An Unexpected Substitute For Baking Powder Is Sitting In Your Fridge

Some ingredients in a baking recipe are easier to substitute than others. Fats like butter can be replaced with oils using careful ratios, and even eggs can be substituted. Then there are ingredients, such as baking powder, that are a little trickier to replace.

However, every ingredient has an alternative, and you'll find a substitute for baking powder sitting right in your refrigerator: yogurt. Baking powder is a leavening agent made by mixing sodium bicarbonate (e.g., baking soda) with an acid, along with a filler ingredient like cornstarch to prevent the two from reacting prematurely. The powder is activated once moisture is added and heat is introduced to the mix, which is what helps bakes rise and gives them an airy, fluffy texture.

Now, yogurt is fermented milk that contains lactic acid. When mixed with baking soda, you have the two main ingredients that go into baking powder. All you need to do is whisk a quarter teaspoon of baking soda into half a cup of yogurt for every teaspoon of baking powder in your recipe. Just make sure to reduce the quantity of any other liquids that you add. Additionally, while any yogurt can work in a pinch, it's best to stick to a plain one that won't add any unwanted flavor to your bakes.

Once you understand what baking powder is made of, you'll find plenty of easy substitutes for the leavening agent in your kitchen. If you have some baking soda on hand, you only need to look for a source of acid. Both lemon juice and vinegar can rise to the occasion — whisk half a teaspoon of either into a quarter teaspoon of baking soda to make a teaspoon of DIY baking powder. Alternatively, use half a cup of tangy buttermilk, old milk that's turned sour (but not curdled), or plain kefir with the soda. Even molasses has enough acid to work in a pinch, though be sure to account for the added sweetness it will bring to the bake.

If you'd rather not add more liquid to your recipe, another excellent replacement for baking powder is cream of tartar. Mix it with baking soda the same way you would with lemon juice or vinegar. There's always self-rising flour as well, which already contains baking powder and salt. The only catch is to figure out just how much of it to use in this scenario. In general, each cup contains somewhere between half to one teaspoon of baking powder, and a quarter teaspoon of salt. Scoop out the self-rising flour depending on how much baking powder you need, and then swap it in with the all-purpose flour in your bake in equal measure — that's all it takes to substitute the leavening agent.