Mastering the Art of Doubling Recipes

Doubling a recipe might seem as simple as just doubling the ingredients, but it’s not always that straightforward. If you’ve ever encountered a recipe-doubling disaster, you’ll know it’s not as easy as it looks.

The Challenges of Doubling a Recipe

Let’s start with a little honesty: mental math isn’t always our friend. It’s easy to skim a recipe and think you’ve got the ingredient quantities figured out, but it's also just as easy to make a mistake unless you write down the new measurements. The best way to ensure success when scaling a recipe is to rewrite it with the adjusted amounts—especially when you’re feeding a larger group.

Beyond simple math errors, it’s crucial to remember that cooking and baking are fundamentally different. While both are based on chemistry, cooking allows more flexibility and room for improvisation, whereas baking is much more precise and dependent on exact chemical reactions.

How to Scale Cooking Recipes

When it comes to cooking, some ingredients handle doubling better than others. For basic ingredients like vegetables, broth, and protein, you can usually just multiply by two. However, for flavoring elements like spices, it's safer to start by multiplying by 1.5, then taste and adjust as needed. This is particularly important if you're not always precise with leveling off measuring spoons. Strong flavors like salt and spice can easily overpower a dish when doubled, while more subtle ingredients like parsley can tolerate a little extra without much impact. Alcohol should follow the same principle: double by 1.5 first, then adjust based on taste.

How to Scale Baking Recipes

Baking requires a similar approach for base ingredients: flour, nuts, sugar, and dairy can typically be doubled with no issues. The tricky part comes with leavening agents like baking soda and baking powder. If these aren’t in the correct proportions, your baked goods may not rise properly, resulting in a dense texture or a collapse after baking. Given this, the most reliable method for doubling a baking recipe is to simply make two separate batches of the original recipe.

Additional Tips for Doubling Recipes

Finally, keep in mind to cover or chill any ingredients you're not yet using, especially when doubling a recipe. More food means more to manage, and things like butter meant to stay cold can melt at room temperature, or herbs may dry out. To avoid these issues, the best approach is to first write down the new ingredient quantities, and consider measuring each one as you go.