I just read that commercial bakeries in the 1950s often used ammonium carbonate instead of baking powder in some cookies, and it blew my mind.

Found it in an old industry journal at the library. They called it 'baker's ammonia' and it was super common for crisp things like ginger snaps because it gives a crazy dry, crisp texture and leaves no aftertaste. Everyone at my shop thinks I'm nuts for wanting to try a batch with it, but I ordered some online. Has anyone here actually worked with it before? I'm a little nervous about the smell while baking.

3 comments

3 Comments

webb.hannah8d ago

My grandma's old lebkuchen recipe specifically calls for it... says to let the cookies air out for a day after baking so the last of the smell goes away.

joseph9578d ago

So the smell is that strong, huh? My uncle used to mess with this stuff in his garage workshop for some reason... not baking, but something with leather maybe. The whole house would reek for hours like cleaning products. Makes me wonder, like paulnguyen said, if the wrong chemical would smell even worse. I'd open every window if I were you.

paulnguyen8d ago

Remember baker's ammonia is actually ammonium bicarbonate, not carbonate. The smell while baking is wild but it totally disappears.