You've Added Too Much Baking Powder To A Recipe. Now What?

When you set out to make a batch of baked goods, baking powder is undoubtedly going to be on your grocery list. In fact, when it comes to whipping up a serving of cookies or a loaf of bread, a food historian told Smithsonian Magazine that baking powder "is like air, water." But although you know that this ingredient is as imperative to making a beautiful cake as eggs and sugar, you may not know why.

According to The Spruce Eats, baking powder is important because it's responsible for ensuring that your cupcakes' batter rises. It's also what makes your sweets delightfully fluffy. However, while a cake mix without baking powder will surely end in disaster, adding too much baking powder into your baked goods will also leave you with an inedible dessert. 

But if you accidentally threw in a little (or a lot) more baking powder into your muffin mix than you intended, that doesn't necessarily mean your dish is unsalvageable.

While slipping extra baking powder into your dessert may not seem like a big deal, adding too much of this ingredient into your cupcake batter can cause some serious baking problems. As Joy of Baking explains, a surplus of baking powder will turn your treat's flavor bitter. And that's not even the worst part. Adding in too much baking powder could cause your dessert to rise too fast and fall apart.

Luckily, according to The Spruce Eats, there are two different ways you can prevent a dessert breakdown after adding too much baking powder. The first way, however, will only be helpful in the early stages of baking. As the outlet notes, if you realized you put too much baking powder in your recipe the moment you poured it into your dry ingredients, you can simply remove it with a spoon. After removing all traces of the leavening agent, you can measure out the ingredient more accurately and carefully add in the correct amount. But if you didn't discover your mistake until later, you don't have to panic. All you have to do is level out the amount of baking soda you used by putting in more of your other ingredients. By doing this, you may end up with a larger serving of cake, but you'll avoid making a big baking mistake.

When multiplying your ingredients, it should be taken into account that 1 to 2 teaspoons of baking powder leavens 1 cup of flour (via Joy of Baking).