Information provided by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County, N.Y. (585) 461-1000

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Occasionally you may be in the middle of a recipe that calls for baking soda or baking powder, and discover you don't have the proper ingredient in the house. Substituting one leavening agent for another will result in a slightly different finished product, but in most cases the product will be acceptable.

Baking powder contains baking soda plus an activating ingredient. In order to substitute baking soda for powder, an activator must also be included in the recipe. The following may be substituted for 1 teaspoon of baking powder:

1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 5/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 cup buttermilk, yogurt or soured milk

1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/4 to 1/2 cup molasses

Some old European recipes call for hartshorn as the leavening agent. Hartshorn is also called ammonium bicarbonate, carbonate of ammonia and powdered baking ammonia, and is available at some drug stores or spice supply companies by any of these names. If unavailable, substitute 1 teaspoon hartshorn with one teaspoon of baking powder.