flour
A soft powder made by grinding wheat or other plants, used to make bread, cakes, and many other foods.
A fine, usually white or brown powder made by grinding wheat or other grains, nuts, or roots, used especially for baking bread, cakes, and other foods.
To put a thin layer of flour on food or on a surface before you cook or bake.
To lightly cover food or a surface with flour, usually to prepare it for cooking or baking.
- Base: flour
- Plural: flour
- Base: flour
- 3rd Person Singular: flours
- Present Participle: flouring
- Past: floured
all-purpose flour
1versatile wheat flour for general use
A common type of wheat flour that you can use for many kinds of cooking and baking, like bread, cakes, and cookies.
- The recipe calls for two cups of all-purpose flour.
- If you don’t have bread flour, you can usually use all-purpose flour instead.
- Most home bakers keep all-purpose flour in their kitchen.
bread flour
1high-protein flour for bread
Flour with more protein than all-purpose flour, used mainly for baking bread to make it chewy and strong.
- Use bread flour if you want a chewier pizza crust.
- The bakery orders bread flour in large 25-kilo bags.
- You can replace bread flour with all-purpose flour, but the loaf may be softer.
plain flour
1white wheat flour with no raising agent
White wheat flour with nothing added to make it rise, used especially in British English for general baking and cooking.
- In the UK, many cake recipes use plain flour plus baking powder.
- You can thicken the sauce with a spoonful of plain flour.
- She bought a big bag of plain flour for baking biscuits.
self-raising flour
1flour pre-mixed with raising agent
Flour that already has baking powder (or a similar chemical) mixed into it, so it rises by itself when you bake.
- Use self-raising flour if you want your sponge cake to be light and fluffy.
- The recipe says you can replace plain flour and baking powder with self-raising flour.
- We only had self-raising flour, so we left out the baking powder.
self-rising flour
1US term for flour with leavening
An American English term for flour that already has baking powder (or similar) mixed in, so it rises when you bake.
- Southern recipes for biscuits often use self-rising flour.
- If you only have self-rising flour, do not add extra baking powder.
- She substituted self-rising flour for the plain flour and baking powder in the recipe.
whole wheat flour
1flour from whole wheat grain
Flour made from the whole wheat grain, including the outer parts, usually brown and considered healthier than white flour.
- She prefers to bake bread with whole wheat flour.
- The recipe suggests mixing whole wheat flour with white flour for a softer texture.
- Whole wheat flour gives the muffins a nutty flavor.