How to Add Gluten to Flour

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. It adds elasticity to bread dough and absorbs moisture to add structure and make the finished product moist and fluffy. White bread flour has more gluten than whole wheat, which is why whole wheat breads tend to be denser and more crumbly. Other flours, such as rye and all-purpose wheat, also have lower gluten contents and tend to make drier, more crumbly breads. However, you can increase the gluten content by adding vital wheat gluten to your flour.^{[1]
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Steps

1
Add the vital wheat gluten on a per-recipe basis and not to the entire bag of flour. The standard gluten/flour ratio is 1 tbsp. (15 ml) for every 2 to 3 cups (473 ml to 711 ml) of flour.^{[2]
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2
Mix in the vital wheat gluten before you add the other dry ingredients once you have determined how to add gluten to flour.^{[3]
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- Add your flour to a bowl, add the gluten and mix it together with a fork or pour it into a sifter and sift it into a fresh bowl.
3
Combine your wet ingredients per the instructions in your bread recipe.^{[4]
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- Once you have mixed the gluten into the flour you can use it as you would any other flour.

Community Q&A

Question

Can vital wheat gluten be added to white whole wheat pasta dough recipes?

Mark Blackwell

Community Answer

Unless the flour you are using is specially made, all flours contain gluten. Bread flours generally contain added gluten, so when you supplement all-purpose flour with your own essential gluten protein, you are making it into bread flour. Whole wheat, rye -- it matters not. Gluten is what holds a dough together when it is under stress during bread making. Now, whether you should add it to pasta dough or not is another matter. Pasta is basically soggy, unleavened bread. Since you're not trying to make it rise, there wouldn't be any use in trying to fortify its ability to make gluten strands.
Question

Can I add gluten to cowpea flour to bake bread?

Community Answer

Yes, you can.
Question

Is gluten the same as bread improver?

Community Answer

"Improver" is a general term that is applied to a number of things, from diastatic malt powder to nuts, grains, juice, etc., and yes, gluten. "Bread improver" is anything you add to your bread that "improves" it.
Question

Can I use vital wheat gluten in white bread?

Community Answer

Yes. You can add it directly to the flour and mix thoroughly to evenly distribute it.
Question

May I add gluten to cake flour?

Community Answer

Yes, you can add wheat gluten to cake flour, but after you do, it will no longer be cake flour -- and will be usable for making bread if you put the right amount in. For cake flour to become flour for making bread, I would add about 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten per 2 cups of cake flour and be sure to mix it well.
Question

Can gluten be added to wheat flour to make it not fall apart or crumble after baking?

Community Answer

Yes it can. That said, a light, fluffy, open texture versus a crumbly texture is more about dough handling then about the amount of gluten. If you are using pastry flour, you can add gluten to make it more like bread flour. If you are using regular whole wheat flour, it generally already has enough gluten so adding extra gluten may not be the best solution - lit may make the bread gummy. You might first try mixing bread flour with the whole wheat (50/50 as a start) and see if you get the results you want. Then increase % of whole wheat as you practice handling the dough.

Warnings

Do not add gluten to your flour if you are using gluten-free flours for recipes specific to celiac disease or gluten intolerance.

Thanks!
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