What to use when you're out of cream of tartar

You open your pantry and don’t see that jar of cream of tartar that you swore you bought. It happens to the best of us. Making substitutes in can be a daunting task, but when you’re looking for cream of tartar substitutes, you can rest a little easier.

Luckily, most recipes that call for the ingredient only use it in small amounts, making it much easier to find a simple swap. From vinegar and to baking powder, try these seamless substitutes for cream of tartar. Cream of tartar is a powdered form of tartaric acid, which comes in many forms and is most commonly used for baking and winemaking, since it’s a naturally occurring substance in grapes.

A little bit of science and fermentation later, you have cream of tartar, otherwise known as potassium bitartrate. Jason Schreiber, a food stylist and author of , notes that cream of tartar is used for more than you might think. It can stabilize egg whites, act as a leavener for baked goods and even prevent sugar from crystallizing when making candy.

Although these are the three main reasons, Schreiber says it can also be used for flavoring. It’s always used in — not only does it contribute to the cookies’ chewy texture but it also gives the dough its distinctive tang. “Without cream of tartar, a snickerdoodle would just be a cinnamon cookie,” he says.

The ingredients you use to substitute for cream of tartar depend entirely on what purpose the cream of tartar served in the first place. Luckily, most of these swaps are i.