Friends, let me tell you. I am a King Arthur Baking fanatic (and have been for years). But I’ve heard a steady drumbeat about White Lily flour for almost as long, so I finally decided to give it a try.
When I do an ingredient test, I go into it with no expectations. It’s the only way to give a fair shot to contenders. I’ve been extremely surprised in the not-so-distant past with butter and egg tests, so I completely understand the importance of not giving any team home field advantage.
It was difficult, Friends. Because I do love my King Arthur Flour. BUT it’s the only way to be fair about these things.
The Method
When I started this test, I knew that I wanted to do a true head-to-head test of these two titans in the baking industry. For this test, I used two commercially-available flours that you can readily find in a grocery store. Here are the stats on each:
King Arthur All-Purpose Flour: Unbleached, unenriched, unbromated flour. 11.7% protein content. Made from hard red wheat.
White Lily: Bleached, enriched, unbromated flour. 9% protein content. Made from soft red winter wheat.
Flour Texture
When doing ingredient tests, I start simply. By looking at the products. Actually reviewing the products side-by-side. In this case, I got into it and did an unscientific texture check by rubbing each of the flours in my fingers.
To test these flours, I decided to make two different items: my Snickerdoodle Pound Cake and my BwB Snickerdoodle Cookies. The reason was simple: I wanted to test how both flours performed overall with different items.
There is a noticeable difference between the two. The White Lily flour actually feels softer between the fingers. This has everything to do with the fact that, at 9% protein, White Lily’s all-purpose flour is milled from soft red winter wheat, while King Arthur Baking’s all-purpose flour is milled from hard red wheat (and comes in at 11.7% protein).
From a pure protein (and texture) standpoint, White Lily All-Purpose flour is more consistent with King Arthur Baking’s Cake Flour. BUT this is a comparison of two companies’ all-purpose flours, so I continued with the all-purpose head-to-head.
I soldiered on.
Snickerdoodle Pound Cake
I picked the Snickerdoodle Pound Cake for this test because it’s kind of my signature. So, to test these flours in my kitchen, I wanted to make a cake that is familiar to my kitchen.
It’s also the most popular pound cake on my site, so I felt like it was a good pound cake representative.
The two batters looked the same until the addition of the flour mixture. At that point, it became clear that I was working with two very different products. The batter with the White Lily flour was noticeably looser and more silky. That was to be expected, considering that the protein content was so much lower for the White Lily flour (for more on protein content and how it impacts baked goods, take a look here!).
The bake time for each cake was quite similar: it took about 70 minutes for each one.
But that’s where the similarities ended.
The Finished Cakes
Both of the cakes came out of their pans nicely. That was to be expected, though, since I buttered and floured the pans the same way. There was no sticking whatsoever with either cake.
Why is that relevant? Because the edges on the White Lily cake were not nearly as sharp as the edges on the King Arthur cake. I’m kind of a stickler for sharp edges on bundt cakes, so this was a big deal for me.
The edges on the White Lily cake were not nearly as crisp and defined as I’m used to getting from my pound cakes. So, King Arthur was a clear winner for me here.
However, pound cakes are about more than sharp edges. Taste and texture are just as important, because…well, it’s cake!
Not surprisingly, the texture of the cakes were quite different. The White Lily cake had a looser crumb that was more delightfully crumbly. This isn’t a bad thing with cake! Indeed, it’s what I want in a layer cake.
The King Arthur cake had the tighter crumb that I want from a pound cake. This is unsurprising, since I developed the cake using King Arthur Flour in the beginning.
And here’s the side-by-side picture to show you the texture of each cake.
Honestly, there’s no wrong answer here. They are both premium flours. So, for texture, it really depends on the finished product that you want from your pound cakes.
If you’re asking me, though, I develop pound cakes to have a tighter crumb that doesn’t really crumble apart when you’re walking around with it in a napkin. (Yes, this is a real test!). So, King Arthur Flour won for me on a texture front.
…But How Did They Taste?
Of course, the ultimate arbiter of any baked good is taste. I can make a cake look pretty all day, but if it doesn’t taste good, it’s not a success.
There was a marked difference in taste! So much so that even I was shocked.
Let me start by saying that they both tasted good! But, with the White Lily cake, the flour taste was more pronounced. The mouthfeel was softer (not surprising, since the batter was so much smoother than the King Arthur batter), and reminded me more of a birthday cake than a pound cake.
Again, not a bad thing. Just not what I was going for when I developed this cake.
The King Arthur cake was as expected. Consistently delicious and tasted exactly as I wanted it to taste. The flour-y taste was noticeably absent from this cake (not that it’s super prominent in the White Lily cake, but it is there). The King Arthur cake tasted exactly as I intended this cake to taste. And that made me super happy.
Winner of the Snickerdoodle Pound Cake Battle: King Arthur
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Next up in the flour test was my favorite cookie of all time.
So, absolutely no pressure whatsoever. LOL
It was time for the snickerdoodle cookie test.
The Dough
Once again, when I mixed the dough, the White Lily dough was noticeably more loose. It was still a cookie dough, but it wasn’t nearly as stiff as the King Arthur cookie dough. This didn’t concern me, since ultimately the texture of the dough wouldn’t necessarily impact the finished texture of the cookie. But I took note!
The Bake
Again, the bake time was identical for each cookie. Five minutes on the first side, four minutes on the second side. The two batches baked equally and looked nearly identical. In fact, it was hard to tell them apart!
And Finally, the Result
Texture-wise, they were nearly identical. I love a thick, chewy snickerdoodle cookie and neither of these flours disappointed on that front. I was truly happy to see that my cookies could produce a nice chewy cookie with either flour.
Once again, though, the difference came in the taste. With the White Lily cookie, I once again tasted more flour. It wasn’t the most off-putting taste, but it did impact the taste for me.
With the King Arthur cookie, I did not notice that taste. Just pure snickerdoodle nirvana. I might be splitting hairs though…
BECAUSE…
My children positively devoured the White Lily cookies. If they tasted flour (or anything off-putting), they didn’t tell me. Of course, it’s possible that the rate at which they were inhaling the cookies means that this was a failed experiment. With the sheer speed of consumption, they might not have tasted much of anything except snickerdoodle goodness.
This was good news to me.
Winner of the Snickerdoodle Cookie Battle: King Arthur Flour
Final Thoughts
Friends, I thoroughly enjoy ingredient testing. I’m constantly in search of the absolute best ingredients I can source for my baked goods (because ingredients can make a huge difference), so it’s wonderful to be able to do these kinds of tests from time to time.
What do I think? I think you really can’t go wrong with either King Arthur or White Lily. As a baker, you have to determine which flour meets your tastes. So, if you are a die-hard White Lily fan, I say use White Lily! Many baked goods will be lighter than those baked with King Arthur, and if that serves your taste, then keep on keepin’ on with White Lily.
I am going to stick with King Arthur Flour, my favorite flour of all time at this point. I absolutely adore how easy it is to manifest recipes from my mind to a plate. There’s just nothing like finding a product that will give you consistency in a baker’s kitchen. And there’s nothing better.
So I’m staying put. BUT I have about five more things I want to test with White Lily. Biscuits, scones, pie dough…the list goes on.
Will update my findings as I do each project.
I hope you found this helpful as you go about your baking exploits this spring and summer! Whatever you choose, may you have the best bakes of your life.
See you soon!
