Fresh flour recipe conversions
How to adapt recipes to freshly milled flour
Yes, you can keep your family favorites. Fresh flour is still flour; it just behaves a little differently. Here’s how to convert recipes with Unsifted® Blends, from simple 1:1 swaps to tips for breads, pastries and sticky dough.
Quick answer
Fresh flour substitution in 6 steps
- Start with a 1:1 swap of fresh flour for the flour in your recipe, then adjust from there.
- Use Basic Blend for yeasted breads and Dessert Blend for desserts, breakfasts and pastries.
- Breads: try about 20–30% less fresh flour (roughly 3–7 Tbsp less per cup).
- Pastries and desserts: add about 1/4 cup more Dessert Blend flour per cup of all-purpose flour.
- Fresh flour is thirstier. Change the flour or the water, one at a time.
- Let sticky dough rest 6–8 minutes before adding more flour.
The same, but a little different
Why fresh flour bakes a little differently
When you mill at home, the whole wheat berry goes into the mill and the whole wheat berry comes out. That means your flour still has the bran and the germ, which are usually removed from the flour you find at the store.
It’s just flour at its core. But the bran, the natural oils and the active enzymes mean the baking process can vary slightly. We believe the nutritional difference between store-bought flour and home-milled flour is worth it, and we’ve spent so long thinking bread was the problem when the processing of flour is the real issue.
Fresh flour from Unsifted® Blends can replace the flour you use for anything in your home. No need to keep a small stash of conventional all-purpose flour “just in case.”
Can I still use my family favorite recipes?
Yes! Start with a 1:1 swap, then adjust
The bran and germ usually mean only slight changes to a recipe’s ratios. When you’re starting out, we recommend a 1:1 replacement with flour from our Unsifted® Blends, then adjusting from there. Breads usually need a little less fresh flour, and pastries usually need a little more. No need to stress. The nutrition is worth any imperfections while you learn what works best for you!
We blend specific grain varieties for exceptional flavor, nutritional diversity and premium baking performance. Choose the blend that matches what you’re making:
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Unsifted® Basic Blend
Bread flour · about 13% protein
Basic Blend mills into a delicious high protein bread flour; great for bagels, cinnamon rolls, pasta, pizza, pretzels, and other yeasted breads.
Use it for sandwich bread, artisan bread, hamburger buns and any recipe that calls for hard wheat (such as hard red, hard white, Kamut or durum). It’s comparable to a store-bought bread flour.
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Unsifted® Dessert Blend
Pastry flour · about 9.5% protein
Dessert Blend mills into a mild, fluffy pastry flour; perfect for cookies, cakes, brownies, pie crust, biscuits, pancakes, and more.
Use it for desserts, breakfasts and other pastries that call for all-purpose flour.
How much grain should I mill?
Using the WonderMill®, here’s roughly how much freshly milled flour you get from 1 cup of grain:
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“Bread” setting
1½ cups
of flour from 1 cup of grain
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“Pastry” setting
1¾ cups
of flour from 1 cup of grain
Want easy recipes right away?
Fresh flour recipes made for home milling
Our tried and true recipes are written for anyone new to fresh flour, so you can start using nutritious flour right away. Each one includes step-by-step instructions for easy home milling and fresh flour baking, pro tips and more. Some of our recipes are free!
Prefer hardcopy? Our Unsifted® Recipe Cards list the exact amount of grain to mill instead of flour, so there’s no math and you never have to measure flour. They’re printed on premium cardstock in large print for easy reading, with variations on the back of each card. Build your own fresh flour cookbook!
Prefer digital? Every recipe is also in the Unsifted® App.
Two kinds of home cooks
How to convert recipes to fresh flour: which one sounds like you?
Not everyone fits neatly into one of these, but they help organize the tips. Have some fun with it!
Person A
The Rule Follower/ Convenience Pro
New to milling (or to baking!), loves step-by-step instructions and doesn’t have time to tinker with ratios.
If you’re looking for tried and true recipes to easily bring whole grains into your routine, this is you. Hello to all our fellow rule followers out there!
Start with recipes written for fresh flour
We recommend using Unsifted® recipes to build your confidence. They’re tailored to fresh flour and organized with step-by-step instructions, pro tips and recommendations, plus variations (with suggested measurements!) for each recipe. Some of our recipes are free to try.
There are lots of recipes online too. Just search for “fresh flour,” “freshly milled flour,” “wholemeal” or “whole grain flour.”
Using Unsifted® flour in a conventional recipe
- Mill about 1 cup of grain for every 1½ cups of flour on the WonderMill® “Bread” setting, or 1¾ cups on “Pastry.”
- Use Basic Blend for breads, buns, cinnamon rolls, muffins and any recipe calling for hard wheat.
- Use Dessert Blend for desserts, breakfasts, pie crust, biscuits and other pastries.
Our Unsifted® Recipe Cards make all of this simple. They list the grain to mill, not the flour, so you’ll never level a cup of flour with a butter knife again!
Welcome, Rule Follower! We’re so glad you’re here. Thanks for trusting us to come alongside you on this delicious journey.
Person B
The Kitchen Adventurer
Has a pile of all-purpose flour recipes too tasty and too sentimental to leave behind.
You want to venture off the recipe path and create magic of your own with fresh flour. You like experimenting and just want a little help knowing where to start.
In our experience, there’s no magic conversion. Fats and textures vary from recipe to recipe. Start with the basics above, then use these tips as you go.
6 tips to convert your recipes to freshly milled flour
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1
Chill warm fresh flour for pastries
Fresh flour is warm right after milling. For pastries, set your flour canister in the fridge for a while so the flour is cool when you cut in the butter.
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2
Adjust the amount of fresh flour
For breads, a good rule of thumb is 20–30% less fresh flour than the conventional flour the recipe calls for. That’s roughly 3–7 Tbsp less fresh flour per cup. So much of this is personal preference, so enjoy the ride! We often find quick breads need little or no adjusting; it’s mostly yeasted breads.
For pastries and desserts that call for all-purpose flour, increase your Dessert Blend flour by about 1/4 cup for every cup of all-purpose or hard wheat flour in the recipe.
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3
Fresh flour is thirstier than conventional flour
It absorbs considerably more water, so after the flour, the next thing to adjust is often the water. Change the flour or the water first (one at a time), since the two are connected.
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4
Fresh flour has more natural oils from the germ
Adjust the flour first. If the texture is still off or a little oily, try reducing the oil or fat in your recipe to account for the vitamin E and other oils in the germ. Most recipes don’t need this; it’s mainly for delicate cakes and pastries.
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5
Fermentation happens faster
The nutrients in the bran and germ “feed” the yeast. Keep an eye on rise times, especially with sourdough starter, and adjust feeding times as needed.
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6
Let your dough rest
The bran in fresh flour takes longer to soak up liquid. If your dough seems too sticky or too thin, let it rest and come back to it. Gluten usually needs about six to eight minutes to hydrate. Err on the wet side; a wetter dough makes a better crumb. Fresh flour doughs may look and feel a little different, but you’ll get the hang of it in no time!
Welcome, Adventurer! We’d love to learn from you too. Share your conversions with us in The Unsifted Collective, our Facebook community.
Want more? Our Modern Milling Pro Tips go deeper on milling and baking with fresh flour.
FAQ
Fresh flour conversion questions
Can I substitute fresh flour for all-purpose flour in any recipe?
Yes. Unsifted® Blends make flour, so fresh flour can replace the flour in your recipes. Start with a 1:1 swap and adjust from there. Use Basic Blend for yeasted breads and Dessert Blend for desserts, breakfasts and pastries.
How much less fresh flour should I use in bread recipes?
As a rule of thumb, use about 20–30% less fresh flour than the conventional flour called for, or roughly 3–7 Tbsp less per cup. Quick breads often need little or no adjusting.
How do I convert a dessert recipe that calls for all-purpose flour?
Use Dessert Blend and increase the flour by about 1/4 cup for every cup of all-purpose flour the recipe calls for. For pastries, chill the warm fresh flour before cutting in the butter.
How much flour does 1 cup of grain make in the WonderMill®?
On the “Bread” setting, 1 cup of grain makes roughly 1 1/2 cups of freshly milled flour. On the “Pastry” setting, it makes roughly 1 3/4 cups.
Why is my fresh flour dough so sticky?
The bran in fresh flour takes longer to absorb liquid. Let the dough rest about six to eight minutes before adding more flour, and err on the wet side for a better crumb.
More questions? Visit our FAQ page.
You’ve got this
Fresh flour doughs may look and feel a little different at first. Give yourself grace while you learn what works for your family.
Cheering you on,
Sarah & Keira