White Whole Wheat – A Healthy Surprise!

WHITE whole wheat flour?  You’ve gotta be kidding me!  I didn’t even know it existed until Mighty Foods posted a yummy looking recipe for Banana Blueberry Muffins using white whole wheat.  I was surprised I hadn’t heard about it before – and it sounded almost too good to be true!  Kind of like sugar-coated kale or something.

Apparently it’s been around for awhile – but it sure hasn’t made a splash in my grocery stores yet.  After all my carrying on about my kids’ aversion to whole wheat, I’m so excited to have a new healthy food trick up my sleeve!  It is well known that a diet high in whole grains is associated with a significantly lower risk of heart disease and stroke.  Studies have also shown that whole grains protect against diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

White whole wheat flour is milled from – you got it – white whole wheat.  It is naturally milder and sweeter tasting than traditional whole wheat which comes from red wheat kernels.  It has a much higher fiber content than all-purpose flour although not quite as high as regular whole wheat (3 grams per serving for white whole wheat vs. 4 grams in regular whole wheat).  It can be used straight up or substituted for part of the all-purpose flour in a recipe.  Who wouldn’t want to slip a little extra fiber and nutrients into their family’s food now and then?  Especially if they don’t notice!

So what’s the catch?  It does cost more than regular flour.  I paid $2.79 for King Arthur brand (5# bag) at Trader Joe’s and I saw Bob’s Red Mill for $3.99 at my local co-op.  Regular white flour is generally under $2.00.

I decided to try out a basic batch of chocolate chip cookies substituting white whole wheat for the all-purpose and see if the kids would notice.  They didn’t.  In fact, Drew gave my cookies a big thumbs up!  I tried it in cornbread too and while you could tell it wasn’t made with white flour, I really liked the slightly heavier texture and nutty flavor that it added.  And the kids ate it up so that was a double thumbs up from me!

So, if you’re like me and you like to bake – it’s a no-brainer to make the switch to WHITE whole wheat!