What are All the Dry Baking Ingredients: 6 Basic Ingredients

Yomabasi8
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Just like cooking, baking requires different ingredients to bring out the best results. It is very essential to know all the dry baking ingredients need for baking.

You should know that each baking ingredient plays a vital role in baking and knowing the function of a particular ingredient is very important.

Let’s have a look at all the dry baking ingredients you should know.

What are All the Dry Baking Ingredients: 6 Basic Ingredients 1
Photo by Billberryphotography from Unlimphotos

1. What is a Dry Ingredient?

A dry ingredient is a type of ingredient used for baking. They basically provide the feel, the formation, and the ability to absorb moisture and at the same time, contribute to the appearance of your baked food. Dry ingredients include cocoa powder, flour, spices, and chemical leaveners.

2. Basic Dry Ingredients

The basic baking ingredients you should know are as follows;

2.1. Flour

All-purpose flour as its name implies is a type of flour used for any kind of baking. Every pantry should have this flour in it as it has to create anything.

Whether you want to make pancakes, cookies, bread, or muffins, you wouldn’t have to worry yourself if the flour is seated right in your pantry.

It is made from a combination of low-gluten soft wheat and hi-gluten hard wheat. The process of bleaching this flour has a great effect on both the color and the pH of the flour.

You should know that all-purpose flour can be bleached and unbleached, making the bleached flour more acidic. The one found in North America has about 10% of protein which depends on the type of grain used.

2.1.1. Cake Flour

This is a finer flour that has a high concentration of starch and low protein. Cake flour is basically used in baking cakes with softer crumbs with less gluten.

The percentage of protein contained in cake flour is 7 to 9%. This however depends on the brand.

2.1.2. Whole Wheat Flour

Whole wheat flour is processed by grinding whole grain and can be used to replace all-purpose flour in a baking recipe. Whole wheat flour has more fiber than regular flour which boosts the nutritional profile of the flour.

2.1.3. Bread Flour

The bread flour has more protein content than regular flour. It also has more gluten which is suitable for baking yeast bread. When there is no gluten and high protein content in your flour, the bread will not rise as it should.

2.1.4. Pastry Flour

When it comes to baking flour, pastry flour sits between all-purpose and cake flour. It has more protein than cake flour but less protein than all-purpose flour and it is best to use when making tender pie crust.

2.1.5. Cornstarch

Cornstarch is a fine ground flour that is used to thicken sauces and for filling up pies. Follow these steps if you want to use cornstarch in baking;

  • To make a sauce thick, mix cornstarch with cold water to make a slurry. The slurry should be added to the sauce to thicken.
  • When making pie crust, mix cornstarch with cold water to form a paste. This will help hold the ingredients together.

Since cornstarch has the ability to neutralize hard proteins in flour, it is an essential ingredient in baking.

2.1.6. Self-raising Flour

This is one of the most popular flour mixes you can find in stores. When baking with self-raising flour, you do not need to add any salt or baking powder because it comes with salt and baking powder already added to it.

Follow these steps to prepare your own self-raising flour;

  • Mix a cup of all-purpose flour together with 11/2 teaspoons of baking powder.
  • Add 1/4 teaspoon of table salt to make one cup of self-rising flour.

2.1.7. Oat Flour

Oat flour is made from finely grinding oats in a food processor. This is an alternative flour that is not regularly used in baking. It is recommended to buy in smaller quantities.

How to Store Flour

You should store flour in an air-tight container and keep it on a dark shelf or in the fridge. You should also label them with the date you purchased them, the expiry date, and the date you opened them.

Since whole grain flours contain more wheat, they spoil faster than all-purpose flour. They should be stored in a fridge to avoid spoilage. You can also follow the storage instructions from the manufacturers to extend the shelf life.

2.2. Leavening Agents

These are mixed with baking recipes to make the baked products rise. Examples of leavening agents are yeast, baking powder, and baking soda.

Basically, they expand the crumb of your baked product, forming gas bubbles. Leavening agents can be classified into chemical and biological leaveners.

2.2.1. Baking Powder

This is a chemical leavener that is a combination of ingredients like; cornstarch, baking soda, acidic ingredients, and other kinds of starch which helps to keep the mixture dry.

You don’t need to add any special ingredient for a baking powder to carry out its function. You just have to hydrate it like, by mixing it in a cake batter, and when this is done, the baking powder reacts accordingly. It puffs up your baked product by releasing carbon dioxide.

2.2.2. Baking Soda

This is sodium bicarbonate with a pH above 7. It is also a great source of carbon dioxide gas that helps your bread, cookies, and any other baked products to rise.

When baking with baking soda, you do not need to add yeast. This is because its combination with buttered milk is enough to replace yeast when baking.

These leaveners should be stored and sealed in a cool dry place.

2.2.3. Yeast

Dry yeast is a single-cell organism that is used for baking bread. Yeasts generate carbon dioxide gas when hydrated which helps baked products like bread, cake, and cookies to rise. This yeast is of two types; active and instant dry yeast, respectively.

Before you make use of the active yeast, you must first dissolve it before adding it to the baking recipe. You can do this by mixing with warm water and a pinch of salt.

On the other hand, instant yeast is faster than active yeast. It doesn’t need to be dissolved before making use of it. This type of yeast is used when baking bread with a bread machine.

2.3. Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder is totally different from cocoa mix. It is a by-product of chocolate making which is a great source of chocolate flavor in baked products.

In some recipes, cocoa powder can be used in place of dark chocolate. You should be mindful of this change since chocolate has fat and sugar while cocoa is 100% chocolate.

2.4. Sugar

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Photo by Kezenon from Unlimphotos

Sugar can act as both dry baking ingredients and wet baking ingredients. This is because sugar holds moisture and helps to improve the shelf life of baked products.

2.4.1. Granulated Sugar or Powdered Sugar

  • Cane sugar can also be called granulated sugar as it can be used interchangeably when baking.
  • Brown sugar is refined sugar made by added molasses. It might interest you to know that even though most people think that brown sugar is less refined, it is actually as refined as granulated sugar.
  • Special fine sugar dissolves faster than regular sugar. This type of sugar is essential when preparing jam because it needs a completely dissolved sugar for the process.
  • Muscovado sugar is a partially refined brown sugar that needs a lot of flavour added to it when baking.
  • Turbinado sugar is a sugar that is more coarse than granulated one. It is a finishing sugar that can be sprinkled on your baked products. You can also use it to garnish your pies and chocolate chips as it does not dissolve in the oven.
  • Icing sugar is fine sugar that contains starch which helps to prevent clumping. It is also known as confectioners’ sugar.

The paper bags that come with sugars is not the best place to store them. Ensure to store in an ait-tight container. You can also add the following to keep them moist;

  • slice of apple
  • white sandwich bread
  • marshmallow
  • hydrated sugar keeper

2.4.2. Wet Sugars

  • Honey: If you want to use honey to bake, choose light-colored honey to get the perfect flavor. Honey should be stored in a cool dry place to increase shelf life.
  • Agave Nectar: This tastes like honey and is made from the plant that is used to produce tequila. To preserve the agave nectar, store it at room temperature.
  • Molasses: The liquid produced after refining sugar is known as molasses. When you first boil your sugar syrup, you get light molasses. Boiling for the second time will give you a dark color while boiling for the third time gives you the strongest.

2.5. Salt

Salt is one very important ingredient added to our diet as it contains iodine that prevents iodine deficiency-related diseases. Since most table salt contains 580 mg of Sodium, it is advisable to add less salt to your baking recipe.

  • Fine Kosher salt is less salty than table salt. It contains 270 grams of Sodium. This basically means that more fine kosher salt can be added to your recipe.
  • Flaky salt is finishing salt because they are coarse and slow to dissolve. It can also be called sea salt because it was harvested from evaporated seawater. When sprinkled on your baked products, it adds a unique kind of taste.

To avoid clamping, store salt in a cool dry place.

2.6. Spices

The most popular spice used in baking is ground cinnamon. There are other spices like ginger, ground cloves, and allspice that go with cinnamon. It is advisable to buy your spices in bulk when you want to use them for baking.

For instance, you should get your nutmeg in bulk and grate it yourself before use. To preserve your spices, store them in a pantry in the dark. This will also help prevent the loss of its flavors.

3. Basic Wet Baking Ingredients

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Photo by Makidotvn from Unlimphotos

Wet ingredients have the ability to absorb and retain moisture. Most wet ingredients don’t necessarily have to look wet, they help retain moisture. Some ingredients contain fat which helps to extend the shelf life of baked products.

3.1. Butter

Butter is a solid fat that is very essential in a baking bread recipe. When making homemade croissants, high-fat kinds of butter are useful. Butter is used in pastry doughs, batters, and icing to make your baked products irresistible.

You should store butter in the fridge to preserve it. Since butter can be frozen, it is advisable to defrost in the refrigerator and not a room temperature.

This is because when you defrost butter at room temperature, it brings out beads of water which enhances mold on the surface of the butter.

3.1.1. Vegan Butter

Vegan butter is made from plant-based oils that were converted into a solid product that closely looks like butter. To make the fats solidify at room temperature, some of this butter can be hydrogenated.

Most vegan kinds of butter are solid because they have higher levels of saturated fat than plant oils. Vegan butter is dairy-free, unlike margarine which may contain dairy flavor.

Another important thing to note is that vegan butter contains a reasonable amount of salt. However, you should ensure to confirm that before substituting vegan butter with regular butter.

3.2. Oil

Because most oils are liquid at room temperature, oil makes baked products moister than butter.

Nut oils are very good for baking cakes but are more expensive than other oils. Almond oil is often added to a cake batter to improve the flavor.

Vegetable oil is also an important ingredient in baking as it is used to oil the pans before baking. Store oils in air-tight bottles away from heat.

3.2.1. Shortening

This is a solid vegetable fat that can serve as a substitute for butter. Since shortening has high dissolving point than butter, they give great shape to cookies made with them.

Follow these steps to use shortening when you want to bake;

  • Make sure to cream the shortening with sugar till it is fluffy and light. This will help build in the air in the batter and also help make a lighter cake.
  • Shortening can be substituted with butter or margarine if the recipe you’re working with has butter in it.
  • Liquid or solid shortening can be used in baking

3.3. Eggs

Eggs are very essential in cake baking ingredients list. They add protein, fats, moisture, and structure to baking recipes. Since you do not add water when baking cakes, eggs serve as your water.

They should be stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator to avoid spoilage.

Here are some tips to use eggs when baking;

  • Crack the egg into a small bowl and use a spoon to lift the white from the yolk.
  • Then, you thoroughly whisk the egg white before adding it to your recipe. This gives your baked products the additional volume and lightness it requires.
  • Always remember that before using your eggs for baking, they should be at room temperature.

3.4. Dairy

Dairy products like milk provide moisture to baked goods. It is recommended to bake with whole milk that contains about 3.55 of fat.

You can however bake with whatever type of milk you have available. You just have to be conscious of the amount of fat added to your recipe. Whipped and unwhipped cream can also be used for baking.

3.4.1. Buttermilk

Buttermilk contains little or no fat and they react with leaveners to make really nice biscuits and pancakes. The acidity present in buttermilk decreases gluten formation when the batters are mixed.

You should get a shelf-stabled powdered buttermilk to save yourself the trouble of always storing it in the fridge. It is advisable to store all dairy products in the refrigerator.

3.4.2. Cream Cheese

This could be on the basic pantry staples when you’re looking to make cheesecake and cheese frostings.

3.5. Vanilla Beans

This is an example of a flavoring element that should be part of your baking supplies. You should know that even though vanilla beans are an excellent choice when making vanilla pastry, they aren’t really good at making chocolate chips.

Other types of vanilla you can work with are vanilla extract, vanilla sugar, vanilla powder, and vanilla essence.

These flavors should be stored in an airtight container and at room temperature.

3.6. Add-Ins

These are basically the personal ingredients you might need when baking. You should add these ingredients to your recipe.

  • Dried fruits: There are a variety of fruits like cranberries and raisins to add to your recipe.
  • Chocolate: They come in different forms, shapes, and sizes. Bar chocolate, unsweetened choco powder, and the like can be used in baking cakes and cookies.
  • Berries: Berries can be useful in baking especially when you want to make chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting.
  • Nuts: Like sliced almonds, whole almonds, ground almonds, and walnuts can be added to your recipe.
  • Oats: Some recipes used for baking are produced with large flake oats which can be also called rolled oats.
  • Coconut: Adding shredded or flaked coconut to your baked goods gives them an outstanding taste.
  • Crystallized ginger: This can be added to cookies and white fruit cakes for an awesome taste.
  • Seeds: They can be added as a whole to your recipe or ground to make a rhubarb cake.

4. What are the 5 Basic Ingredients in Baking?

The most basic ingredients used in baking include; flour, butter, milk, eggs, and sugar.

  • Flour is the main ingredient in baking
  • Butter helps to add flavor and richness to the baked products
  • Milk helps to moisturize
  • Eggs are essential as it helps to hold the batter together
  • Sugar adds taste to your baked products.

These 5 ingredients can be combined in different ways and used to bake really nice cakes, cookies, bread, and whatnot.

5. In the End

Every baking ingredient plays a vital role in the baking process. Both dry ingredients and liquid ingredients are equally essential in baking. We hope we’ve been able to do justice to all the dry baking ingredients you should know.

Kindly share this information and leave a comment below. Best regards!

Last Updated on by ritukhare

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Yomabasi Fortune is a passionate content writer with a deep love for the written word. With a background in writing, she has been able to deliver captivating and informative content that not only meets the needs of diverse audiences but also exceeds expectations. Her writing journey has taken her through various industries, allowing her to adapt and excel in crafting engaging narratives that resonate with readers. She has successfully authored a book and written articles for digital and print usage. Education MCom Specialization in Content Writing & Certifications/Qualifications MCom in Physical Oceanography BCom in Physical Oceanography Social Media Management Capstone by Coursera
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