Organic Plain White Flour

All-Purpose Flour
All-purpose flour is the most common type of flour sold. If ever a recipe calls simply for “flour” without providing any other descriptive terms, it is referring to all-purpose flour.

Conventional flour is made from grinding wheat until it produces a fine powder. All-purpose flour, specifically, is made using only the endosperm of the wheat grain, rather than the entire seed.

This increases the shelf-life of the flour, making it more shelf-stable than most other varieties.

It should range between 10–12% protein content, which is considered moderate.

All-purpose flour is a versatile, middle-ground flour that can be used for almost anything, though it may not be the best choice for absolutely everything.

It’s a great choice for standard baking purposes, such as pie crusts, quick bread, and cookies. But if a recipe calls for a specific type of flour, there is probably a reason for it and you should always try to follow recipes as closely as possible.

Plain Flour
All-purpose flour is the same as plain flour and can be used interchangeably in any recipe.

Plain flour is sometimes also called pastry flour, which is not technically true, though plain or all-purpose flour is very commonly and effectively used for baking pastries.

Now that you understand what all-purpose flour is, let’s look at a wide range of other types of flour to see how they compare.

Pastry Flour
Pastry flour, though often mistaken for plain or all-purpose flour, is different. It’s made with a variety of soft wheat that has a low-protein count, usually 8–9%.

The lower protein content helps pastries like pie crusts, biscuits, or cinnamon rolls to have a tender, fine crust.