Converting recipes to NT / TF

[Eresh]

I know I found a link somewhere on here to a site with info about converting recipes, but I can't seem to find it now.

Specifically --

I have a great waffle recipe that uses baking powder and I have no idea what the differences are between baking powder and baking soda and how I should substitute.

For substituting maple syrup or honey for sugar, do you do a 1-1 substitution? Also, if you have a recipe that calls for some sugar and substituting a liquid such as honey or maple syrup won't work because they are liquid, not dry, what do you do?

[ltlmrs]

Baking powder has an agent that reacts with the baking soda to produce CO2 when mixed with a liquid and leaven your baked item. Any sort of acid + baking soda will have the same effect. So, if you soak your waffles in an acid medium (kefir, buttermilk, lemon juice) or make a sourdough based dough, then add a tiny bit of baking soda (1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon, depending on the amount of acid) to cause the reaction. Don't use too much, though, because that will give a bitter taste to the final product.

Honey is sweeter than sugar, so use less. Maple syrup I usually use the same amount. In most cases the fact that you're substituting liquid for a solid does not matter, most quick breads aren't that precise. However, for very precise deserts (like cakes and pastry), it's better to use stevia or an unrefined sugar, like rapadura. Though, both will change the taste significantly enough that I would just experiment with new recipes for deserts rather than trying to convert old ones.

[ltlmrs]

Double post, please delete.

[Magelet]

I wouldn't use stevia for cakes, or cookies. they depend greatly on the chemical effects of sugar. I've had good success substituteing palm sugar 1:1 with white sugar in a recipe. I've only tried it in banana cake (I don't make other cakes and really almost never eat cookies), but it works great there. Oh, and in fudgy brownies too.

It depends on what I'm making, what sugar I use. I love palm sugar, since it's easy to use just like sugar in things like crisp toppings, cakes, etc, though I'm sure rapadura would be fine as well. if there is a lot of sugar and it's a chemical portion, I use a liquid or solid sugar (whichever is called for). If it's a small amount of sugar (a tbs or two in bread, it's almost always just for flavor, not chemical, so use whatever liquid or solid, and feel free to reduce it, etc). I have a variety of better sugars in my arsanal: palm, maple syrup, honey, molasses, rapadura/sucanat (which I actually never use because palm works as well and I have it around), it works for pretty much everything but frosting which I haven't figured out.

It's hard to convert your waffle recipe without lookign at it but I imagine it would be easy to convert. mix the flour and the buttermilk/sour milk (or sub buttermilk/sour raw milk for regular milk), soak overnight then add levening agents, eggs, etc.