If I'm using flour but am NOT going to soak it . . .

[soliloquy72]

It's better to use white flour (unbleached, unbromated) right?

We're having MIL and FIL over on Sunday and MIL is uber picky/finicky. It's Pumpkin's 3rd birthday and I'm thinking of making the spice cake from Nourishing Traditions but I don't have time to make my own bulgar flour. I figure we're all just going to have a small piece and it's cake, after all, so it's not good for us anyway.

I made the carrot cake for Christmas and the poppy seed cake for her birthday party for my side of the family. They were both good but I want to try something different.

[Taedareth]

I'm pretty sure you can soak your white flour and it will become more digestable. Anybody else know?

[Cassandra M.]

Yep you can still soak the white flour and nuetralize the phytic acid by doing so. The only nutrition is what you will be adding, but you know that already.

If you are asking if unsoaked or unfermented white flour is better than whole wheat unsoaked or unfermented, I do remember Sally saying that, just because the whole wheat is even harder to digest...at least the white is broken down.

I think I awnsered your question...also, maybe someone else knows something I don't know.

[caedmyn]

I don't think there is much phytic acid left in white flour once it's been processed, so I'm not sure soaking would do anything. Besides, if you were going to soak, you could just use whole wheat pastry flour which is a lot healthier. IMO, unless you have digestive issues it's still better to use whole wheat flour (the kind that actually leaves all of the bran and germ in it, not typical WW flour) because it actually still contains some of the vitamins and minerals even though it also has phytic acid.

[NettleSongMama]

If phytic acid is in the bran, I don't see why you would soak the white flour.

I've been wondering a lot about this too lately.
Personally, just off my intuition, it seems like organic unbleached flour with the germ would be better than whole wheat (both being unsoaked)
Because with the white flour yeah, maybe there is no nutrition, but it can be paired with veggies, bone broths, etc i.e. other stuff with nutrition.....
The whole wheat if paired with stuff also, would offer that nutrition PLUS be mineral leaching in regards to phytates.

I'm starting to think that whole wheat soaked is optimal but when not possible, white organic with the germ is better.

(and hi Cass!!! )