Can You Change the Pan Size of a Recipe?
This weeks question comes from June who writes:
I’m really enjoying your site. My question is in recipes that call for pan that are 8×8, and 9×9, can they be doubled to 9×13′s,and would the timing be any different? Thanks June
Here is what I would recommend for changing pan size:
If you have a recipe for a 9”x9” pan, you will have a more accurate result by mutiplying the recipe by 1 1/2 rather than doubling. A recipe for an 8”x8” pan, I would go ahead and double.
Either way, your end result will be a bit thicker than the original recipe so yes, you would have to adjust the cooking time. Start with an additional 5 minutes and keep adding a minute until you get the desired result.
If there is leavener in your recipe, changing the pan size can affect the amount required. In June’s case, the quantity should be fine but if your results are dry are metallic tasting, reduce the amount of baking powder or soda. Here is a post that expains why and how to change the amount of leavener.
Feel free to ask me any of your food-related questions, just leave a comment on any post in the Foodie-file. You will find a lot more answers to cooking questions under the Foodies Ask category of the Foodie-file like:
Can You Freeze Leftover Cream or Milk
Can You Replace Trans Fat with Butter
What’s The Difference Between Potato and Tapioca Starch
Yes, pan sizes can be changed for
recipes; it depends on what the
recipe is. I’ve gone from small
to large for one recipe, then from
large to small for another
Re: changing the size of a pan in a cake recipe and also the post regarding the change in the raising agent, I have a question. When baking banana BREAD, it is baked in a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and, as you know, is quite a dense cake. Could I bake the same recipe for the banana bread in different size pans (ie. 10 inch square, 8 inch square and 6 inch square pans)? I am thinking that as I want the breads to be approximately 3 inches deep, it would be better to bake each cake separately and thinner and sandwich 2 layers to gether to get the 3 inch depth. I am afraid of baking them and find the middle is not baked through properly. The only other solution is: do you have a banana CAKE recipe that is as dense as a banana BREAD recipe that could be baked in the bigger pans.
Thanks.
June L.