Baking Powder Substitute: A Measured Pantry Swap
For 1 teaspoon of baking powder, use ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon cream of tartar, and ¼ teaspoon cornstarch or tapioca starch. Mix evenly and use promptly once the batter is wet.
| Ingredient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Baking soda | ¼ teaspoon | Alkaline leavener |
| Cream of tartar | ½ teaspoon | Acid partner |
| Cornstarch or tapioca starch | ¼ teaspoon | Completes the dry blend |
Measure a fresh batch for this bake
I favor making just the amount needed. That keeps the calculation visible and avoids a stored jar that someone could mistake for baking soda. Set up the pan and preheat the oven before adding liquid: this acid-and-soda blend does not reproduce every commercial powder’s staged reaction.
This is King Arthur Baking's published substitution for a teaspoon of baking powder. Mix the measured dry ingredients evenly before incorporating them into the recipe's dry mixture. Do not replace a whole teaspoon of baking powder with a whole teaspoon of baking soda: the ingredients are not interchangeable at that concentration.
Why the acid matters
Baking soda needs an acid partner to generate carbon dioxide in a batter. Commercial baking powder includes both an alkaline component and acid components, so the recipe can use it without asking you to supply a separate acid in just the right amount.
Cream of tartar provides the acid in this dry substitution. Plain baking soda alone does not reproduce the balance. Adding “a little lemon juice” on top of an arbitrary dose of soda is a different reformulation, not the same measured replacement.
This distinction helps when reading your ingredient list. Milk, yogurt, lemon juice, and buttermilk are not just interchangeable liquids in a leavened batter. Swapping one while also changing the leavener can move several variables at once. Keep the rest of the original formula unchanged when trying this specific dry replacement.
Worked examples without mental arithmetic
For a recipe calling for two teaspoons of baking powder, double every component: half a teaspoon of baking soda, one teaspoon of cream of tartar, and half a teaspoon of starch. Do not double only the soda. The relationship between the ingredients is the point of the substitution.
For a recipe calling for half a teaspoon of baking powder, halve every component: one-eighth teaspoon baking soda, one-quarter teaspoon cream of tartar, and one-eighth teaspoon starch. If your measuring spoons cannot measure those quantities reliably, make the one-teaspoon blend, mix it thoroughly, and measure half the blend by volume.
Use level measuring spoons. A heaped quarter-teaspoon is not a small harmless variation when the entire soda amount is only a quarter-teaspoon. Set the jars side by side and check the labels before measuring; the powders themselves do not provide a reliable visual identity check.
Why it may not behave like double-acting baking powder
A commercial double-acting baking powder is formulated to release gas at more than one stage. A simple soda-and-cream-of-tartar mixture does not duplicate every commercial formulation. Once the batter is wet, work promptly rather than planning a long wait before baking.
This matters most when the recipe depends on a resting period or when several pans must wait their turn in a small oven. If the original process deliberately holds the mixed batter, replacing its leavener may change performance. For a celebration cake or another high-stakes bake, buying the specified ingredient can be the more dependable choice.
What if you have no cream of tartar?
Some substitution charts pair baking soda with an acidic liquid, such as buttermilk or vinegar. Those options also change liquid amounts and sometimes flavor. Follow one complete, measured substitution from a reliable source rather than combining the soda quantity from one chart with the liquid quantity from another.
University extension charts do not all use exactly the same cream-of-tartar proportion as the King Arthur blend above. That does not justify averaging the numbers. Choose a complete formula and keep its quantities together. This page uses one clearly attributed option so you can reproduce the decision.
If you lack the ingredients for a measured swap, consider a preparation that does not require baking powder. A short list of realistic choices is more useful than promising that any acidic item in the refrigerator can rescue any batter.
Do not add this blend to self-rising flour automatically
Self-rising flour already includes leavening and salt. Whether it can replace all-purpose flour depends on the whole recipe, not just the missing teaspoon of baking powder. Adding both self-rising flour and a full replacement blend can leave you with an unintended amount of leavener.
Write down the original formula before changing it. If you have already changed the flour, account for that first. When several ingredients are missing, it is often easier to select a recipe that matches the pantry than to perform a chain of substitutions whose effects overlap.
A substitution plan before the bowl gets wet
Read the recipe's total baking-powder quantity, calculate the replacement, and measure it into a separate dry bowl. Check the fractional teaspoons before adding it to the flour. A quarter teaspoon and three-quarters of a teaspoon are easy to confuse when several small scoops are involved.
Then check the rest of the formula. If it also contains baking soda, keep that separately specified amount; do not remove it merely because the replacement already contains soda. It may be serving a different acid-balancing role. I would not use a general baking-powder replacement as permission to overhaul both leaveners. Keep the original recipe’s separately listed soda visible on your written ingredient list so it is not accidentally counted as part of the replacement.
FAQ
Can I use baking soda alone?
Not as a direct replacement. Baking soda needs an acid partner, while baking powder supplies an acid–base system. Adding a full teaspoon of soda in place of a teaspoon of powder changes the formula substantially. Use a measured complete substitution or a recipe designed for soda.
What replaces two teaspoons of baking powder?
Double every ingredient in the blend: ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, and ½ teaspoon starch. Mix the powders evenly and use level measures. Doubling only the baking soda changes the balance and does not produce the intended replacement.
Can I mix the batter now and bake much later?
Avoid assuming this blend behaves exactly like commercial double-acting baking powder. Have the pan and oven ready before the wet and dry ingredients meet. If the original recipe deliberately rests the mixed batter, use its specified leavener or an alternative tested for that process.
Can self-rising flour solve the problem?
Sometimes a whole-recipe adjustment can use self-rising flour, but it already brings leavening and salt. Do not substitute it and add the full replacement blend without accounting for those ingredients. Follow a formula written for self-rising flour when you need a predictable result.
Why do substitution charts show different quantities?
Different sources can specify different complete blends and preparation assumptions. Do not average their figures or combine one chart’s soda with another’s acid amount. This guide identifies the King Arthur blend it uses so the quantities remain traceable and can be applied together.
