Self-raising flour: what it is, what it bakes, and how to make it at home

At a glance

What it is called in each country

What it is for

It was made for what rises in the oven and does not ferment first: plain cake, British scones, the Southern buttermilk biscuit, American pancakes, muffins, pound cake and Irish soda bread. It also binds dumpling doughs and tops fruit in crumbles and cobblers. Whenever a recipe wants a soft, tender crumb with no chew, it fits, because the weak flour builds no gluten and the chemical leavening lifts on the spot.

Because it carries its own strength, it saves you measuring baking powder and spreads that lift evenly through the mix, which is hard to match by hand. For soda bread it is almost the shortcut in a bag: flour, buttermilk and heat.

How to substitute it

Making your own is simple: whisk 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into every cup (120 g) of plain flour. For the tenderest crumb, start from a soft pastry flour. As a reference point, French bags run about 97% flour to 3% raising agent, and a 16 g Italian sachet does 500 g of flour.

Going the other way, to use self-raising where a recipe calls for plain flour: drop the baking powder and salt the recipe told you to add, but keep the bicarbonate of soda if it appears. And because it is weaker and drinks a touch less, pull the liquid back slightly, or the batter runs too loose.

When not to use it

Any bread that rises on live yeast: sourdough, pizza, baguette, brioche, ciabatta. Chemical leavening fires once, fast, the moment it meets liquid and heat, and it is spent long before a yeast dough is ready. The built-in salt and the weak protein also work against a dough that needs structure.

It is no good either for anything you want with an open crumb or an elastic bite: the low protein cannot build that network. And do not count on old self-raising flour, because the raising agent fades with time and the bake comes out flat.

How to use it

Here the trick is not kneading, it is not kneading. Mix just until it comes together and get it into a hot oven quickly, because the leavening starts working the moment it touches liquid, and a batter left to stand on the bench loses part of its rise. There is no proving, no rest for gluten.

Reduce the liquid a little against a plain-flour recipe, since it absorbs less. If the bag has been open for weeks, sift or whisk the flour before use, to break the clumps and spread the raising agent. And do not double up: if a recipe already calls for baking powder, self-raising plus that powder overshoots and gives you a sunken cake with a soapy taste and a bitter finish.

How to choose one when buying

The label states its job on the front: self-raising, self-rising, autolievitante, à levure incorporée, leudante or bizcochona. Check the date, because this is the one flour whose expiry truly matters: the raising agent weakens over the months, and stale self-raising bakes low. Buy what you will use within a few months and keep it airtight, somewhere dry and cool.

In the United States the tenderest kind is soft Southern-wheat flour (White Lily); in Spain, look for harina bizcochona (Mercadona's Aragonesa); in Britain the plain-wheat house brands sit on every shelf. Test an old bag: a spoonful in hot water should fizz. If it sits still, the leavening has gone.

The story

The invention has a name and a date. Henry Jones, a baker in Broadmead, Bristol, patented self-raising flour in 1845. The idea solved a problem at sea: give sailors a way to bake fresh bread on board without carrying live yeast, in place of the hard ship's biscuit that broke teeth before the voyage broke down. His mix was plain flour with bicarbonate of soda, an acid to react with it and a little salt.

Success came fast. By the end of 1846 Jones was purveyor of patent flour and biscuits to Queen Victoria, he took a United States patent on 1 May 1849, and in 1855, partly at Florence Nightingale's urging, the British Admiralty approved the flour for the Crimean War.

From there the name travelled further than the wheat. In Britain, self-raising flour is a medium plain flour with the raising agent inside. In the American South, self-rising flour is milled from soft winter wheat (White Lily, of Knoxville, since 1883) and is the backbone of the Southern biscuit. Italy sells farina autolievitante, France farine à levure incorporée. The label is the same, the wheat underneath is not.

Frequently asked

Can I use self-raising flour for bread?

For quick breads and soda bread, yes, because they rise on chemical leavening alone. For anything that rises on live yeast, no: the chemical leavening is spent before a yeast dough proves, and the salt and low protein work against the structure.

How do I make self-raising flour from plain flour?

Whisk 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into every cup (120 g) of plain flour. For the most tender crumb use a soft pastry flour, and sift so the raising agent is evenly spread.

Does self-raising flour go off?

The flour itself keeps, but the raising agent fades over the months. Old self-raising bakes flat and dense. Check the date and store it airtight. A pinch in hot water should fizz; if it stays still, replace the bag.

Self-rising or self-raising, are they the same?

Same idea, different shelf. UK self-raising is a medium plain flour with raising agent; US self-rising is milled from soft Southern wheat and is lower in protein, which is why it makes such tender biscuits.