Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Without Baking Soda or Baking Powder (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you don t use baking powder or baking soda in cookies? ›

Without baking soda or baking powder, these cookies will remain a little flatter then other recipes but because of the eggs and creaming of the butter and sugars in this recipe they will still puff up a little in the oven. They will have crispy edges and a soft, chewy center.

Baking Soda Substitute: Egg Whites

Whipped egg whites can give your recipe structure and add leavening abilities. They work better when substituted for baking powder, but can work as a baking soda alternative in a pinch. How to substitute egg whites for baking soda: Beat egg whites until foamy and stiff.

Using both of these leavening agents ensures your cookies rise properly and have the texture you're looking for. So, if you're trying out a new cookie recipe requiring both baking ingredients, don't be scared to give it a shot.

If you don't have either baking powder or baking soda, consider switching gears and relying on another type of leavener altogether: whipped egg whites. Instead of sparking a chemical reaction to produce carbon dioxide, whipped egg whites introduce air to the batter, bringing natural height to your baked goods.

It is possible to make cookies without baking soda or baking powder, but the resulting cookie will be dense. This is because carbon dioxide is not being produced by a chemical reaction that typically occurs when baking soda or powder is present in the cookie batter.

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.

Expect about one teaspoon per five ounces of flour; thin and crispy cookies may need a little less, thick and chewy cookies may need a little more. Even without baking powder, a well-aerated dough will still puff with steam. If that supply cuts off before the cookies set, a soft dough will collapse in on itself.

Baking Soda Substitute: Baking Powder

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.

For most cookie recipes and chocolate chip in particular, baking soda is the better choice.

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.

What does brown sugar do in cookies? ›

Brown sugar, meanwhile, is dense and compacts easily, creating fewer air pockets during creaming—that means that there's less opportunity to entrap gas, creating cookies that rise less and spread more. With less moisture escaping via steam, they also stay moist and chewy.

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.

Baking soda, a/k/a sodium bicarbonate, was produced industrially for many years by the historically-important Solvay process. You can duplicate this by adding dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) to a saturated salt solution (sodium chloride) and concentrated ammonia (ammonium hydroxide).

Unfortunately flour does not replace baking powder. If the recipe calls for plain flour and baking powder, you can use self-raising flour as a possible replacement. However, it is very likely that that won't work as intended.

Let's cut to the chase. Cornstarch is not baking powder, and you shouldn't use cornstarch instead of baking powder or vice versa because they react differently and serve distinct roles.

Baking soda and baking powder are more common in recipes for cookies, cakes, and quick breads, and they are responsible for giving baked goods the light, fluffy, porous structure that makes them delicious.

Baking soda reacts with an acid to cause batters and doughs to rise and spread while baking. Baking powder reacts with liquid and heat to create a light, fluffy texture in baked goods. While they sound similar, baking soda and baking powder cannot be used interchangeably.

I would use 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda for every cup (125 grams) of flour. But that might vary depending on other ingredients. If the batter is very dense you'd want to either increaase that amount or supplement it with a little baking powder so it is activated by the heat of cooking as well as any acid in the recipe.