Is It Okay to Use Expired Baking Powder? & How to Test If It’s Good

When you're about to start baking and you realize your baking powder has expired, what should you do? Should you use it? Does baking powder ever go bad? Baking powder is an essential ingredient in many different baking and frying recipes because it helps batters and doughs rise and come out crispy. So it's pretty important to know In this article, we spoke with bakers and personal chefs to explain whether or not baking powder expires, if it's safe to use when the label says it's gone bad, how to tell when it's bad, how to make a substitute and more!

Can you use expired baking powder?

Executive chef Leslie Chartier says that yes, you can use expired baking powder. While it's not harmful to use after it's expired, it may not make your baked goods rise. As it loses potency, it no longer releases carbon dioxide when it interacts with a liquid, and that CO² is what makes baked goods light and fluffy.

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Is it safe to use expired baking powder?

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Chartier explains that it’s not harmful to your health if you use expired baking powder.^{[1]
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Expert Source

Leslie Chartier
Executive Personal Chef

Expert Interview} It’s unlikely to make you sick once it expires, so it’s still okay to eat any baked goods you used it in. The only potential issue of using expired baking powder, says baker Craig Watson, is that it “can affect how well your baked goods rise.”^{[2]
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Craig Watson
Baker

Expert Interview}

Meet the wikiHow Experts

Craig Watson is a baker, entrepreneur, and founder of Baked Cravings with over 8 years of experience.

Leslie Chartier is a personal chef, culinary instructor, and the owner and founder of The Travelling Cafe.

Traci Morgan-Hoernke is a gluten-free baking specialist and owner of MOR Foods, LLC.

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How long does baking powder last?

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The USDA recommends replacing your baking powder if it's been open for 6 months, even if the expiration date is still many months away. If it's still sealed, you can keep it in your pantry until the expiration date (or for 18 months, whichever comes first).^{[3]
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Research source} After that, the baking powder will start losing its potency, so you're better off replacing it.

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Does baking powder expire?

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The good news is it doesn't mold or taste bad, so if you accidentally use some in a recipe, you can still eat the dish after it's prepared. The problem is the dish may not rise. So instead of light, fluffy cakes or plump cookies, for example, you could get flat, dense desserts that aren't very pleasant to eat.^{[4]
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How to Tell If Baking Powder Is Bad

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Stir 2 tsp (9.9 ml) baking powder into 1 c (8 oz) hot water and see if it fizzes. If the mixture fizzes and the baking powder dissipates, it's still potent and will make your baked goods rise like you want, says Watson.^{[5]
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Craig Watson
Baker

Expert Interview} But if you don't notice any reaction between the two ingredients, your baking powder is inactive and you should throw it out.^{[6]
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- Baking powder contains sodium bicarbonate, which is essentially just baking soda. When sodium bicarbonate comes into contact with a liquid like water, it releases carbon dioxide and creates bubbles. This is a process called leavening and is what causes your baked goods to rise.
- If you don't see bubbles when you add the baking powder to the water, that means the sodium bicarbonate is inactive.
- Make sure to use hot water, not cold water, as baking powder reacts faster to higher temperatures.

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Ways to Make a Baking Powder Substitute

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Combine ½ tsp (1.5 g) cream of tartar, ¼ tsp (1.5 g) baking soda, and ¼ tsp (⅝ g) cornstarch. This mixture is equivalent to 1 tsp (4.8 g) of regular baking powder and mimics its three basic components: a base, an acid, and a stabilizer. To produce carbon dioxide and make the dough in baked goods rise, the base (baking soda) needs to react with an acid, like cream of tartar. The cornstarch stabilizes the acid and the base so they don't start interacting before you put the batter or dough in the oven.^{[7]
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- The heat in the oven will help your homemade baking powder release its carbon dioxide and cause the baked goods to rise.
- What if I don't have cornstarch? Substitute ½ tsp (1.5 g) of cream of tartar and ¼ tsp (1.5 g)of baking soda for every teaspoon of baking powder in your recipe. Just make sure to add your batter or dough in the oven as quickly as possible because the cream of tartar and baking soda will begin reacting immediately as soon as you add liquid to them!
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Combine ¼ tsp (1.5 g) baking soda with ½ c (4 oz) of an acidic food like yogurt. If you don't have cream of tartar on hand, but you have baking soda and food with acid in it, you can combine them into a homemade leavener. Add ¼ tsp (1.5 g) of baking soda to your dry ingredients and ½ c (4 oz) of buttermilk, yogurt, lemon juice, or vinegar to your wet ingredients for every teaspoon of baking powder in your recipe. After you combine the dry and wet ingredients, transfer the batter or dough to the oven quickly. The baking soda and acid will react fast!^{[8]
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- Never substitute baking soda for baking powder at a 1:1 ratio. Baking soda is about 4 times as potent as baking powder, which is why we recommend you only use ¼ tsp (1.5 g) of the soda for every teaspoon of the powder.
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Substitute self-rising flour for regular flour. Self-rising flour already contains baking powder in it. If you have any on hand, simply replace your regular all-purpose flour with the same amount of the self-rising variety.^{[9]
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- Keep in mind that self-rising flour also contains salt, so you may need to reduce the amount of salt in your recipe (if it calls for any, which most baking recipes do).
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Whip the whites of your eggs to add air to your batter recipes. Whipped egg whites add air and fluffiness to recipes like angel food cake and chiffon. No matter what you're baking, though, if it calls for eggs, you can separate the yolks from the whites and whip the whites with a whisk or a beater until they form medium peaks. Add the yolks into the batter when the recipe tells you, then after all the ingredients are combined, gently fold in your egg whites with a spatula. Then bake the batter according to your recipe's instructions.^{[10]
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- Avoid overmixing or being too heavy-handed with the spatula when you're folding in the egg whites. You might cause them to break and lose all their air.
Club soda is just water with carbon dioxide added to it (also known as carbonation) to make it fizzy. Use it to replace all the liquids in your recipes for batters with light, bubbly structures, like waffles, pancakes, and fritters. The club soda will help them turn out light and airy.^{[11]
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How to Use Up Baking Powder Before It Expires

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Use it as the leavening agent in cakes, biscuits, and pastries. Baking powder helps these baked goods rise nice and tall. With the added rising, or leavening, they come out with a delightfully light and fluffy texture instead of dense and chewy. Below are some baking recipes where baking powder comes in extremely handy!
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Use it to crisp up the skin when cooking chicken or turkey. Before roasting or frying your chicken or turkey, mix 1 tsp (4.9 ml) of baking powder with 1 US tbsp (15 ml) of Kosher salt. Add however much pepper you prefer for taste, then spread the mixture over the skin of the raw bird. Set it in the refrigerator to rest uncovered for 12-24 hours so it can dry brine (which will help it retain its moisture during cooking). Then cook it however you prefer, or try one of these delicious recipes!^{[12]
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Use it to lighten your waffle, pancake, and fritter batter and add crispness. Your breakfast staples and fried desserts will have a much airier, crispier texture if you add a little baking powder to the batter! If you don't have any go-to recipes or pre-made mixes for waffles or pancakes on hand, give these a shot tomorrow morning.
- Waffles
- Pancakes

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Final Takeaways

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You don't have to worry about getting sick if you accidentally use some in a recipe after it expires. Most likely, though, you'll find that your baked goods don't rise well, if at all. If you run out of baking power in the middle of a recipe, you can make a substitute with other common household ingredients like baking soda, cream of tartar, and cornstarch.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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How long does baking powder last after the expiration date? Baking powder is no longer good to use after its expiration date because that's when it starts to lose its effectiveness as a leavening agent. It's best to discard it and buy new baking powder or make a substitute.
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Does expired baking powder taste bad? No, expired baking powder doesn't taste bad. It also doesn't mold. The only way to tell if it's still potent is to mix 2 tsp (14 g) of it in 1 cup (8 oz) of water to see if it fizzes. If it makes bubbles, you can still use it. If it doesn't, throw it away.
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What is a substitute for expired baking powder? You can substitute 1 tsp of baking powder with ½ tsp (1.5 g) cream of tartar, ¼ tsp (1.5 g) baking soda, and ¼ tsp (⅝ g) cornstarch. You can also try other substitutes like self-rising flour (instead of all-purpose flour), whipped egg whites, and club soda.