baking with whole wheat flour

Denise,

Try substituting about half your white flour with whole wheat. Just use regular whole wheat flour. I really like King Arthur. Whole Wheat Pastry flour is the same as graham flour I think and its much more finely ground and has less protein.

I have heard that the gluten "strings" are cut by the sharp whole grains but I havent found it to be any big deal with half and half. Completely whole grain is very dense. I tend to add more water to make a stickier dough and that makes it easier for the yeast to do its work but harder for you to do your work :)

You cannot use pastry flour to make bread. Pastry flour is made from a soft wheat. When you buy whole wheat flour, make sure that you know whether it is pastry flour or not. White whole wheat is simply a different color of the wheat grain and is suitable for bread making. Adding vital wheat gluten to pastry flour will not make a satisfactory bread flour. I believe that you can substitute some whole wheat pastry flour when making brownies, cookies etc. You can substitute some whole wheat bread flour for white flour when making bread. You should be aware that whole wheat absorbs liquids differently than white flour. This will affect how much liquid you use in a recipe and the timing. Whole wheat loaves need not be dense, you just need to learn different techniques. There are specific recipes for whole wheat breads and other baked goods. Janet

I use a 30% bran whole wheat flour that our health food shop grinds itself. They also have 70% but that's a bit too dark for me. Anyway, the germ isn't included, so I'd still have to add that separately. With the 30%, I find its almost exactly the same as using regular white flour - same rising, same in cakes.