Baking, like high school science, has always been a mystery to me. To this day I have to double (okay, triple) check: baking powder or soda. And why is one used over the other?
So imagine how confusing it was for me to start baking with gluten-free flours when I’d barely (if at all) mastered baking with regular flour. But here’s the thing about having a food blog, you’re either eating, cooking, writing or reading about food. Eventually I made a discovery that has changed my baking for the better. And that discovery is aluminum pans.
I used to bake cookie bars in whatever pan was closest at hand, regardless of size. Glass? No problem. Pryex was (and still is for some things) my friend. However, I noticed the edges of my Congo bars were always too crispy, a not-so-satisfactory cousin of over-done.
Enter the metal pan. I use this one from Sur La Table for my gluten-free baking. It bakes evenly throughout, and I no longer have burnt edges. Which means I’m no longer throwing those precious cookie bar edges away. Let’s bake!
Not to be a smarty pants. But the difference between baking powder and baking soda is more of that science stuff you mentioned. Baking powder is basically baking soda with an acidic element added. That’s because in order for the gases to be released that cause your baked product to rise the alkaline nature of baking powder needs to be “ignited” in order to release those gases. Recipes that call for baking powder typically don’t have an acidic element (like say lemon juice, buttermilk or yogurt) in them to “ignite” the chemical reaction. However that doesn’t mean you should always just use baking powder to be safe. Because the acidic element in baking powder in a recipe that already has an acidic element might take on a slightly bitter taste. As a gluten free baker this is highly important stuff as gluten free cooks are constantly having to sub one thing for another. If you sub a non-acidic ingredient you’ll have to make sure your leavening agent is compatible. Have you ever had gluten-free sorghum pancakes and noticed an unpleasant after taste? I bet it’s the leavener… GREG
Hi Greg – this is fantastic, thanks! Averie (Averie Cooks) had a blonde recipe where she left out the leaveners – I need to try that. The great thing about experimenting with gluten-free baking is, in general, it’s pretty hard to mess up anything that includes chocolate chips. xo Lisa