Why I still use white flour

As I continuously learn more about healthy eating and make changes in the way I shop for food and prepare meals, I'm still buying and baking with white flour. This might seem a little odd to some, since I do strive to eat as clean as possible most days.

I love bread and most of the bread I eat is made with whole wheat or whole grains. I rarely eat white bread. But certain breakfast foods just need biscuits, and I still make them, occasionally.

There is much to read about why white flour should be avoided, and I have read many of those articles. I have also tried following very restrictive diets and failed. For me, the key is moderation or limitation.

For many years, I have used White Lily flour. When I learned about the possible harmful effects of potassium bromate, used as dough conditioner in some flour and breads, I checked and White Lily uses absorbic acid as a dough conditioner. That was good to know. I really like this flour. It's made from a winter wheat and has a softer texture. I even like the analogy of this winter-grown wheat becoming softer, just as the winter seasons of life can make us softer.

Most of my uses for white flour are in baking cookies, biscuits and scones and pizza dough. I don't like pizza dough made exclusively from whole wheat flour, but I will add a cup of whole wheat to the white flour. Not always though, because I really like pizza dough from white flour.

Another reason I'm not that concerned about the white flour in my baking is because when you consider that a cup of flour contains about 125 grams and that a medium-sized cookie has about 3 grams of flour...well that seems like moderation to me. A slice of pizza could have 35-40 grams, but I don't eat pizza everyday or every week.

Anyway, I just felt like I needed to speak to this in case anyone was wondering why so many of my recipes call for white flour.

# # #