the eggs.

There are spring wheat, summer wheat, and winter wheat blends and that has a lot to do with use of the flour and different brands are different mixes. If you do a lot of cooking, you get used to the flour and make little adaptations to the recipes. My mother was a midas baker and my aunt was a pillsbury baker, they knew how to adapt the recipes. They are both dead now as is their knowledge of how to adapt them.



posted on Apr, 3 2016 @ 12:27 AM
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for the sake of cookies....no, it does not matter.

for the sake of a cake, or pancakes, or biscuits....yes, it'll matter.



posted on Apr, 3 2016 @ 06:57 AM
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a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Yes! That 50/50 mix isn't so good for baking light and fluffy cakes or breads. We use cake flour for that.

But a cookie or browning or anything else that doesn't depend on being nice, light and fluffy ... the flour isn't so important in its texture.

Then we can also get into what happens when you are letting your butter soften and you accidentally melt it instead ...



posted on Apr, 3 2016 @ 07:02 AM
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For cookies you want a lower protein flour.



posted on Apr, 3 2016 @ 09:23 AM
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a reply to: ketsuko

Another brown belt in cookie baking. Attention to detail for "the perfect doneness".



posted on Apr, 3 2016 @ 09:23 PM
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Never use bleached. Unless you like unhealthy chemical filled food.



posted on Apr, 4 2016 @ 03:15 PM
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originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Skid Mark

Still not sure it will make a huge difference in a cookie. Cookies aren't fluffy like a cake or bread would be.

Of course, that depends on the texture of the cookie you are making.


I always used unbleached flour for cookies.
TBH....it's healthier...and I doubt most could tell the difference.




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