If you don’t have room in the pantry or just don’t feel like buying a whole bag of self-rising flour, here’s how to make self-rising flour. Also, here’s a link to the biscuits in the photo. They are made with White Lily self-rising flour, but you can use the self-rising flour substitute if you don’t have White Lily.
Weekend Tip: How to Make Self-Rising Flour and Cake Flour
Self-Rising Flour and Cake Flour Substitute
Ingredients
Self-Rising Flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Cake Flour
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour minus 2 Tablespoons **plus**
- 2 Tablespoons of Cornstarch
Instructions
- To make self-rising flour, mix 1 cup all-purpose flour with 1 1/4 teaspoons baking power and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Total weight of 1 cup should be 4.5 oz.
- To make cake flour, take one cup of cake flour and discard 2 tablespoons so that you have 1 cup cake flour minus 2 tablespoons. Replace the two tablespoons of missing flour with cornstarch. The total weight of the 1 cup should now be 4 oz.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Anna
Pat, do you have a kitchen scale? If so, try using the formula written above, but subsitute 135 grams/4.5 oz of wheat flour. The reason I’m suggesting a scale is because whole wheat flour has a different weight per volume than all purpose. I suspect different brands of wheat flour have different weights, so the only way to really match the standard amount for all purpose is by weight.
If you don’t want to deal with a scale, just use a full cup of whole wheat flour, but slightly more baking powder and salt. I’d go with 1 cup wheat flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and about 1/4 teaspoon salt.
If you are looking for a good beer bread that uses wheat flour, here’s a recipe that’s supposed to be good. I’ve never made it, but I’ve eaten at Salt Grass plenty of times and have always liked their bread.
http://www.recipegoldmine.com/ccs/saltgrass-bock-beer-bread.html
Pat
Has anyone ever made beer bread with wheat flour. I would also like to know the conversion for self-rising wheat flour.
Anna
Glad this tip was useful. I think I’ll do a tip every weekend. I already have next weekend’s tip lined up….
Bryan
Great tip. I was just stressing about having to go out and get cake flour and self-rising flour! You’re basically a life saver.
Tracy
Great tip! I have almost a 5-lb bag of self-rising flour in the cupboard and I’m trying to figure out what to do with it all. When I get rid of it I’ll turn to making my own.
Danielle
I wish I would have known these conversions before I bought both SR and Cake flour! Now that I have both of them, what can I do with the remainder? The beer bread is a good idea. Are these flours interchangeable with recipes that call for all-purpose flour?
Carol
Wow, this is great! Thanks for both of the formulas. I don’t need to have big quantities of either, so it will be nice to make my own as needed. Plus, I really like to use organic and unbleached flour, and I buy in bulk from my local store. So this is perfect for me.
Anna, I love Shiner Bock! Thanks for reminding of it. I’ve never made bread, but I may make Chris’s beer bread, that sounds easy and delicious.
Love this blog…
Anna
Stephanie, thanks for the formula. I think I will copy and paste it up to the main post.
As for our stores, all of them carry cake flour. Swan’s Down and H.E.B.’s new pastry and cake flour are two that I can think of. However, I don’t always remember to buy the specialty flours and end up having to make last minute substitutions.
I might make Chris’s beer bread today, but have to wait until later in the day to buy beer. We can’t purchanse beer in Texas until after noon on Sundays.
Stephanie
Oh this IS a good one, I do this all the time – none of the supermarkets in my area stock Self Rising flour!!! Also, do the supermarkets in your neck of the woods keep cake flour on their shelves? They don’t in Central FLorida, so I found out that: 1 C All Purpose Flour – 2 Tablespoons a.p. flour + 2 Tablespoons of Cornstarch = 1 C cake flour. Did you know about this one?
Anna
I decided to post this for safekeeping. I am always forgetting the recipe for self-rising flour and a lot of British recipes call for it.
Chris, I almost made beer bread today. However, I only make it with Shiner Bock — a Texas beer. I didn’t have any Shiner so I didn’t make it.
Chris C-L
My favorite self-rising flour recipe is beer bread. Just use 2 cups of self-rising flour, a can or bottle of beer, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Mix until just combined. Put in a well sprayed bread pan. Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter and pour over the top. Bake at 375 for 45-55 minutes. Toss in a hand full of shredded sharp cheddar cheese for a really yummy treat. I used to spend lots of money on beer bread mixes until I found this recipe. Enjoy! You can also put the dry ingredients in a decorative bag, attach the instructions, and give as a gift.
Cakespy
Ooh, this is a good tip–I am bookmarking this one!
RecipeGirl
This is a great tip! Tucked away.. thank you!