Can I substitute bread flour for AP flour in banana bread recipe?
I have bread flour (King Arthur) at home all the time, but I don't usually have all-purpose flour, as bread is pretty much the only thing I bake from scratch. I want to make basic banana bread following this recipe. I have never made banana bread before.
Can I substitute bread flour for the all-purpose flour? I also have stone-ground whole-wheat flour that I use for chapatis. Would some mixture of whole-wheat and bread flour be a better substitute? The reviews for the banana bread recipe say that it results in a dense loaf, so would using bread flour make it even more dense and thereby unappetizing?
I don't particularly want to keep all-purpose flour on hand in addition to bread flour and whole wheat flour, as my pantry has tons of flours already; ten at last count. I searched online and on this site but the questions typically seem to be about subbing AP flour for bread flour, or using some other flour instead of wheat flour. I was unable to find anything specifically about using bread flour instead of AP flour.
Update I decided to risk replacing 1/3 cup of the bread flour with rice flour. I thought that since rice flour is lighter and has no gluten, it would offset the increased denseness caused by using a high-gluten flour. The banana bread turned out fine.
I have posted a follow-up question about using maida in combination with bread flour to create an all-purpose flour substitute.
Best Answer
With some precautions in your mixing method, you could substitute Bread Flour for AP Flour in Banana Bread. Mind you, it may make a stronger, more dense, more chewy banana bread than people expect--but it would still be pallatable, some may even prefer it.
As discussion here points out: the main concern in the substitution is the higher gluten of bread flour.
I checked the King Arthur website, found that this bread flour is 12.7% protein (gluten). According to this chart from Cooking for Geeks (I am not affiliated with the book) indicates, this is low-to-average for gluten in bread flours:
Not over-mixing is critical in this situation, since mixing forms gluten. I can't describe better than @Sam Ley did here. Sam makes a great point: you should be comfortable leaving some dry clumps in the batter.
Also, if tempted to sift the flour, I would hesitate. sifting the flour will increase powder surface area, which would facilitate more gluten formation.
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Can you substitute bread flour for all-purpose flour in banana bread?
So, can you substitute bread flour for all-purpose flour? The answer is \u2013 We answer with a confident \u201cYes\u201d when callers ask if they can use bread flour in place of all-purpose (or vice versa) in their bread recipes \u2013 in a pinch.Can I use bread flour in making banana bread?
It is not recommended that you use bread flour for baking banana breads, as it is more dense and heavy than banana bread is intended to be. If you prefer not to spend the extra money on cake flour, all-purpose flour is still a great option.Can I use bread flour instead of AP flour?
At 12- to 13-percent protein content, bread flour is stronger than all-purpose flour, but it can generally be substituted for all-purpose, and vice versa. However, it's important to remember that bread flour's increased protein could result in a dough or batter that's dry, so you may need to add water.Can I substitute bread flour for all-purpose flour in a cookie recipe?
The good news is that bread flour can substitute for all-purpose flour \u2014 depending on your cookie recipe. Simply swapping out the two types of flour, as is, can result in a chewier, more cake-like cookie rather than a crisp, snappy one.Can I use bread flour instead of all purpose flour for banana bread?
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