DIY Buttermilk, Self-Rising Flour, Baking Powder, and more!

Right now, things are often tough to find in the store. That’s really why I haven’t posted much. I’d planned out a ton of posts…. but they weren’t really feasible anymore since I couldn’t find ingredients – and likely neither could you!

Things are improving, but there are still some hacks that can make your life easier. Some are little things you’ve probably already thought of. But a few might help you in the kitchen and be things you never thought you could do yourself!

Substitute Evaporated Milk for Regular Milk

This also includes things like using half and half mixed with a little water instead of milk too. It doesn’t always work, but in a pinch it might do the trick. I have had great luck using evaporated milk in bread recipes instead of regular milk.

DIY Baking Powder

I haven’t seen our stores out of baking powder, but its never a bad idea to know how to make your own. And it really isn’t too hard!

You just need baking soda and cream of tartar. Its a two to one ratio – so 1/2 tsp of baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar is roughly equivalent to one teaspoon of baking powder.

DIY Self-Raising Flour

If you need self raising, but you can’t find it in the store, you can easily make your own. It will work just as well, and you may already have all the ingredients on hand.

For every cup of flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Mix it well, ideally you’d sift it together, and then you have homemade self rising flour.

DIY Bread Flour

Now, this does require an extra ingredient, and I don’t know of too many bread recipes that you MUST have bread flour for – even when the recipe says so. Most of the time, you can just use regular all purpose and it will be fine. But if you want bread flour, you need to buy a bag of vital wheat gluten. You can find it in most grocery stores, or online.

To make your own bread flour, you just add 1 tablespoon of gluten per cup of flour. That’s it. I do it all the time when I make bread (I actually don’t buy bread flour – this is way easier for me.) and it will work just fine.

DIY Buttermilk

This is one that you have probably already heard of or done. I don’t like buttermilk, so buying a whole container when I just need a little bit seems like a waste. You could also buy powdered buttermilk, but again, I rarely use it enough to justify buying a whole jar. Instead, I just add 1 tsp of vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. Then you let it sit for about 10 minutes before you use in your recipe. Ta da! Works just like buttermilk.

What else would you like to see a replacement/DIY version of? I’ll do my best to help!