Yogurt Is An Unexpectedly Great Baking Powder Substitute

Baking powder is a non-negotiable leavening agent if you want your baked goods to rise in the oven (it's also the secret to perfect scrambled eggs, FYI). But if you don't have baking powder when you're halfway into a recipe, you don't have to stop baking — yogurt can make for a fine replacement. Yes, really. Now, while it might sound weird to think that yogurt can come to the rescue to replace baking powder, to find out why this is a legit hack, we first have to look at what ingredients are in baking powder. 

Similar to baking soda, baking powder contains sodium bicarbonate. The difference between baking soda and baking powder is that while baking soda only contains sodium bicarbonate, baking powder also has an acidic element, like cream of tartar, to encourage the release of carbon dioxide when it touches water. This is important because carbon dioxide releases bubbles that produce the airy, fluffy baked goods we're after. Now, since yogurt is acidic, it can be used as a substitute for baking powder, but there's a catch — it needs to be used in conjunction with baking soda in order to work.

You can't use yogurt on its own to replace baking powder because you need a leavening agent. Similarly, you can't use baking soda on its own to replace baking powder. If you do, it won't cause your baked goods to rise because baking soda requires the addition of an acidic ingredient to release carbon dioxide so that it will rise. So, the combination of the acidity in the yogurt and the leavening power in the baking soda will produce a great baking powder replacement. 

A few words of caution, though. While you might think adding more baking soda to yogurt will cause even more of a rise in your bread or banana loaf, it will actually backfire in terms of taste, causing a bitter flavor. And, it's not just the baking soda you have to think about. You can't just reach for any tub of yogurt in your fridge and use it in your baked goods, so it's important to note that plain yogurt works best. It contains the acidity you need without adding extra flavors or ingredients to your recipe that you don't want. So, now you have another cool way to use Greek yogurt in your recipes.

To substitute baking powder in recipes (there's actually another substitution you can use), you'll need a quarter teaspoon of baking soda and half a cup of yogurt. This quantity will effectively replace one teaspoon of baking powder, so use that as a guideline depending on the amount of baking powder in a recipe, and alter your liquids accordingly. Since many recipes require you to mix your wet ingredients separately from your dry ingredients, it's important to add baking soda to your dry ingredients and yogurt to your wet ingredients instead of mixing them together.

When using yogurt instead of baking powder, it's also essential to decrease the other liquids that are in the recipe by half a cup, or you'll end up with too many wet ingredients. Once you follow these tips, you'll see your baked goods rise beautifully in the oven, so give yogurt and baking soda a whirl the next time you run out of baking powder.