Whole Wheat—in Disguise

If you want your family to start eating foods made from wheat flour, you may have to reeducate their taste buds. Most of the foods our society prepares for us are made from white flour, so it is normal to think of whole-wheat flour as tasting “a little funny.” Since your family is more likely to accept whole wheat if you ease it into their diet gradually, try some of the following cooking tricks.

Start by using whole-wheat flour in desserts. After all, who can turn down a cookie? Then move on to other recipes your family likes. The transition is easier when foods are not totally unfamiliar. Don’t feel that you have to use all whole-wheat flour in a recipe, either. Using half white and half whole-wheat flour gives excellent results in most baked goods. If your family is extra fussy, include one tablespoon of whole-wheat flour in each cup (eight ounces; four ounces, British measure) of white flour, then increase the amount each time you make the recipe.

Since whole-wheat flour is brown in color, it is less noticeable when you use it in recipes with brown sugar, molasses, chocolate, or fruit or vegetables (bananas, applesauce, carrots, or zucchini).

Whole-wheat flour is heavier than white flour, so to make sure foods maintain their normal textures, you’ll need to increase the leavening (baking powder and yeast) in a recipe when you substitute whole-wheat flour for white. In yeast breads, use half again as much yeast and allow the dough to rise a little longer.

In recipes that use baking powder, increase baking powder by one teaspoon for each three cups (twenty-four ounces; twelve ounces, British) of flour. Recipes using baking soda need not be adjusted.

For baked goods that use eggs, separate the eggs, stir yolks in with ingredients, beat whites until stiff, then fold whites into batter just before baking. For extra lightness, add an extra whipped egg white.—Rosalie Farnbach, San Diego, California