Can Soy Flour Replace All-purpose Flour?

Using soy flour to replace all-purpose flour in recipes can be a smart move. For one thing, it provides a good boost to the protein content of baked goods. The International Soybean Program at the University of Illinois explains that bread with 12 percent soy flour and 88 percent wheat flour will provide 40 percent more protein than a bread made completely with all-purpose wheat flour. Soy foods contain complete protein, unlike many vegetarian options. Also, adding soy flour to a baked good helps the food stay fresh longer and makes it softer and moister. Fried foods made from soy flour absorb less during frying.

Soy Flour in Baking

Cooks cannot use soy flour as a one-to-one substitute for wheat flour in baked goods. It doesn't have the gluten found in wheat flour, which gives baked goods their structure. In any recipe, you can use a ratio of one part soy flour to 9 parts all-purpose, notes the International Soybean Program. This amount will not change the flavor or texture of the recipe. In yeast bread recipes, you can replace up to 15 percent of the all-purpose flour with soy flour, and in quick bread recipes, soy flour can substitute for up to 25 percent of the all-purpose flour and get good results.

Considerations

If you replace more than 25 percent of the wheat flour with soy flour in a recipe, it will have a different flavor and texture. To compensate, you can add a little extra liquid and cook the baked good at a slightly lower temperature, as it will brown more quickly than baked goods made with all-purpose flour. Decrease the baking temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit.

Types of Recipes

Soy flour is best in certain types of baked goods, including yeast breads, quick breads and cookies. You can also use it in brownies and fruit and nut baked goods, explains AllRecipes.com. Soy flour has a nutty taste, which these recipes will complement.

Gluten-Free Baking

To make a gluten-free recipe, you can use soy flour without the all-purpose flour, but you will need to add some additional ingredients to compensate for the gluten in wheat flour. For every cup of all-purpose flour that a recipe calls for, substitute 1/4 cup soy flour, 1/4 cup tapioca flour and 1/2 cup brown rice flour.