Out of Cream of tartar, one case

Can you substitute baking powder for cream of tartar?

4 options, ranked, with the exact amount

Use thisBest of 4 options

Use Baking powder

1 tsp for every ½ tsp cream of tartar + ¼ tsp baking soda

Only when the recipe uses cream of tartar together with baking soda as leavening, as in snickerdoodles. Replace the pair: 1 tsp baking powder for every ½ tsp cream of tartar plus ¼ tsp baking soda, and leave the soda out. Baking powder does not stabilize egg whites or stop sugar syrup from crystallizing, so for meringue use ½ tsp lemon juice or white vinegar per egg white.

Verdict —: You'll taste it
The tweak —: Take out the baking soda as well as the cream of tartar. Keep the total near 1 to 1 ¼ tsp baking powder per cup of flour.
Best for —: snickerdoodles and sugar cookies
Pantry —: Likely in your cupboard

One casethe full cream of tartar card

Every option, one card

Ranked

Cream of tartar substitutes compared
#	Substitute	Instead of cream of tartar	Verdict
1	Baking powdersnickerdoodles and sugar cookies	1 tsp per ½ tsp cream of tartar + ¼ tsp baking sodaYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
2	Lemon juicemeringue and pavlova	½ tsp per 1/8 tspTweak it	Tweak it
3	White vinegarwhite meringue and royal icing	½ tsp per 1/8 tspTweak it	Tweak it
4	Light corn syrupcandy and caramel	1 tbsp per cup sugarYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
Not a swap	Baking soda alone	not a swapNot for this	Not for this

What changesWhat changes, option by option4 options

Baking powder

the rise is the same; the faint sour tang of cream of tartar is gone

Baking powder is baking soda already mixed with a dry acid and a little starch. It replaces cream of tartar and baking soda together, not cream of tartar alone.

Best for: snickerdoodles and sugar cookies, biscuits, scones and cakes that list both cream of tartar and baking soda, recipes for homemade baking powder
Prep: Take out the baking soda as well as the cream of tartar. Keep the total near 1 to 1 ¼ tsp baking powder per cup of flour.
Where it fails: Meringue, angel food cake, royal icing, candy and boiled frosting. Its acid is used up making gas, so it does nothing for egg whites or sugar syrup, and the bubbles it gives off coarsen a foam.

Lemon juice

a faint citrus note at most

The swap for the egg-white job, which baking powder cannot do. The acid firms the foam the same way cream of tartar does.

Best for: meringue and pavlova, angel food cake, whipped egg whites for souffles
Prep: Use ½ tsp per egg white, added once the whites are foamy and opaque.
Where it fails: As a leavening acid with baking soda: a wet acid reacts in the bowl and much of the gas is gone before baking.

White vinegar

undetectable at this amount

Distilled white vinegar does the same job as lemon juice in egg whites, with no color and no fruit flavor.

Best for: white meringue and royal icing, pavlova, meringue cookies
Prep: Use ½ tsp per egg white and no more, added once the whites are foamy.
Where it fails: Candy and caramel: the vinegar smell concentrates as the syrup boils down.

Light corn syrup

slightly sweeter, with no sourness

The swap for the candy job. In a boiled sugar syrup, cream of tartar is there to stop crystals forming, and corn syrup does that directly.

Best for: candy and caramel, boiled frosting, simple syrup that must stay clear
Prep: Add it with the sugar and water at the start, and reduce the water by 1 tbsp.
Where it fails: Egg whites and leavening: it does nothing for either.

Baking soda alone

soapy and metallic when it has no acid to react with

Baking soda is the opposite of cream of tartar: a base, not an acid. Cream of tartar is the acid that makes the soda work.

Best for: nothing here
Where it fails: Leaving the soda in and dropping the cream of tartar gives a poor rise and a soapy taste. In egg whites, soda weakens the foam.

How it behaves in this recipe

In this recipeCream of tartar

Cream of tartar does three unrelated jobs: it is the acid that fires baking soda, it stabilizes whipped egg whites, and it keeps boiled sugar from turning grainy. Baking powder covers only the first, because the acid in it is already paired with its own baking soda.

Tips for substituting cream of tartar

5 tips

Read the recipe for baking soda. If cream of tartar and baking soda are both listed, they are a pair: replace both with baking powder, 1 tsp for every ½ tsp cream of tartar plus ¼ tsp soda.
The pair is normally 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda, which is homemade baking powder. After the swap, keep the total near 1 to 1 ¼ tsp baking powder per cup of flour.
For meringue, skip the baking powder and use ½ tsp lemon juice or white vinegar per egg white.
For candy or boiled frosting, use 1 tbsp light corn syrup per cup of sugar, added at the start.
Snickerdoodles made with baking powder lose their tang. Adding ½ tsp lemon juice to the dough, or swapping 2 tbsp of the sugar for brown sugar, brings some of it back.

Questions

5 questions

How much baking powder replaces 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar?

2 teaspoons, and only together with the baking soda it was paired with: 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar plus ½ teaspoon of baking soda becomes 2 teaspoons of baking powder. Leave the soda out. If the recipe has no baking soda, the cream of tartar is not there for leavening and baking powder is the wrong swap.

Can I use baking powder in place of cream of tartar in meringue?

No. Baking powder does not acidify the egg whites, and the gas it gives off puts large bubbles through the foam. Use ½ teaspoon of lemon juice or distilled white vinegar per egg white, or leave the cream of tartar out and whip in a clean, dry metal or glass bowl.

Can I use baking powder in place of cream of tartar in snickerdoodles?

Yes. Replace the cream of tartar and the baking soda together with baking powder and keep the total near 1 to 1 ¼ teaspoons per cup of flour. The cookies rise but lose the tang and some of the chew, so they taste closer to a cinnamon sugar cookie.

How do I make corn-free baking powder with cream of tartar?

That is the same conversion read backwards: ¼ teaspoon baking soda plus ½ teaspoon cream of tartar equals 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Mixed fresh, it needs no cornstarch. It needs cream of tartar, though, so it is no help if cream of tartar is what you are out of.

Is cream of tartar the same as baking powder?

No. Cream of tartar is a single dry acid. Baking powder is a finished leavener: baking soda, one or more dry acids and starch. That is why baking powder can replace cream of tartar and baking soda together but cannot replace cream of tartar on its own.