What can I make with flour and sugar?
Flour and Sugar is worth measuring carefully - it is the ingredient least willing to be improvised with. Recipes using flour and sugar are below, plus handling notes.
12 recipes with flour and sugar
Dutch Baby Pancake
Puffed oven pancake with lemon and powdered sugar.
German-American25m3
Chocolate Lava Cake
Individual cakes with molten chocolate centers.
French-American27m4
Churros
Crisp fried dough sticks rolled in cinnamon sugar.
Spanish30m6Crepes
Paper-thin French pancakes for sweet or savory fillings.
French35m4
Brownies
Fudgy chocolate squares with a shiny crackly top.
American38m16Vanilla Cupcakes
Moist and delicious vanilla cupcakes topped with creamy buttercream frosting
American38m12
Focaccia
Dimpled olive-oil enriched flatbread with sea salt and rosemary.
Italian45m8Sticky Toffee Pudding
A moist date cake topped with a layer of sticky toffee sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
British50m6
Tres Leches Cake
Sponge cake soaked in three milks with whipped cream topping.
Mexican50m12Classic Soft Pretzels
Soft, buttery, and perfectly salted pretzels, just like the ones from the ballpark.
German50m8Poffertjes
Miniature, fluffy pancakes typically served with butter and powdered sugar
Dutch50m4
Cinnamon Rolls
Fluffy yeast rolls swirled with cinnamon sugar and topped with cream cheese icing.
American55m12
Working with flour and sugar
- 1Measure by weight where you can; baking with flour and sugar is much less forgiving than cooking.
- 2Melt gently over low heat or in short bursts, stirring between each one.
- 3A pinch of salt makes sweetness read as flavour instead of just sugar.
- 4Cool fully before slicing or storing so the texture sets properly.
What goes well with flour and sugar
Flour and Sugar is at its best with butter, vanilla, salt, cream, flour and eggs. Any two or three of those, plus flour and sugar, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing flour and sugar
Dry flour and sugar keeps for months in a sealed container away from light and heat. Once cooked, cool it quickly, refrigerate within two hours, and use within 3-4 days; cooked grains and legumes freeze extremely well in single-portion bags.
Substituting flour and sugar
If you are out of flour and sugar, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Flour and Sugar recipes: common questions
- What can I make with flour and sugar and not much else?
- Plenty. With flour and sugar plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest flour and sugar recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute flour and sugar?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover flour and sugar?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover flour and sugar without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.