The Hunt for Starch Free Double Acting Baking Powder

The last time I did the diet, one of the things that was hardest to compensate for was the lack of a true double acting baking powder.  Most baking powder has corn starch as a filler, and corn is not on Phase 2 of the Elimination Diet.  The only other baking powder I could find had potato starch instead, which is a nightshade and off Phase 2.  There are recipes all over the web for using baking soda and adding cream of tartar to it to make baking powder, but this is only single acting.

What's the big deal, you might ask, and that was my question too when I started this process.  The problem comes down to this: single acting chemical leveners (baking soda) are activated by acid present in the batter.  They activate rapidly and have a very short life span.  So rapidly, in fact, that it is very difficult to finish mixing the batter and spooning it into muffin cups or pouring it into a loaf pan before it is finished.  It is impossible to finish cooking waffles or pancakes before it is finished, leaving the last ones flat and dry.

Most people solve this problem by adding the levener after the rest of the batter is thoroughly mixed, but this still has the problem of the time taken to spoon into muffin tins (especially if making mini muffins) and the additional problem of getting it all mixed in evenly.  Adding a powder that often has small lumps in it to a wet batter is just asking for it to be unevenly mixed.

The solution to this problem is double acting baking powder.  This has 2 leveners as components: the acid activated one and another heat activated one.  The acid one activates when mixed with the liquid ingredients, exactly as it does with the single acting levener.  This adds air and lightness to the batter, giving it a head start on creating a nice crumb during baking.  The second levener activates once the batter reaches the proper temperature, building on the work already done by the acid activated levener.  This creates a lighter, fluffier final product than could be reached by either levener individually.

I really wanted to make waffles.  Really, really!!! wanted to make waffles (for hubby, you know?).  So I searched, did research, read a whole bunch, learned more about baking powder than I ever thought I wanted to know, read some more, learned new search terms, and....

I found some!!  A company in New England called Bakewell Cream makes a starch free, true double acting baking powder.  It ends up being a bit expensive what with shipping and all, but there isn't much about this diet that isn't expensive, and it was totally worth it to be able to make waffles again!  There are a ton of other uses it has as well, I'm sure you will love it as much as I do.