emergency question

[hydrolagus]

I'm making gingersnaps that need to be done as soon as possible. They call for both baking soda and baking powder. I just discovered that I'm out of the baking soda. Can I get away with just the baking powder? Should I tweak anything?

edit: Bah. So based on the advice, I went to the store and bought some, put it in the dough and set the

Comments

[bellasmommy]

http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ftfeb01.htm

[antikythera]

They're not the same thing... baking soda is a base, and baking powder is baking soda plus an acid in dry form.

[jagash]

Oops, thanks for giving better advice. :)

[rubygloomrox]

I always go to the store only to find what I need in the pantry when I get back.

[kastinkerbell]

I know that you've already got a solution going here, but I was going to add that for *most* recipes, you can sub powder for soda 1:1. This is exactly what we did in pastry school.

BUT for your gingersnaps, I would not recommend this. The molasses is very acidic. As the commenter above mentioned, the powder is the base + acid (usually cream of tartar). Since the molasses is going to add a lot of acid, you'd want the straight soda to help balance things out.