Good to know: Baking Powder and Baking Soda

Countless recipes call for baking powder and baking soda, and although they're very commonly used, most don't know why.

Baking soda is used to produce carbon dioxide in batters that help it to "rise" or leaven baked items. There are many acidic ingredients in lots of cakes, breads, and the like, such as: some fruits (like bananas), brown sugar, molasses, buttermilk, and others. So the baking soda is used to combat the acid and allow the dough or batter to rise properly so you get those fluffy cakes and muffins you desired.

Baking powder contains baking soda and other dry acidic ingredients that are used similarly; however, baking powder has more kick to it since it doesn't rely on the ingredients of the batter alone, which helps the batter rise better or leaven higher than just the baking soda alone. Generally one teaspoon of baking powder leavens one cup of flour.

There are commonly two types of baking powder: single-acting and double-acting powders. Single-acting powders are activated by moisture, so you must bake recipes which include this product immediately after mixing. Double-acting powders react in two phases and can stand for a while before baking. With double-acting powder, some gas is released at room temperature when the powder is added to dough, but the majority of the gas is released after the temperature of the dough increases in the oven.