cooking

STOP! Before You Bake Anything, Read This

It's like your teacher always said: Read the instructions before you begin.
Image may contain Food Cookie Biscuit and Bread
Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Susan Spungen 

You've been waiting for the launch of the Basically Guide to Better Baking for days (for weeks? for years? for your whole life?) and you're ready to get started and, most importantly, to eat some cookies.

But before you do, give these 10 baking tips a careful read. We'll tell you how we measure flour and why you should care, how we line pans (even a pesky 13x9”), and how to get around waiting for cold butter to come to room temp. We think that if you internalize this advice, you'll be setting yourself up for success. And who doesn't want to succeed?

One last thing, though. We highly recommend that you read the recipe from start to finish, too. That'll save you from the deep pain of mixing cookie dough at 11 p.m. and realizing it needs to chill for two hours before being baked.

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  • You know how its okay to guess on the SATs but not on your medical history Well its fine to estimate when cooking—a...
    1/10

    The non-negotiable, must-buy baking tools

    You know how it’s okay to guess on the SATs but not on your medical history? Well it’s fine to estimate when cooking—a tablespoon here, a handful there—but not when baking, where an extra 25° F and ¼ cup flour can be the difference between chewy cookies and super-thin mutants that spread into one giant Pangea. Together, a scale and an oven thermometer will eliminate risky guesswork, lighting your path to success. Here’s why:

    • Electronic scale: One cup of any dry ingredient varies in weight depending on how densely it’s packed, but with a scale, you can make sure your measurements are correct and consistent. No more cake-like cookies or brick-like cakes. Not only will a scale save you from cleaning sets of measuring cups (tedious!), but you’ll also use it for brewing coffee and figuring out how many sweet potatoes equal a pound. Click here to read more about how food director Chris Morocco fell in love with this scale—and why thinks you should have one even if you aren't a baker.
      Buy It: Escali Primo Digital Scale; $25, amazon.com

    • Oven thermometer: Brownie bottoms burning before the interior’s cooked through? Scones slouching rather than standing straight? Sounds like you’ve put too much trust in that oven dial. Unless your superpower is to detect the difference between 325 and 375° by feel alone, a thermometer is the only way to know if your oven is actually at the right temperature, whether you’re baking biscuits or roasting chicken. 
      Buy It: Rubbermaid Instant Read Monitoring Thermometer; $7, amazon.com

  • Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Susan Spungen 
    2/10

    If you don’t own a scale, please, please, PLEASE measure flour correctly

    The way you measure 1 cup of flour will determine whether you're destined for heaven or hell it weighs 115 grams or 140. And that difference adds up: Too much flour can result in dense cakes, dry cookies, and dough that refuses to come together. Instead of the classic dip-and-scoop method, we prefer the spoon-and-level, which makes for a less compacted cup. It’s what we use to develop recipes in the Test Kitchen (and it yields a cup between 120 and 125 grams). Here’s how to do it:

    • Use a fork to rake through your flour (yes, even if it’s in a bag) to lighten it up

    • Spoon it gently into a cup, taking care not to compact

    • With the back of a knife, level off the top in one straight sweep

    • And if all that sounds annoying, kindly refer back to point 1

  • Photo by Chelsie Craig
    3/10

    Parchment is a baker’s best friend 

    Nonstick, heat-resistant, and altogether miraculous, parchment paper ensures that your finished product will release from the baking dish with minimal resistance (and zero begging or pleading). Most of the time, we like to lightly grease the pan with butter, oil, or nonstick spray, then use that slick to adhere the parchment, which we’ve trimmed to fit. Here’s how to cut it without frustration:

    For a round pan:

    1. Use a pen or pencil to trace the bottom of the pan onto parchment paper

    2. Fold the circle in half, to make a semicircle, again to make a quarter circle, and one last time to make an eighth of a circle

    3. Cut the arc, then unfold the paper to reveal a perfect circle

    4. Place pen-side down in pan

    For a square pan:

    1. Rip or cut a piece of parchment paper that’s approximately 13x18 (the size of a half-sheet tray)

    2. Fold it in half lengthwise, then cut so you have two 13x9 rectangles

    3. Place them in the pan in opposite directions, criss-crossing, so that there's enough parchment paper that you'll have a good grip on every side

    4. Once your bars are baked and cooled, use the overhang as a sling to lift them out

    For a 9x13:

    1. Rip or cut a piece of parchment paper that’s approximately 13x18 (the size of a half-sheet tray)

    2. Place the pan on the parchment and make four marks at its four corners

    3. Use scissors or a knife to make a straight slash from the four corners of the paper to the four marks

    4. Nestle the parchment paper in the pan, pressing it into the edges, so the slashes fold up to make neat intersections

  • Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Pearl Jones
    4/10

    Gear up

    Kitchen drawers are small, sacred spaces where no useless tools (cough, egg slicers) are welcome. But the following five will earn their keep:

    • A good whisk: A fork won’t do! Not only do whisks eliminate lumps, but they also aerate, turning eggs and cream into wondrous fluff. Opt for a French-style stainless steel whisk: Sturdy and narrow, it will fit into nearly any bowl/jar/pot. 
      Buy it: Norpro 9-inch Stainless Steel Whisk; $14, amazon.com

    • A flexible rubber spatula: Move over wooden spoons, these are multitalented and can reach corners and crevices. Use to stir butter as it browns, scrape batter from a bowl, and spread filling over cinnamon rolls.
      Buy it: GIR Premium Silicone Spatula; $13, amazon.com

    • A mini offset spatula: Perfect for unlatching blondies from the pan, transferring cookies from baking sheet to wire rack, making photo-worthy frosting swoops, and even prying open a can of paint? (I've done it!) Once you have one, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. 
      Buy it: Ateco 1305 Offset Spatula; $5, amazon.com

    • A rolling pin: Sure, you could use an empty wine bottle—but a fully fledged rolling pin gives you more control and consistency. Our preferred pin—wooden, French-style—is essentially a glorified stick, and it also comes in handy for crushing ice, smashing graham crackers, and fending off intruders.
      Buy it: J.K. Adams Maple French Rolling Pin; $20, amazon.com

    • A bench scraper: For times when you wish your hands were wider, stronger, and/or nonstick. A flexible plastic one comes in handy for working with sticky doughs or transferring a pile of chopped nuts or chocolate from cutting board to bowl. A sturdy metal one is better for heavy-duty tasks like dividing bread dough or scraping a grimy surface clean.
      Buy it: Ateco 1303 Scraper; $6 for set of two, amazon.com
      Buy it: Norpro Stainless Steel Scraper/Chopper; $6, amazon.com

    Ready for more? Check out our more obsessive list of baking tools here.

  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling Judy Mancini
    5/10

    “Room temperature” is a mandate, not a suggestion

    You know how it is: Your butter is fridge-cold but you want to bake a cake...now. Don’t turn a blind eye and proceed anyway: The temperature of the butter—or the eggs or the milk/cream/random dairy product—affects how it breaks down and mingles with the other components. Chilled butter won’t properly cream (see point 6), which means it won’t become airy and voluminous, and your cake will suffer. Cold eggs can cause the batter to curdle and collapse, and your cake will suffer. The list goes on. The good news? These workarounds will get cold ingredients to room temperature quickly:

    • Butter: Cut the cold butter into 1-inch cubes to increase its surface area for more even softening, then place it on a plate in an even layer and position it near the preheating oven, monitoring closely. Or, microwave a whole stick in 10-second increments, turning over between each. Proper room temperature butter is soft enough that you can make an impression with your finger but not so warm that it’s shiny, greasy, or slumping.

    • Eggs: Place whole eggs in a small or medium bowl, then fill the bowl with warm tap water and let the eggs hang out as you prep the rest of the recipe.

    • Cream/Milk/Buttermilk: Microwave at low power in 10-second intervals or heat over low heat in a small saucepan.

  • Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Susan Spungen 
    6/10

    Verbs matter

    Jogging and sprinting are both technically “running,” but they mean entirely different things. The same goes for “mixing.” While all of the verbs below fall under the mixing umbrella, they require different equipment, force, and patience to master. Learn them once, reduce the chances of overmixing, undermixing, deflating, undercreaming, or overcreaming forever:

    • Stir: mix with a spatula or spoon until ingredients are incorporated; to avoid overmixing, do the minimum needed to achieve a homogenous dough (as in, no streaks of flour or globs of egg)

    • Fold: use a rubber spatula to make broad strokes down the inside of the bowl and up around the sides, lifting the mixture at the bottom up and over; the goal is to incorporate gingerly without deflating—you can even stop when there are a few streaks left

    • Beat: mix with gusto, using an electric mixer or a utensil (spoon/spat/whisk) and arm strength in order to incorporate air and smooth out lumps

    • Cream: slam together solid fat (butter, coconut oil, shortening) and sugar with an electric mixer for several minutes until light (i.e. paler in color) and fluffy, with the sugar granules dissolved; this forces air into the butter, which is a critical step for leavening; over-creamed butter (it’s possible!) will be dense, greasy, and warm

    • Whip: whisk vigorously in order to stiffen and aerate; it usually applies to egg whites and cream, which can be whipped to soft peaks that flop at the top or to stiff peaks that hold their pointy tops

  • Photo by Chelsie Craig
    7/10

    Seriously, set a timer

    When a recipe tells you to whisk for 1 minute or beat for 5, hold yourself accountable. Set a timer and don’t stop ‘til it dings. Click here to read more about why we love this small, inexpensive, incredibly durable, multifunctional timer better than all the rest.

    Buy it: CDN TM8 Digital Timer and Clock; $13, amazon.com

  • Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Pearl Jones
    8/10

    Babysit your baked goods

    Just like your parents around your significant other, your baked goods need to be closely monitored. To prevent disaster and promote even baking, check halfway through and give your pan a 180° spin (and if you’re using multiple oven racks, rotate top-to-bottom and vice versa). Set your timer for a few minutes earlier than the recipe instructs—you can always keep baking (see next slide!) but you can never go back.

  • Photo by Chelsie Craig
    9/10

    Bake to the indicator, not the time

    The timer dinged but your cake is still jiggly in the center or your scones are anemic. Don’t panic and pull them out: Cook to the qualitative indicator (as in, “the scones are golden-brown all over” or “the cake springs back when you prod it” or “the cookies are set around the edges”), even if it means adding another five minutes to the clock.

  • 10/10

    The waiting is the hardest part

    Tom Petty said it best! With a few exceptions (like biscuits), you’ll want to wait until your creation is completely cool or set, no matter how much it pains you, for the sake of structure, texture, and flavor. You’ll be rewarded for your patience.

Sarah Jampel is a writer, editor, recipe developer, and food stylist based in Vermont. She was a senior staff writer and stylist at Food52 before joining Bon Appétit as senior cooking editor in 2019, which entailed heading up the Basically vertical, editing and developing recipes, and writing about everything from her [favorite... Read more
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