Prominent baking soda taste

[Musie]

I made some coconut scones this evening. The recipe called for 1 tablespoon of baking soda. I find though that I can taste the baking soda far too prominently in the recipe, it's a little off putting.

Does 1 tablespoon seem a lot for a recipe that yields 8 scones? Can I substitute the baking soda for an alternative ingredient or could I possibly just reduce the amount of baking soda?

[paulj]

A rule of thumb is 1 tsp of baking powder per cup of flour, or 1/4 tsp (I think) of baking soda if using buttermilk as the liquid.

I usually make a 2c flour batch of biscuits (or scones), and use 2 tsp of baking powder, plus 1/2 tsp (or less) baking soda if using buttermilk. 3 tsp of baking powder (1 Tbl) is ok.

[wyogal]

What recipe did you use? I also agree with others, that it's usually baking powder, not soda. Sometimes, if one is using yogurt or buttermilk, baking soda might be used, but not nearly that much.

[rtms]

Perhaps you misread the recipe.

My recipe uses 5 tsp (3tsp = 1tablespoon) of baking power (not baking soda) for 12

[C. Hamster]

A tablespoon? That seems very off.

Rather than winging it, I'd look up a new recipe.

[babette feasts]

For one thing, scones - at least the recipes I have seen - generally use baking powder, not soda.

Unless those scones were the size of your head, 1 TB is way more baking soda than necessary for what, 1-1/2 to 2 cups of flour? As a general rule, about 1 teaspoon of baking powder or 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda (plus an acidic ingredient) is necessary to leaven a cup of flour. A lot of biscuits and scone recipes do call for more baking powder to further lighten or foolproof them.