5 Best Baking Soda Substitutes to Try When You're Running Low
Read this before you make a mad dash for the store.
You’re half past late making the dessert you volunteered to bring to the family get-together so you pull out your favorite quick-fix chocolate chip cookie recipe and cross your fingers. You cream the butter and sugars, whip in the eggs and vanilla. Then comes the flour, salt, and… uh oh. You’re completely out of baking soda. Suddenly your quick cookie baking comes to a complete halt. Don't worry; we've all been there. Baking soda is one of those ingredients that you always have on hand until you, well... don't. But don’t throw up your hands or make a mad dash to the supermarket—there are baking soda substitutions aplenty to save the day!
Baking soda is a true household necessity for any at-home baker, mainly because of what it does to baked goods. That perfect puff of your chocolate cookies? You have baking soda to thank for that. It gives rise to homemade cookies, scratch-made cakes, buttermilk biscuits, and dozens of other baked goods. There aren't many true substitutes for baking soda, aside from a little something something called potassium bicarbonate. But unless your household includes a family member monitoring their sodium intake, combatting chronic acid reflux, or just happens to be insanely prepared, it's understandable if you don't have any on hand. So, what's a baker to do? Thankfully there are a few substitutions you can make with household essentials you probably already have on hand.
But before you start concocting said substitutions, realize on the front end that any baking soda swap may not yield results quite like good ol' baking soda. It's possible that your baked goods won't have as much airy oomph! It might also take some calculating and dare we say fractions on your end. No, baking that towering three-layer Christmas cake isn't the time to experiment with substitutions. Instead stick to recipes that tend to be a bit more forgiving like batch of cookies, blueberry muffins, and Greek yogurt pancakes. If you're about to embark on a serious baking project, take our advice and beeline to the store to get the real thing. But if you're trying to whip up chocolate chip cookies on the fly, give these substitutions a whirl.
(PS: Save these handy baking powder substitutes and cornstarch substitutes for future cooking and baking too!)
Baking Soda Substitute: Baking Powder
The difference between the baking powder and baking soda? Baking powder actually has baking soda in it! For this substitute, try using about 1 teaspoon of baking powder for every 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda called for in a recipe. Once you make that swap, consider replacing any acidic liquids (like lemon juice or buttermilk) in the recipe with non-acidic liquids (like water) to avoid the extra acid in the baking powder from causing a separate reaction.
Baking Soda Substitute: Self-Rising Flour
Every cup of self-rising flour has about 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt mixed right into it. So if you're fresh out of baking soda, try swapping in self-rising flour for the all-purpose flour called for in the recipe! But be sure to do the math to ensure you have the ingredient amounts under control.
Baking Soda Substitute: Whipped Egg Whites
Swap in some egg whites for an equal amount of some of the liquid called for in the recipe to add some puff and fluff. Just beat the egg whites until they're foamy or stiff and very gently fold them into the batter to avoid breaking up the air pockets that'll act as the leavener. Or, if a recipe calls for eggs, whip the egg whites until stiff, mix the yolks into the batter, and then gently fold in the whipped whites.
Baking Soda Substitute: Club Soda
The carbon dioxide used to make bubbly club soda will also lighten up a simple pancake batter for light and fluffy pancakes. Work fast though, as the sparkling magic of club soda can go flat quickly—just as it would if you left it sitting out.
Baking Soda Substitute: Whipped Cream
Consider this sub a fix somewhere between club soda and egg whites. It'll add some aeration, but it's the kind of baking soda substitution best reserved for simple baking recipes like pancakes and maybe some cookies where the leavener won't make or break the recipe, only change it.
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