Lou (hawk307) - I live in Kansas - wheat country - and prefer flour from Kansas mills or mill my own. I find Hudson Cream Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (milled in Stafford Co., KS) one of the best, although I rarely use it now. KA/AP (13g protein) is unbleached. Being unbleached would put it in a better position than bleached National Brands (Gold Medal and Pillsbury 12+g protein) in my books. The information about protein levels is from CookWise by Shirley O. Corriher. The only use I've found for bleached flour is sprinkled in my garden to kill bugs. I wasn't all that impressed with KA/AP when I tried it years ago - mostly the price. Much of KA flour is milled in Kansas (in Topeka I believe). All their white whole wheat flour is milled in KS - I read a Kansas State University press release about that. It took until the last few years for them to buy shelf space in the grocery stores around here. We had lots of other excellent choices when it came to flour before high-priced KA. -Grainlady

lol, Gold. The Dr. has okayed me eating a few sweets. My numbers have been excellent. Except if I get sick they go up. Rose, here's a simple from scratch recipe for them which I'll try eventually. Have you never had one before? They are excellent! We get them for dessert at our favorite Mexican restaurant. The recipe below is c&p. Apparently it's the Baking Powder in them which makes them fluff up and be hollow in the center. "Sopaipillas are pretty quick and easy to make: for 20 to 30, depending on the size, sift together 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in 2 tablespoons shortening until mealy, work in 3/4 cup cold water to form a dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead until smooth. Roll out as thin as possible and cut int 2- or 3-inch squares. Drop one at a time into hot (370 degree F) deep oil. Cook until brown on one side, turn over. Drain on paper towels."

We've been gone on a little fall trip, so I hope you didn't think I was ignoring your post. Glad you were able to find some information. Here's my 2 cents... -Grainlady SPELT - the ancient form of the wheat we have today (fyi - kamut, is the ancient form of todays durum wheat). Spelt has enough gluten to make a fairly good loaf of bread, and is good as a substitute for all-purpose flour in most baked goods, especially things where low-gluten is beneficial, such as quick breads, cakes, cookies, etc. If making a loaf of 100% spelt bread, don't expect a nice lofty loaf of bread, like you would get with high-protein bread flour, unless you also add some vital wheat gluten. The gluten in spelt is much less than all-purpose (or other wheat flour). It has 5,000 parts per million; compared to wheat which begins at 50,000 per million and goes up. Therefore, it takes much less kneading (when making a yeast bread) to develop the gluten. Due to the reduced amount of gluten, you may need less hydration if you substitute spelt flour for all-purpose wheat flour. Spelt is also called dinkel. A good cookbook on the subject is "The Spelt Cookbook" by Helga Hughes. All kinds of useful recipes. I mill spelt berries and use spelt almost as much as I do wheat, but usually in combination with wheat flour for yeasted or naturally-leavened breads. You'll find spelt flour readily available at most well-stocked health food stores. You can usually find it in wholegrain and white spelt (the bran and the germ removed). There is also sprouted spelt flour, which makes it easier to digest - available from Summers Sprouted Flour Co. OAT FLOUR: can be milled from the whole grain (2/3 c. oat groats = approx. 1 c. oat flour), or you can mill your own from oatmeal. It can't be substituted 100% for all-purpose flour due to lack of gluten. To make your own ground oat flour (yield: approx. 1 cup): 1. Place 1-1/2 c. oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned, uncooked) in a blender or food processor. 2. Blend or process for about 60 seconds. 3. Store in tightly covered container in cool dry place up to six months (keeps best refrigerated or frozen). 4. Use for baking, bread, thickening or dredging and browning. When used in baking, substitute up to, but not more than, 1/3 of the all-purpose flour called for with oat flour. Oat flour has a slightly sweet taste, and the crumb of foods will be more moist and crumbly (due to lack of gluten). SORGHUM is a flour I've developed a number recipes with. We have a mill outside of town that mills sorghum, and I developed the recipes for a tour of the mill. Once again, it is gluten-free and will not substitute for all-purpose. You will often find it used in glute-free baking. Sorghum Flour Information A. Problems substituting gluten-free grains. - You may need to use additional ingredients to reduce dryness, increase volume and tenderness, and enhance flavor. - Sorghum Flour tends to be gritty, so use with a mixture of other textures, like oatmeal. You can also use a soaked flour technique. - Add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of corn starch to every cup of sorghum flour to improve smoothness and moisture retention. If you are allergic to corn, arrowroot flour can be used measure for measure where corn starch is used. Guar Gum, a binding agent, can be used in place of xanthan gum for corn sensitive individuals. Use HALF as much guar gum to replace xanthan gum. Guar gum contains fiber and can irritate very sensitive intestines. - Use xanthan gum as a binder and for moisture retention. Add 1/2 t. of xanthan gum per cup of sorghum flour for cookies and cakes; or 1 t. per cup for breads. [Xanthan gum helps to prevent gluten-free "goodies" from crumbling, a job normally performed by gluten. Xanthan comes from the dried cell coat of a microorganism called Zanthomonas capmestris. Though it sounds like a chemical, it is actually an all natural ingredient. Xanthan gum is derived from the fermentation of corn sugars, all corn sugars are removed in the processing os xanthan gum. Xanthan gum contains NO corn protein and is considered to be corn-free.] - Add a little extra oil or shortening if you feel your recipes are too dry. - Add an extra egg or egg white for improved smoothness and crumb structure. - Add a little extra baking powder and/or soda to boost rising properties. - Mix recipes longer. - Sorghum flour works well combined with other grain/seed/bean flours. It cuts the bitterness of bean flour. When using bean flour, the small white beans provide the least amount of "bean" flavor. It can't be substituted for all-purpose flour due to lack of gluten. ---------------- Nutella White Sorghum Flour Cookies 1/2 c. Nutella Chocolate Hazelnut Spread 1/2 c. butter 1/4 c. white sugar 1/4 c. brown sugar 1 egg 1/2 c. white sorghum flour 1/2 c. dried potato flakes 1/4 c. flaxmeal 1/2 T. cornstarch 1 t. baking powder 1 t. baking soda 1/2 t. salt Preheat oven to 325F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat Nutella and butter with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy. Beat in the egg just until mixed. In a medium bowl, combine the white sorghum flour, dried potato flakes, flaxmeal, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix, BY HAND, only until ingredients are incorporated. Using a portion scoop, make dough into 1-inch balls. Place on prepared cookie sheets. Bake about 12 minutes. Remove cookie sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to rest on the sheets for 2 minutes then remove to a wire rack to completely cool. (These cookies are very soft when they come out of the oven, but get crispy when completely cool.) Makes 65, 2-1/2 to 3 inch cookies. ------------------ Sorghum/Spelt Banana Bread 1 c. mashed banana 1/4 c. agave nectar (or honey) 1/2 c. kefir (OR plain yogurt, buttermilk, or milk) 3 T. coconut oil (or butter), melted 1 egg lightly beaten 1 c. white sorghum flour 1 c. white spelt flour (OR wholegrain spelt flour) 2 T. flaxmeal 1 T. cornstarch 2 t. baking powder 1/2 t. baking soda 1/2 t. salt 1/2 t. cinnamon 1. Mix liquid ingredients (including bananas) in a small bowl. 2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. 3. Make a well in center of dry mixture; add liquid ingredients, stirring until moistened. Do NOT use an electric mixer for this. 4. Spoon into two Junior loaf pans (7-1/2x3x2-1/4-inches) coated with cooking spray. 5. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 30-35 minutes or until a pick inserted in center comes out clean. 6. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a rack. 7. Yield: 2 small loaves, 13-14 slices each loaf. --------------- I have other recipes for cookies and one for brownies, if you are interested in them.

--Whole wheat pastry flour is milled from low-gluten, low-protein, soft wheat varieties. I use soft white wheat for pastry flour, or anywhere I don't need a lot of gluten development. Spelt is another good wholegrain choice when you don't need a lot of gluten development. Spelt has a gluten level that is 5,000 parts per million; compared to wheat which begins at 50,000 parts per million and go up from there. --Technically, "all-purpose" flour was developed commercially for bleached/unbleached flour from a mixture of hard wheat and soft wheat. There's enough hard wheat so it has enough gluten to make yeast breads, and enough soft wheat flour so it makes decent quick breads, pastry or cakes - so it covers "all purposes", but it's NOT the optimum choice of flour for most things, other than soft dinner rolls. We've just developed our flour use from the most common commercial flour available - all-purpose - with occasional moves to Southern all-purpose for biscuits and quick breads, and the even more elusive cake flour for beautiful tender cakes. Even in the world of commercial bleached/unbleached all-purpose flour there are great differences... Northern all-purpose flour (King Arthur and Robin Hood - 11-12) have a higher protein level than National Brands (Gold Medal and Pillsbury 10-12). Southern all-purpose flour (7.5-9.5) is milled from soft wheat, so it's best used for quick breads, biscuits, muffins, pastry, cookies, cakes - foods where you don't want a lot of gluten development. A mix of 3:2 hard wheat to soft white wheat is a great "all-purpose" mixture when you want soft yeast rolls. Otherwise, choosing a mix of hard wheat and soft wheat is less than optimum for other baked goods. --Whole wheat "bread" flour would mean a high protein level milled from hard wheat. Bleached/Unbleached bread flour has a protein level of 13-14. I've milled wheat that was 16% protein and made yeast bread with it, but it takes a lot more kneading to develop the gluten and you find you have tough bread as a result of the high protein level. This also happens when you add too much vital wheat gluten to a recipe, so more (protein/gluten) is not necessarily better. The protein levels of wheat I purchase is generally between 13% and 14% protein, which is more than enough to raise a lofty loaf of bread. If you tend to get short squatty loaves of 100% whole wheat bread, there are other factors you need to address besides protein/gluten levels - such as stop using a (quick mix) direct dough method and switch to a sponge method. A sponge will help soften the bran - the sharp edges of bran can cut the gluten strands. A sponge method also helps develop the gluten without kneading. Adding an acid ingredient (vinegar, lemon juice, ascorbic acid, etc) to the recipe has a positive effect. There is a substance in wheat germ called Gluthione which breaks down the gluten strands. Adding an acid, such as ascorbic acid, counteracts the negative effects of Glutathione. Ascorbic acid helps to prevent the gluten bonds from breaking down and will repair the gluten bonds, so you'll get a high-rising loaf of 100% whole wheat bread. I generally add 1/8 t. ascorbic acid per loaf of bread when making bread that includes wheatgerm (as a single ingredient or from whole wheat flour). -Something we tend to forget, or possibly didn't even know, hard wheat wasn't even available for milling until the late 1870's when the German Mennonites arrived here in Kansas and brought the granddad of all hard winter wheat varieties, Turkey Red, with them from Europe. Prior to the developing of the hard winter varieties of wheat, all flour was milled from soft wheat. The mills liked soft wheat for milling into flour because it was easy to grind in one pass through the mill, and had a much larger extraction of flour. Soft wheat tends to be a plumper seed with more endosperm, while hard winter wheat is small and rather wrinkled with more bran and less endosperm. You can tell the difference between hard and soft wheat when you mill it at home - the hard wheat flour is more coarse and gritty from the bran, while soft wheat renders a very soft, talcum powder feeling flour. --"Bread flour" or high protein flour milled from hard wheat, was available to commercial bakers and they referenced it by calling it "strong" wheat flour. Strong and weak wheats indicate a wheat or flour's baking strength. It wasn't until the advent of the bread machine in the 1980's that high-gluten bread flour became available for home use. Up until that time all-purpose flour, which is a medium-protein level flour, was about the only kind of flour available for home use. If "whole wheat bread flour" is called for, it means use a "regular" whole wheat flour which is milled from hard wheat, instead of "pastry" whole wheat flour, which is milled from soft wheat. -Grainlady