I love to Bake

kajajo · 03-21-2011, 09:27 AM

I spent a number of hours this weekend looking for sugar free / fat free recipes, or recipes I could substitute ingredients to make either sugar or fat free or both. This is actually easier than you would think, I substitute splenda for any sugar in a recipe and applesauce for any butter, margarine or oil, also egg whites or egg substitute for whole eggs, and so far it has worked great. My biggest beef is the calorie difference between whole wheat and white flour. Whole wheat is double the calories of white, but it is so much better for you that I have been substituting it in all recipes as well. So far I have attempted sugar free / fat free brownies and last night I made a sugar free / fat free banana bread (haven't sampled it yet, will let you know after I do) The brownies were amazing though and kept quite moist in the fridge. So can anyone tell me why whole wheat flour is twice the calories of white??

cjohnson728 · 03-21-2011, 12:47 PM

According to the bags I have, the wheat is a little more, but not much. Maybe 125 cals per quarter cup vs. 105? What do your bags say?

The FitDay food search says 1 cup of whole wheat flour is 406 cals, whereas white is 455. That seems backwards to me, but it's still not a huge difference. I would go with the nutrition info on the bags as opposed to the site, but it still seems strange to have wheat be twice as much.

kajajo · 03-21-2011, 01:58 PM

Cassie the bags I have say Whole wheat is 100 cal per 2 Tbsp and the White says 100 cal per 1/4 cup, thats double for the whole wheat

cjohnson728 · 03-21-2011, 02:09 PM

Wow, that's really strange. I have three kinds of whole wheat flour in my pantry and they are all consistent with the value of the white for the same serving size

Maybe next time you are at the store you could check the different brands to see if the information is different and go with the lower. Mine are King Arthur (white whole wheat white), Hodgson Mill (organic whole wheat) and 365 Organic (whole wheat pastry flour). I hope you find something; twice the calories stinks! For the nutrition, a few more calories are worth it, but double is pretty significant.