FFS Forgot my baking powder in scones | Mumsnet (2024)

FAQs

What if I forgot the baking powder in my scones? ›

Since baking powder has some sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in it already, you could add about half as much baking soda as the recipe calls for. Maybe a little more, but not all the amount. If you add in the full amount of baking soda, it will be bitter in a very bad way.

Buttermilk and Baking Soda

First, add an extra 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to your dry ingredients. Then, add a 1/2 cup of buttermilk to your wet ingredients. Now, you'll have to improvise a little since you're adding more liquid, which can make your batter runny.

Simply, without these leaveners, many cookies would fall flat and cake layers would be dense and stodgy. But baking powder and soda are not interchangeable, and if you're out of one, the other won't act as a direct substitute (though it can be part of the solution—more on that below).

However, you will need to add the raising agents that you would usually find in self-raising flour – without any raising agents your scones will be like rocks. And not in a nice Rock Buns kind of way! The general rule of thumb is to add 2 teaspoons of baking powder for every 150g of plain flour.

Good news: You can easily add the chemical leavener — baking powder or baking soda — in at the end of mixing.

Substitute each teaspoon (5 grams) of baking powder in the recipe with 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 grams) vinegar. Summary: Each teaspoon (5 grams) of baking powder can be replaced with a 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda and a 1/2 teaspoon vinegar.

How to prepare baking powder. To make baking powder, combine half a teaspoon of cream of tartar and a quarter teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. This provides the equivalent of one teaspoon of baking powder. To make self-raising flour add one teaspoon of baking powder (or equivalent homemade) to 110g plain flour.

How to Tell When Baking Powder Goes Bad. Baking powder won't have an off smell or taste—unless it's been contaminated with something else. And it is safe to use past its expiration date, even if it isn't as effective. You'll just end up with a flatter, denser baked good than you would if you used fresh baking powder.

Brownies without baking powder are more dense, less cakey, which makes them more moist and melt-in-your mouth decadent.

Too much baking powder can cause the batter to be bitter tasting. It can also cause the batter to rise rapidly and then collapse. (i.e. The air bubbles in the batter grow too large and break causing the batter to fall.) Cakes will have a coarse, fragile crumb with a fallen center.

What happens if you don't add baking powder to pancakes? ›

Baking powder gives pancakes their fluffy texture, so when it's omitted from a traditional pancake recipe, the end result will be flat and dense pancakes. To prevent this, the recipe must be revised and the egg whites whipped to give the pancakes their fluff.

Dead baking powder is a common cause of cakes not rising, even if it's not past the due date. This is because factors such as heat, humidity and jars not properly sealed will reduce the rising power of baking powder.

I didn't use baking powder in the scones I made yesterday and they were light and fluffy but I did use self raising flour. If you used plain flour they might be a bit biscuity! They'll still taste good but might be thin.

Once you've cut out your scone shapes, flip them over and place upside down on the baking tray. This will help them rise evenly and counteract any 'squashing' that happened when you cut out the dough. Perfect scones should rise to about 2 inches high.

The easiest swap for every 1 teaspoon of baking powder in your pancake mix is a blend of 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of cornstarch.

Use Self-Rising Flour

Self-rising flour has leavening agents already inside of it, so by subbing that in for all-purpose flour, you eliminate the need for extra baking powder. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 cup all-purpose flour, use 1 cup self-rising flour.

That slightly bitter, kinda “tinny” flavor you often experience when biting into a muffin, biscuit or scone is the result of using a baking powder in high quantities — as is needed for these quick-rise treats — with aluminum in it.

Baking powder is the key ingredient in traditional biscuit recipes to help them rise and turn them into nice flaky, fluffy biscuits. If you make all-purpose flour biscuits without baking powder and you don't replace the baking powder with anything, you'll end up with flat, dense pancakes instead of real biscuits.