Snickerdoodle Emergency!

October 28, 2009 3:29 PM

Quick! Help me continue my snickerdoodle baking extravaganza now that I'm out of cream of tartar!

I am making about a million cookies for Halloween festivities at my kids' school tomorrow.

I ran out of cream of tartar and need to make one more batch of dough.

My snickerdoodle recipe calls for one teaspoon of baking soda and 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar.

I have baking powder. My cookbook (America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, where the snickerdoodle recipe I'm using is found) indicates that one teaspoon of baking powder can be replaced with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar.

I don't get how 1/4 teaspoon of anything plus 1/2 teaspoon of anything equals a teaspoon of something else, but I need to know if I can substitute baking powder for the baking soda/cream of tartar combo in this recipe without totally jacking it up, and if so, in what proportion?

posted by padraigin to food & drink (8 comments total)

Per the Cook's Thesaurus (an awesome resource) you could sub lemon juice or vinegar for the cream of tartar. I don't know how it would work out myself, since I've never tried it.

You could also make snickerdoodles with a standard sugar cookie dough instead; most don't call for cream of tartar. They may be flatter and less fluffy than typical snickerdoodles (I tink that's what the cream of tartar does for the recipes), but they'll taste good - dip in cinnamon sugar, of course. I actually prefer sugar cookie texture, myself. Since the baking is for kids, I'm sure they won't care so long as the cookies taste good!
posted by insectosaurus at 3:42 PM on October 28

Baking powder is a mix of baking soda and creme of tartar.

The difference in activity between soda and powder is that soda is activated purely by moisture, whereas powder has the soda part which activates on contact with moisture, and the tartar part, which activates on the application of heat.

If you just double up the soda, the risk is that all of the rising action will happen before the cookie has toughened up enough to hold the air bubbles in. I this particular instance, I suspect you'll end up with slightly less fluffy cookies, but they will be perfectly edible.

I would not do the substitution of vinegar or lemon juice, for such a light flavored cookie.
posted by nomisxid at 3:46 PM on October 28

Data point: I always make snickerdoodles with baking powder only (did not know this was a mix of baking soda and creme of tartar!). They come out fine, plump and airy.--tho I haven't compared to your recipe.
posted by shownomercy at 3:55 PM on October 28

I don't get how 1/4 teaspoon of anything plus 1/2 teaspoon of anything equals a teaspoon of something else

"Most commercially-available baking powders are made up of an alkaline component (typically baking soda), one or more acid salts, and an inert starch." (Wikipedia: Baking powder) "The inert starch serves several functions in baking powder. Primarily it is used to absorb moisture, and thus prolong shelf life by keeping the powder's alkaline and acidic components from reacting prematurely."

So a teaspoon of baking powder comprises roughly 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, and 1/4 teaspoon starch. But the starch doesn't really affect the recipe, it only enhances shelf life, so when you substitute one for the other you just ignore the starch.

Conversely, you should be able to substitute 4 tsp. baking powder for the 1 tsp. baking soda + 2 tsp. cream of tartar your recipe calls for. You'll also be adding the starch in the baking powder, but so little that it shouldn't affect the recipe, I would think.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:10 PM on October 28

I'm marking DevilsAdvocate as best answer only because the math matches mine. Everyone gets virtual cookies for answering quickly, and probably perfectly correctly.

For what it's worth, this batch is being rolled in pumpkin pie spice and sugar instead of plain cinnamon, and early reviews are good.

Thanks, gang!
posted by padraigin at 4:18 PM on October 28 [2 favorites]

I think you'll be fine with just baking powder - Joy of Baking has a recipe using baking powder:

Today's Snickerdoodle recipes are different from older ones in that they use baking powder as the leavener, instead of cream of tartar and baking soda. (If you want to try this combination, just replace the baking powder in the recipe with 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar and 1 teaspoon of baking soda.)
posted by ceri richard at 4:21 PM on October 28

Followup: It's working great. The final dozens are coming out looking pretty much just like the first many dozens.
posted by padraigin at 4:49 PM on October 28

It is correct (as you found out) that you can substitute baking powder for tartar+soda.

BUT: despite the Joy of Baking, the reason MOST classic snickerdoodle recipes have cream of tartar specified is not because of modernity but because that cream of tartar is actually part of this cookie's flavor.

A baking powder snickerdoodle will taste good but it is little more than a butter cookie. A snickerdoodle with cream or tartar has that slightly, um, snickerdoodley taste that you will get nowhere else!

If you are rolling in a heavily spiced sugar no one will notice though...
posted by quarterframer at 5:08 PM on October 28