While staying at my grandparents' house last weekend, I was craving pancakes—until I opened the baking cupboard and found a jar of baking soda with a label from the early 2000s. Could it still work?

Test your baking powder’s freshness with a simple hot water fizz test. Fresh baking powder ensures light, fluffy baked goods that hold their shape. Make your own baking powder with baking soda, cream ...

Years ago, I was at a friend's house and I wanted to make some chocolate chip cookies. When I went digging in her pantry, I found baking powder that had expired so long ago I had to toss it. No ...

DEAR HELOISE: I understand that baking powder has a shelf life, and that it can go bad. Can you tell me how long it remains good? — Joe and Kay, via e-mail It does have a shelf life, and here’s how to ...

Dear Heloise: I have used your hint for testing yeast for several years and was wondering if there is a test for baking powder. -- Frances Altieri, Fort Pierce, Fla. There is an easy home check to be ...

If you've gone to all the trouble of baking a homemade cake or batch of cookies, only to find they came out flat or dense, your leavening agent might be to blame. While baking powder and baking soda ...

If you enjoy baking at all, then baking powder will be an essential item in your kitchen to make cakes, cookies, and other baked goods rise. Even if you don't bake, baking powder is handy to have ...