The Power of

Baking Soda
By Jessica Bauder and
Baylee Read

The Science
n Baking

soda is sodium bicarbonate

(NaHCO3)
n Used as a leavening agent in baked goods
n Only reacts with acidic ingredients; lemon
juice, milk, honey, brown sugar, etc.

The Science Cont

n Baking

Soda+ Acidic Ingredient+ Liquid=

Carbon Dioxide Gas
n Creates bubbles to puff up the baked
goods
n Reaction occurs as soon as the batter is
mixed

Questions
n Would

tripling the amount of baking soda

in a recipe make a difference?
n If so, how much of a difference?
n Would baking soda react the same way in
different recipes?
n Would the baked goods taste different with
an increased amount of baking soda?

We hypothesized that tripling the amount of

baking soda would affect the size of the
baked good
To test this hypothesis we experimented with
a whole wheat bread and a chocolate chip
cookie recipe

Whole-Wheat Bread Ingredients

1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 cups white flour
tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
cup milk
cup water
cup molasses
1 tsp. salt
4 T. brown sugar
2 T. Crisco

Whole-Wheat Bread
n Mix

dry ingredients; add combined

molasses, water and milk, melted Crisco
and nuts.
n Let stand 20 minutes before baking in slow
oven at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes

Methods
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Preheat oven
Measure out ingredients
Mix dry ingredients
Add in liquid ingredients
Let rise for 20 minutes
Place in oven and bake for 50 minutes

Chocolate Chip Cookie ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
tsp. baking soda
tsp. salt
cup unsalted, melted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
cup white sugar
1 T. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Chip Cookies

n
n
n

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set
aside
In a medium bowl cream together the melted
butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well
blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk
until light and creamy
Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.
Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a
wooden spoon.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

n Drop

cookie dough cup at a time onto

the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies
should be about 3 inches apart
n Bake for 15-17 minutes
n Let cool on baking sheets

Methods
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Preheat oven
Measure out ingredients
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt
Cream melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar
with electric mixer
Mix in sifted ingredients
Add chocolate chips
Place cup dough on cookie sheet
Bake for 15 minutes
Remove from sheet and cool

Results
n Whole-wheat

bread with triple the amount

of baking soda was not statistically
significantly different 2 out of 3 time
n Chocolate chip cookies with triple the
amount of baking soda were statistically
significantly different 3 out of 3 times

Test 1: Height
Original

3x

Highest Point

11.3

12.0

Lowest Point

8.2

8.5

Mean

9.8

10.3

P-value:
3.79E-11

Test 2: Height
Original

3x

Highest Point

11.5

12.2

Lowest Point

7.9

8.0

Mean

9.7

10.1

P-value:
0.898269

Test 3: Height
Original

3x

Highest Point

11.7

12.4

Lowest Point

8.4

8.2

10.05

10.3

Mean

P-value:
0.898269

Test 1: Height

Mean

Original

3x

0.5

1.0

0.5

0.9

0.5

1.0

0.5

1.2

0.4

1.0

0.5

0.8

0.6

0.9

0.6

1.3

0.7

1.2

10

0.5

1.0

11

0.4

0.8

12

0.4

1.0

13

0.7

1.0

14

0.5

1.5

15

0.6

1.1

0.53

1.05

P-value:
3.79E-11

Test 1: Width
Original

Mean

3x

8.5

8.75

9.5

9.25

9.5

9.25

10

8.5

8.5

10

10.25

11

8.75

12

9.75

10.25

13

8.75

11

14

9.5

9.5

15

8.5

10.25

8.733333

9.55

P-value:
.000817

Test 2: Height
Original

Mean

3x

0.6

1.0

0.4

1.0

0.4

0.9

0.6

0.8

0.5

1.0

0.5

1.4

0.5

1.3

0.4

1.0

0.7

1.0

10

0.4

1.0

11

0.4

0.9

12

0.5

0.6

13

0.6

0.7

14

0.6

1.2

15

0.5

1.0

0.5

1.0

P-value:
6.98E-09

Test 2: Width
Original

Mean

3x

9.5

8.75

10

8.75

10.25

11

9.5

9.75

9.5

8.5

9.25

10.25

10

9.75

10.5

11

8.5

9.75

12

8.5

9.5

13

8.75

8.5

14

8.75

15

8.5

9.5

8.366667

9.6

P-value:
.039474

Test 3: Height
Original

Mean

3x

0.7

1.0

0.6

1.2

0.6

1.2

0.5

0.9

0.4

1.0

0.5

0.8

0.5

0.8

0.6

0.7

0.7

1.0

10

0.7

1.0

11

0.4

0.9

12

0.5

1.4

13

0.4

1.2

14

0.6

1.0

15

0.6

1.0

0.6

1.0

P-value:
4.97E-09

Test 3: Width
Original

Mean

3x

10

10.25

8.75

10.5

8.75

9.75

9.25

9.5

9.5

10

9.5

9.75

11.5

9.75

9.75

8.5

8.75

10

8.75

11

8.5

12

8.5

8.75

13

9.25

10

14

9.75

9.25

15

8.5

9.25

9.133333

9.616667

P-value:
.05484

What would we do
differently?