Reg wrote:

> The reason your baked good came out differently is probably because
> the main difference between bleached and unbleached in terms of
> baking performance is that bleached generally has a lower protein
> content, which effects the result.
>
> It varies by brand, but protein content (from highest to
> lowest) normally looks like this:
>
> Bread flour
> Unbleached all purpose
> Bleached all purpose
> Cake flour
>
> Bleached AP is almost always lower in protein than unbleached AP.
>
> Using a flour with lower than expected protein content would
> normally produce a wetter dough or batter because lower protein
> flour results in less water absorption (protein absorbs water).
>
> Is that what you experienced?


Hard to say. In this household, flour gets used for waffles, brownies,
cookies, muffins, crepes, and less often, for cakes, and yeast bread. I
like to experiment with adding a little whole wheat flour or oat flour
to the mix for some of those. For white flour, I generally buy any
brand of unbleached all purpose. When one 5# bag runs out, I replace it
with another, whichever brand is at the store. As I said, I've never
done a side-by-side test, but what you say makes sense even if I can't
point to a specific time I noticed less water absorption. Thanks for
this answer.


--Lia