Baking soda or baking powder? Which one should you use? Does it really matter, aren’t they one and the same thing? Will your banana bread have a different texture or different taste depending on which one you use? Let’s find out.
Baking soda and baking powder are very similar, the only main difference is that baking powder contains an acid that will allow it to activate, while the baking soda doesn’t. In the case of banana bread, you can use either one of them, depending on what other ingredients you use.
So, baking powder is baking soda plus some acid ingredient in the form of powder. However, the way they react with the other ingredients is very different, and will not only affect the texture of the banana bread, but also the taste. Let’s see how and why that happens.
Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder
Baking powder is basically baking soda plus some acid. So you can be easily inclined to think that they are the same thing and act the same way. But that’s not actually the case. Even if they are almost the same thing, you can’t simply substitute one for another in a recipe.
The biggest difference between the two of them is the way they make food taste. Both of them need acid in order to create gas, and the baking powder comes with its own acid, while baking soda doesn’t. So it will use the one that is already in the batter, weather that comes from buttermilk, lemon, or bananas. And when the baking soda interacts with that acid, it neutralizes it, which means that it basically changes the taste of the food. While baking powder, which comes with its own acid, doesn’t do this.
How drastic is the change in taste depends on how much baking soda you are using, as you can’t substitute baking soda for baking powder on a 1:1 ratio.
Substituting Baking Powder With Baking Soda
SInce baking powder is baking soda plus acid, it means that one teaspoon of baking powder is not the same as one teaspoon of baking soda.
On average baking powder is ⅓ baking soda and ⅔ acid. So if you are going to substitute, you need to use ⅓ teaspoons of baking soda for every teaspoon of baking powder.
The only thing that you need to be careful about is how much acid you actually have in your batter. If you don’t have enough, the taste will change a lot, since all of it will be neutralized. And in a worst case scenario, some of the baking soda won’t have enough acid to react and will stay that way in the bread, which won’t make the taste too pleasant.
This is why I would suggest you add some more acid with the baking soda if you are substituting it for baking powder. On average I should add one teaspoon of lemon juice for every teaspoon of baking soda that you add.
Different Types of Baking Powder
There are two different kinds of baking powder:
Double acting baking powder is the most common form of baking powder and the one most widely available in supermarkets. This type of powder will act two times, so it will make the bread rise twice. The first time it will act when it makes contact with the liquids, that’s when the powder activates and starts creating gas bubbles. The second rise takes place in the oven, when the powder is heated up.
Single acting baking powder will activate when it comes into contact with liquids, and won’t react in any way when it’s heated up. This type of baking powder is usually used by chefs and professionals, but it can also be found in supermarkets and speciality stores.
So which one is better and which one should you use? This is simple, the double acting baking powder is the way to go. Single acting baking powder has its uses, but they are very specific, and most recipes won’t really benefit from them. So unless a recipe actually calls for single acting baking powder, you most certainly need to use double acting.
Recipes That Call for Both Baking Soda and Baking Powder
Some recipes will use both baking powder and baking soda. And now after all that we discussed this can seem kind of redundant. But it’s actually not. Some recipes won’t succeed if you don’t use both of them, here is why.
- If the banana bread recipe that you are following is one that should also have some lemony flavor, using only baking soda will tone down the lemon taste, but too much of it will neutralize it completely, so you want to use both baking soda and powder to obtain a balance.
- In some recipes baking soda is added just because it can make the mix more alkaline than the baking powder. And when the batter is more alkaline, it will catch a nicer brown color while in the oven.
- Some banana bread recipes use some buttermilk as an ingredient, which adds both texture and flavor, but if you don’t want the flavor, just the texture you use baking soda, and for the extra lift you add baking powder, since the soda won’t be enough to provide enough lift on its own.
Final Thoughts
So baking powder is a combination of baking soda and acid.
Baking powder is used when there are no acidic ingredients in the batter, like lemon, vinegar, buttermilk, etc. And it won’t change the taste of the banana bread.
Note: Bananas are acidic fruits, but their acidity is not that powerful, like lemons for example, so you can’t really consider them an acidic ingredient.
Baking soda is used when you have acidic ingredients, when you want to tone down the acidity, and the taste of those ingredients.
And remember that there are two different types of baking powder, single acting and double acting. If the recipe doesn’t specify what kind of baking powder you need, then you want to use double acting. Only use single acting when the recipe explicitly calls for it.
And if you are out of baking powder, but you have baking soda at hand, you can substitute 1 teaspoon of baking powder with ⅓ teaspoons of baking soda and ⅓ teaspoons of lemon juice.
Common Questions
What Are the Best Bananas for Banana Bread? The best bananas for banana bread are the ones that are just starting to get brown. At this point they are soft enough to give the bread its consistency. Green bananas, or bananas that just turned yellow are way too hard to be used in bread. If you use them like this your bread will turn out dense. Bananas that are dark brown are too watery, and while this can be solved by adding less water to the mix, the taste won’t be as good.
Why Did My Banana Bread Sink? The overall problem of a collapsed banana bread is the gluten network, which can be either underdeveloped due to the lack of flour, or too many liquids. Or it can be overdeveloped due to mixing the ingredients too much. And in some cases due to baking it the wrong way, or using a bad levanting agent.
What Happens if You Put Too Many Bananas in Banana Bread? Using too many bananas in a banana bread can make your bread heavy and damp in the center, causing it to appear undercooked and unappealing
Should You Let Banana Bread Rest After Baking? You should remove the bread from the pan fairly soon after it comes out of the oven. The longer it sits in the pan, the soggier the bottom will become. Allow the bread to cool completely on a cooling rack before transferring it to an airtight container.
Why Won’t My Banana Bread Cook in the Middle? This happens mostly due to taking the banana bread out of the oven too early. If this happens you can always put it back in the oven for a few more minutes. The amount of time a banana bread should stay in the oven differs from recipe to recipe, but the average is around 60 minutes.
Does Banana Bread Taste Better the Next Day? Yes, banana bread is one of the few types of bread that tastes better the next day. This is mostly because the bananas need some time to fully spread their sweetness through the whole bread, and this can take a while, and it will only happen properly after the bread is cooked.