Baking Powder

The invention of baking powder, a chemical leavener, marked a scientific revolution as profound as the ancient discovery of yeast. It was also one of the first chemical products in food. Feeding an American need for speed, baking powder created new fast foods like baking powder biscuits and quick breads and made cakes, cookies, pancakes, waffles, and muffins easier to prepare and shortened their cooking time radically. Before baking powder, common leaveners were yeast, “emptins” from beer brewing, and eggs, which required skilled labor, advance planning, time, or money and could easily fail.