Baking 101: Mexican flour

Mexican flour because of the way it’s milled, can be frustrating to work with if you’re used to flour in the U.S., Canada or other countries

Published February 19, 2023

by Janet Blaser

Bakers, this column’s for you.

I know you’ve had the same experience as me trying to use the white flour found on Mexico’s grocery shelves to bake and ending up with less-than-satisfactory results. Cakes that rise unevenly, gooey cookies, breads that rise too fast and too much, cutlets that don’t get crisp, soggy, rubbery focaccia. Don’t even get me started on the frustrations of trying to make pizza dough with plain San Antonio or El Rosal harina de trigo.

Chances are you also noticed that Mexican flour has the texture of baby powder — super finely milled — and perhaps were skeptical from the start, as I was. Why was the flour this way? I wondered. And, more importantly — what to do?

I chose to do an end run, turning to Amazon Mexico to find some familiar, high-quality flours from reputable companies like Bob’s Red Mill. But I still wanted to know what was going on with Mexican flour. I’ll try to keep this as simple as possible, so bear with me.

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