Can You Use Self-Rising Flour for Cookies?
Can you use self-rising flour for cookies? Self rising flour is convenient to use and a great choice for many delicious cookie recipes! Today I’m sharing my best tips for using self rising flour in your favorite cookie recipes.
Can You Use Self-Rising Flour for Cookies?
As an avid self-rising flour baker, I frequently get asked the question – Can you use self-rising flour for cookies?
Today I’m excited to answer that question and share some of my best tips for using self rising flour to bake cookies.
I’m also sharing a helpful list of self-rising flour best practices and common mistakes to avoid when using self-rising flour in your baked goods.
Can You Use Self-Rising Flour for Cookies?
Self-rising flour is essential in many Southern recipes, such as homemade biscuits, quick breads, breakfast muffins, and more.
But in case you’ve ever wondered whether or not you can use self-rising flour for cookies, I’m here to bring the good news.
Yes, you can!
Even better news – using self rising flour will make some of the best cookies you’ll ever eat/try in your entire life – pinky promise!
What Are the Benefits of Using Self-Rising Flour for Cookies?
Using self rising flour for cookies has several benefits. Here are just a few great reasons to use self rising flour in your next cookie recipe.
Soft + Tender Baked Goods
Self-rising flour is a low-gluten flour, which means it has less protein.
Using a low-gluten flour results in baked goods that have a lighter, fluffier, and softer texture, as opposed to high-gluten, high protein flours that give baked goods a heavier and more dense consistency.
For example, when you use self-rising flour to make these peanut butter cookies, the self-rising flour produces chewy centers with light, crispy edges.
On the other hand, self rising flour also works great at creating soft, cake-like cookies like my famous chocolate chip cookies.
Convenient and Easy to Use
Another benefit is that you don’t have to add any additional leavening ingredients to your flour, since it’s already pre-mixed in your flour.
This makes it a convenient and time-saving choice for bakers.
Not to mention self-rising flour is much more versatile and easy to use.
I’ve tried several brands of flour over the years, but my absolute favorite is this self-rising flour.
Tips for Using Self-Rising Flour for Cookies
Tip #1 – Use Fresh Flour for Best Results
Before using self rising flour in cookies and other baked goods, always make sure you check your expiration dates.
In general, self-rising flour remains fresh for up to 6 months when properly stored in an airtight container.
I always recommend using as fresh of flour as possible for the absolute best results, and when in doubt, grab a fresh bag.
Because the leaveners are pre-mixed in self-rising flour, it tends to have a shorter self life than all-purpose flour.
Over time, the leaveners in self-rising flour weaken, which can result in baked goods that don’t rise properly.
Tip #2 – Weigh Your Flour for Recipes
For the absolute best cookies, I recommend using a food scale to weigh your flour.
9 times out of 10, if your cookies don’t turn out right it’s due to not measuring your flour correctly.
If you’re scooping your flour out and “winging it” you’ll most likely add way too much flour. Or you might not add not enough, which can really alter the results of your cookies.
To make it super easy, all of my recipes always include the exact grams you’ll need to use listed in the recipe card.
I promise – this step will make your cookies turn out perfect every single time!
Tip #3 – Don’t Overmix
This tip holds true for any baked good recipe, but it’s especially important to not overmix when working with self-rising flour.
You want to mix your flour until just combined.
Overmixing flour not only runs the risk of creating dense, tough, and/or dry baked goods, but with self rising flour you want to avoid over-activating the leavening agents.
The Best Self Rising Flour Cookies
Ready to bake some cookies with self rising flour? Grab a bag of flour here and try these easy and delicious cookie recipes below!
- Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Thin & Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies
- White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cherry Cheesecake Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet
Looking for more self rising flour recipes? Check out this roundup of 30+ Easy Recipes Using Self-Rising Flour.
Self Rising Flour FAQ’s
What Is Self-Rising Flour?
If you’re not sure what self rising flour is, self-rising flour is a blended flour mixture made with all-purpose flour, baking powder, and a small amount of fine salt.
While self-rising flour is finely milled similar to all-purpose flour, the key difference is that self-rising flour already has the leavening (aka rising) agents built right in, so you don’t have to add them later.
How Do You Change a Recipe To Substitute Self-Rising Flour for All-Purpose Flour?
Can you use self-rising flour for cookies when the recipe calls for all-purpose flour?
Generally speaking, you can use one cup of self-rising flour for every cup of all-purpose flour that the recipe calls for.
Because self-rising flour contains leavening ingredients already, you can usually leave out the baking powder and salt.
However, to make sure that there is enough baking powder in the dough, you should add 1 3/4 teaspoons of the self-rising flour to make up for the leavening ingredients that you left out.
Are There Recipes I Shouldn’t use Self Rising Flour For?
Yes. While self rising flour is great for making cookies, biscuits, and other baked goods, there are of course some recipes in which you should not use self-rising flour.
This includes things like traditional pie dough, pizza dough, doughnuts, and pastries like my cinnamon rolls and pop tarts which rely on yeast for proper rising.
I also wouldn’t recommend using self rising flour for recipes that call for the use of baking soda in them.
For more tips, check out the differences between all purpose flour and self rising flour here.
More Baking Tips to Read Next:
I hope you enjoyed today’s post and found the answer to the question “Can you use self rising flour for cookies?”
If you have any other self rising flour or baking questions you’d like answered in a future post, please drop them in the comments below!
Thanks for stopping by! – Cara
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