Baking Powder Substitute

"A little lonely boy told his Mom one day,
"I sure would like a pal so I can play."
Momma mixed up molasses, sugar and flour, a touch of
baking powder and in less than an hour
The oven door opened, out the room he ran. The
fastest sweetest cookie, the Gingerbread Man." ~ "The Gingerbread Man" by Susan Harrison.

But what happens when you to need to suddenly conjure such fluffy cakes and pastries and you find that not an inkling of baking powder is to be found in the household. Fret not ladies, as in such cases where you need a miracle baking powder substitute, you can easily opt for some of the following combinations and see your cakes and cookies, muffins, and scones rising into voluminous delights nevertheless!

Baking Powder Substitutes
One thing that you need to keep in mind before trying out any substitute for baking powder, is that stick to the given proportions as even the slightest change can mess up your preparation, thus spoiling your dessert recipe completely. Remain calm while mixing the contents and adhere to the given measurements to the tee! Each alternative for baking powder given below are good equivalents of the original itself, but choose wisely, as per the requirement of the recipe at hand.

• Sieve 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar with a tablespoon each of baking soda and cornstarch together. These three components can be mixed together to obtain larger amounts of a baking powder substitute, but always in the ratio of 2:1:1. Also, this mixture should not be stored for a long time as otherwise its effectiveness is lost. Store, if you must, then do so in an air-tight and compact container.
• If you do not want to use cornstarch, then using a mixture of ⅝ teaspoon of cream of tartar and ¼ teaspoon of baking soda will also do the trick and replace 1 teaspoon of single-acting baking powder. But, if you are substituting a teaspoon of double-acting baking powder, commingle ¾ teaspoon of cream of tartar and ⅜ teaspoon of baking soda.
• 1½ teaspoons of single-acting baking powder subs for 1 teaspoon of double-acting baking powder.
• A teaspoonful of baker's ammonia can be used as an alternative for an equal amount of baking powder. This light substitute works best when used for baking pastries and cookies. Given the flat shape of pastries and cookies, the odour of ammonia totally disperses.
• Try using a cup of flour instead of 1 teaspoon of double-acting baking powder.
• Also, try ½ teaspoon of baking soda with a tablespoon of vinegar/lemon juice used with ¾ cup of sweet milk. If you use this particular substitute of baking powder in a food recipe that deals with other liquid quantities then obviously you need to alter the quantities accordingly. For instance, these measurements require you to reduce other liquid measurements by a cup in totality.
• Substitute for baking powder with ¼ teaspoon of baking soda in dry ingredients and ½ a cup of plain yogurt, buttermilk, sour milk, or any such similar acidic agent in wet ingredients. This will equal 2 teaspoons of baking powder. In this case too, you need to use less of other liquids by at least half a cup.
• Another baking powder substitute is ¼ teaspoon of baking soda in dry ingredients and ¼ cup of molasses in wet ingredients. You will need to adjust the amount of the sweeteners used and lessen the quantity of some other liquid by 2 tablespoons.

Other Baking Powder Substitutes
Baking powder does comprise certain ingredients such as cream of tartar which is acidic in nature, sodium bicarbonate and cornstarch, which causes dehydration, which might have derogatory health impacts. It also contains aluminum, causing allergies in some people and potent enough to cause breast cancer in case of accumulation in the body over a period of time, and gluten which causes chronic damage to the digestive system. So, one needs to find healthier baking powder substitutes, which in turn do not include the use of even these ingredients. You can use self-raising flour, instead of normal flour if you wish to cuttle down on your baking powder consumption. You can also go for gluten- and sodium-free baking powders in the market now.

So, now that you know of all these baking powder substitutes, use them with discretion and do not overdo it. You can easily find recipes such as sugar cookies and pancakes without baking powder sans much ado nowadays. So, utilize more of such recipes and you shall slowly see yourself shedding your dependency on baking powder, and its simultaneous health hazards, when it comes to baking.