Homemade Sodium-Free Baking Powder

There used to be a sodium-free baking powder on the shelf — Hain Featherweight was the last one, and it has been discontinued, like all the rest. So I make my own.

Regular baking powder runs about 400mg of sodium in a teaspoon — about 1,200mg in a tablespoon. This mix runs 0mg, and it swaps 1 for 1 anywhere baking powder is called for.

It is three ingredients and five minutes:

DIY SODIUM-FREE BAKING POWDER

Makes 4 tablespoons · 0mg sodium

• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar

• - 1 tablespoon potassium bicarbonate

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Whisk everything together until evenly mixed. Store airtight in a jar. Swap 1 for 1 anywhere regular baking powder is called for.

One rhythm change: this powder is single-acting — it fizzes once, when it gets wet — so preheat the oven first, mix the batter last, and get it into the oven right away. To test a stored batch, drop a little in hot water. It should bubble right up; if it just sits there, make a fresh batch.

This is the little jar behind my Blueberry Cobbler, my chocolate cupcakes, and the Apple Crumble — the desserts in my free starter cookbook. Baking was where the sodium was hiding, and this is how it stopped hiding.

One honest trade: out goes the sodium, in comes potassium — both the cream of tartar and the potassium bicarbonate carry it, roughly 650 to 700mg of potassium in a teaspoon of the mix. That trade is fine at my table. If you restrict potassium, check with your doctor first. We are cooks, not doctors.

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