10 Baking Secrets
You NEED to Know!
1 A scale is your new BFF.
Seriously. Baking is all about precision and accuracy.
Whenever something goes wrong with baking, at
least half the time it’s due to inaccurate measuring.
Craziness, I know.
It’s REALLY easy to measure flour wrong which can
wreak all sorts of havoc on your baking. That’s why I
weigh my ingredients. And actually, every ingredient
has a different density so 1 cup does not always equal
8 ounces. Check out my Ultimate Guide to Measuring
here.
Learn more here.
2 So is an oven thermometer.
In the theme of precision and accuracy, your oven can
be wildly off in temperature. In fact, many home ovens
are off by 25°F or more!
Or, they take much longer to preheat to the correct
temperature than you’d think. An oven thermometer
ensures you’re always baking at the right temperature,
which can take your baking from good to great!
Get yours here.
3 Need room temperature eggs?
Do it in 5 minutes.
Lots of recipes call for room temperature eggs because
they mix into your other ingredients much more evenly.
Place your cold eggs in a bowl of warm tap water. By
the time you’ve gathered all your other ingredients and
tools, your eggs will be good to go!
[Link]
4 You can ripen bananas in your
oven (wha whaaa?!).
Need ripe bananas for a recipe stat?
Very ripe bananas are sweeter and softer, making them
perfect for baking. Ripen bananas by placing whole,
unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet in a 300°F oven for
about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the skins are darkened
and the fruit is soft.
5 Keep brown sugar soft, always & forever.
Hard brown sugar is such a buzz kill.
That’s why I always use have one of these little stones in
my brown sugar jar. Now I never have rocky clumps or
hard sugar!
Get yours here.
6 Butter should be at a cool
room temperature.
If your cookies come out like flat puddles or your cakes
or cupcakes are dense, flat, or flavorless, it’s because
your butter was too warm. Perfect room-temperature
butter for cookie baking should:
• Give slightly when pressed with your finger but still
hold its shape
• Be flexible without breaking or cracking
• Is at a cool room temperature of about 67°F
[Link]
7 Chocolate chip cookie dough should be marinated.
Yes, like meat.
Chilling your cookie dough for at least 24 hours, but
up to 72 hours, will seriously enhance the flavor AND
texture of your cookies. It’s what bakeries do. Just
trust me here, it’s worth the wait!
8 Want chewy cookies? Add in an egg yolk.
The extra protein in the egg yolk lends a
wonderfully chewy and rich bite to any cookie!
9 No buttermilk on hand?
No problem.
1 cup buttermilk can be substituted by 1 scant cup milk + 1
tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar. Just let the milk and vinegar
mixture stand for 5 to 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened with
small curdles, before using. You can also use:
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt + 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup sour cream + 1/4 cup water
10 Cutting a recipe’s measurements in half
doesn’t have to be hard.
Even if you hated math in school.
Here’s an easy list of conversions so you don’t screw up the math:
1 CUP (1/2 cup)
3/4 CUP (1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons)
2/3 CUP (1/3 cup)
1/2 CUP (1/4 cup)
1/3 CUP (2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons)
1/4 CUP (2 tablespoons)
3 TABLESPOONS (1 tablespoons + 1 1/2 teaspoons)
2 TABLESPOONS (1 tablespoons)
1 TABLESPOONS (1 1/2 teaspoons)
