The Store-Bought Flour Brand Alton Brown Swears By

Some may think that the brand of flour you use at home doesn't make much of a difference, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Even different brands of the same type of flour can produce unique outcomes as a result of how they're made. Renowned celebrity chef Alton Brown bakes the chewiest chocolate chip cookies using his absolute favorite store-bought flour: King Arthur Baking Company. The brand was founded in the late 1700s, and has only continued to grow in popularity since it launched online in 1996.

Brown explained how he first discovered King Arthur flour on his website in a section fittingly titled Alton's Favorite Things, remembering, "Back in the '90s, when I was in culinary school up in Vermont, King Arthur Flour was a local company known to few outside of New England. Today, King Arthur Baking is THE source for ingredients and baker supplies." Brown likes the chewy quality of bread flour in baked goods, noting that some of his favorite recipes for pizza dough and chocolate chip cookies feature the higher-gluten, unbleached bread flour from the brand.

While Alton Brown's appreciation for King Arthur began with a bag of flour, he now touts the brand's many other products as must-use, as well. Brown specifically suggests using King Arthur baking powder in recipes like his Hot Glazed Bonuts — donuts made with biscuit dough — but he also generally approves of the brand overall, noting its strong customer service and useful recipes as being extraordinarily helpful to the home baker.

But, likely the most important aspect in what makes King Arthur so great is the incredible quality of its products. With the brand's flour being unbleached and non-GMO, as well as having a higher protein percentage, few flour brands can match the standard that King Arthur sets. While these qualities make the product a bit pricier — especially compared to the other paper-wrapped bags of flour on the shelves – and might deter some from using the brand for everyday baking, King Arthur can make a difference when it comes to successful homemade breads, pretzels, and cookies.