{Don’t forget to enter your recipe to The Cookie Wars 2013 Contest by May 1, 2013! }
I have always excelled at procrastinating. In case you haven’t mastered it for yourself, the secret to procrastination is to find anything that is something other than what you are supposed to be doing. And do that. For as long as possible. Becoming a blogger has made this infinitely easier on me. The effort I put into procrastination these days is minimal.
One of my new favorite procrastination activities is to look at my blog stats and read through the search engine terms people are using to find my blog. It can be quite entertaining, and also disturbing at times. There are some seriously perverted search terms bringing people to my blog. Those people are probably disappointed when they get here…
But I have been noticing a trend over the last few months. The top search term people are using to find my blog is “chocolate chip cookie recipe without baking soda.” People have found my blog by googling this in some form over 3000 times in the past few months. Either someone is REALLY trying to find the answer to this over and over again, or this is for some reason a hot topic for people. Why don’t you have baking soda people? It’s a staple in the pantry. But I’m not here to judge, just to educate. So I bring you a recipe today with no baking soda or baking powder. I’m assuming that my Science of the Chocolate Chip Cookie post has been the culprit bringing people to the blog up until now, but it really doesn’t go in depth about baking soda and powder and how to swap them or eliminate them. So I thought I would do a bit of baking science today about this!
Baking soda and baking powder are both leavening agents. Meaning that they make your baked goods rise by creating air bubbles when mixed and baked.
Baking soda is just sodium bicarbonate. In order for it to do it’s job, it needs an acidic component in the party. In baking, the usual acidic components include vinegar, yogurt, lemon juice (or other citrus juice), buttermilk, brown sugar, and chocolate (now you know why almost all chocolate chip cookie recipes call for baking soda). When the basic properties of baking soda mix with the acidic properties of one of these ingredients it starts to neutralize creating air bubbles (carbon dioxide). This raises the baked good and also makes it more tender. Baking soda is ideal to be used instead of baking powder if there is an acidic component because it is about 4 times more effective than baking powder. Another awesome thing about baking soda (did I just call baking soda awesome?) is that it has an indefinite shelf life. Baking powder, on the other hand, does not. (*see source note at the bottom)
Baking powder is baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) already mixed with an acid (usually cream of tartar). Therefore, baking powder on its own is used in baked goods that do not already contain an acid. It works in the same way baking soda does, by creating air bubbles which cause the batter to rise. If you find yourself without baking soda you can always substitute baking powder for baking soda. This is not true the other way around. But keep in mind that baking soda is much more effective so using more baking powder is needed. To make sure your baking powder is still effective, add about a tsp to a cup of hot water. If it is still good, it will start bubbling quite a bit. If it does not, time to throw it out and get some new. (*see source note at the bottom)
Here are a few scenarios to help you out:
My recipe calls for baking soda and I don’t have any?: If you have baking powder you can substitute using 2 or 3 times more the amount. I know I said that baking soda is 4xs more powerful than baking powder but I would only increase the amount by 2-3 xs. These ingredients can make your batter taste bitter.
My recipe calls for baking powder and I don’t have any? If you happen to have baking soda and some cream of tartar you can make your own baking powder! You mix the two together at a 2:1 ratio. 2 parts baking soda and 1 part cream of tartar= baking powder. You can also ask yourself if the recipe does have one of those acidic ingredients listed above in it. If it does, you can likely just use a little less baking soda in place of the amount of baking powder.
I don’t have either baking soda or baking powder: Determine how important is the rise of this baked good. Is it very important, like a cake? Or is it okay if they are a little flat, like cookies? How many eggs are in it because eggs will help with the rise? If there are eggs and it isn’t that important for the baked good to rise, you can probably leave both baking soda and baking powder out. Your baked good will most likely have a more dense crumb to it if you do leave both out, but that isn’t always a bad thing!
I made a cookie recipe without baking soda or baking powder and they turned out great! My husband told me they were his favorite cookies. They aren’t my absolute favorite, but they were really delicious!
If you have any other cookie science questions please do check out my post: The Science of The Chocolate Chip Cookie where I teach you how to customize a recipe to create your perfect chocolate chip cookie!
*Also check out The 2nd Annual Cookie Wars Contest that is currently open and accepting entries!*
Recommended Equipment:
Note: I almost always brown the butter in my cookie recipes. It creates an incredible depth of flavor, but it is not necessary to make the recipe work. To brown butter, place the butter in a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium/high heat. Stir constantly, do not step away. The butter will melt, turn murky, clear up, then begin to turn an amber color. Remove from the heat as soon as it is a medium amber color. Allow to cool for several minutes before adding to the batter.
Also a note about sugar. Granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and dark brown sugar are all interchangeable in this recipe. I wanted a bit of chew, but a mostly crunchy cookie so I used mostly white sugar with some brown sugar. If you want more chew, use all brown sugar. If you want more crisp, use all white sugar.
- 1 stick unsalted butter, (browned if desired)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chocolate chips (I prefer at least 60% dark chocolate)
- coarse salt for sprinkling if desired
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Mix together the butter and the sugars until well combined.
- Add the vanilla and the egg, and beat until combined.
- Add the salt and then the flour in small amounts, mixing until well incorporated.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop cookies onto cookie sheets. I use a large scoop that is just barely less than ½ cup of dough. Do not overcrowd them.
- Sprinkle coarse salt on top of each, if desired. (you should. it brings the cookies up a level)
- Bake at 350ºF for 8-12 minutes, until the edges are just set.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheets.
- makes 1 dozen large cookies
*I have learned most of this information by watching endless episodes of Good Eats with Alton Brown. I also read a lot of baking articles and a few that you should check out if you want to learn more about baking soda and baking powder are:
The Food Lab: Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda at Serious Eats
Baking Powder and Baking Soda (Bicarbonate) by Joy of Baking
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Love this, thank you for the science lesson! If it weren’t for your amazing cookies, I would have never known how delicious browned butter makes them! I’d say your teaching is a success! I’m sure this post will help many!
These cookies look so good! I often don’t use bicarb or baking powder in cookies unless I’m making vegan ones. I loved your science bit, it’s fascinating! I think once you can get to grips with some of the science baking becomes so much easier and instinctive. X x x
So informative! Thanks, Kristin!
I have ALWAYS wondered what the difference was. Thanks for clearing that up! And I’m excited to try browning the butter next time I make cookies!
You’re so smart with all the sciencey talk
I love talking baking science! And thanks so much for covering this topic 'cause we've all been in the mood for cookies and when that's the only ingredient you don't have, sometimes you wish you could just do without it. Glad to know I can!
Oops! I got so excited I posted my comment in the wrong place!
I love talking baking science! And thanks so much for covering this topic ’cause we’ve all been in the mood for cookies and when that’s the only ingredient you don’t have, sometimes you wish you could just do without it. Glad to know I can!
This is such an interesting and informative post! I am an avid baker and it is great to now have all this info! My favorite tidbit is that baking powder can be used for baking soda. So cool!
I love this informative post. The photos look great. I want to try this recipe asap!
Hey ~ Give the people what they want ~ Baking science is way cool
Thanks this really helped me!! I added too much sugar but they still taste good!!
I’m so glad it worked out Catherine! A little more sugar isn’t usually a bad thing
Is it compulsory to use a mixer for mixing and beating? Or can we mix ourselves? Because I don’t have a mixer..
oh and can I leave out the vanilla essence? Because I don’t really like vanilla.. The cookies look great!
I’m not sure why this comment never showed up in my feed. You can always leave extracts out. They only effect the flavor. To learn more about what each ingredient does check out my science of the chocolate chip cookie post here: http://bakerbettie.com/2012/02/11/the-science-of-the-chocolate-chip-cookie/
can you replace the chocolate chips with strawberries?or any type of fruit?
Yes you can. Not any type of fruit. Some might be too watery, but strawberries or blueberries should be good!
These are great cookies!!! I love choc chip cookies, but hate the soapy taste of baking soda. This is definitely a keeper!!!
I have never heard it tasting soapy. Hmmm. Well I’m glad this helped you out though!
I have both baking soda and baking powder and I have used both over the years. I left out both ingredients one time and I did not like how they looked. The taste was great but they were not appealing to the eye; I sell the cookies at the time so the look is just as important as the taste.
I haven’t been too succesful lately with my receipe and I can’t remember if it’s because I’m using both or if I’m using the wrong one (bks or bkp) and I can’t find my original receipe. I changed them both out for news one in case that was the problem but not the case. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Nancy,
It is hard to know the problem without seeing the recipe, but I am going to go guess you need to be using baking soda. Chocolate is acidic and therefore it will acivate the baking soda on it’s own. Baking powder would be a secondary leavener if you use them together. I find that if you chill the dough before baking you will get a more even spreading and browning on the cookie, with or without baking soda or powder.
Thank you for responding so quickly..I’m making cookies tonight so your quick response is very helpful. Unfortunately, I can’t reveal my ingredients (lol) they might make me famous…like Famous Amos (lol)…just kidding. But I see what you’re saying about chilling the dough. I too believe the last time I used baking powder instead of baking soda and as mentioned either way the taste is great I just don’t like the look of flat c.c.cookies, they tend to be too crispy and not a nice chew.
Totally appreciate your feedback. Happy Baking!!
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