Top 5 Baking Hacks

A post all about our favorite and most used baking hacks in the kitchen! Everything from how to make buttermilk to learning how to bring ingredients to room temperature quickly. 

Hey there! We have a different type of post for you today–a post all about our favorite baking hacks that we have learned over the years! This is a lengthy post, but it is worth it! In it, we provide tons of essential baking tips and advice.:)

Tip #1: How to Properly Measure Flour

If you take away anything from this post, this would be the most important tip to take with you!!

When measuring flour, it’s really common to do the “scoop” method–in which you scoop the flour with your measuring cup. However, this leaves you with extra flour, which can cause your baked goods to become dry or crumbly. The proper way to measure flour (which yields the right amount) is to use a spoon to fill the measuring cup until it is full, and then use the backside of a knife to level it off. That’s it–simple as that! It may not seem like it, but a simple change like this to the way you measure flour can produce much better results in your baked goods!

*This spooning and leveling technique should be implemented with all dry ingredients, but it is especially important with flour.

Tip #2: How to Make Buttermilk

This is a really useful tip when a recipe calls for buttermilk, but you don’t have any! All you need for this hack is milk and white vinegar.

(This recipe makes 1 cup of buttermilk, but can be easily adjusted to make more or less!)

Tip #3: How to Quickly Soften Butter (updated!!)

(This is the hack we use most often!)

To soften butter, unwrap your butter from the wrapper and place the needed amount on a plate. Slice the butter and leave in a warm place for a few minutes. Be sure to check your butter often to make sure it doesn’t melt. Use your finger to test if the butter is softened.

Tip #4: How to Quickly Bring Eggs to Room Temperature

To bring eggs to room temperature, simply fill a small bowl with warm water and place your egg(s) in the water for about 5 minutes or until the eggs are room temperature. This tip saves so much time and is super quick and easy to do!

Tip #5: How to Quickly Soften Cream Cheese

For us, cream cheese has been the most annoying ingredient to bring to room temperature–it is no joke that you have to wait hours! Only recently did we learn this trick, and it has been a life saver!!

To bring cream cheese to room temperature, place the cream cheese in a ziploc bag and make sure it is sealed tight. Then, fill a medium-sized bowl with warm water and place the bag in the water. Keep a close eye on this, because if your water is too hot, the cream cheese could melt–and you don’t want that! So, to avoid this, simply check it every so often; use your finger to determine when it is softened–it should take around 5-10 minutes. If you notice that the water is getting cold, you can replace it with more warm water.

**Note: If you remember (or have the time), it is preferred to bring ingredients to room temperature by leaving them out on the counter a few hours before baking. However, if you are in a pinch, the tips we listed work well.

We hope these tips help you and your baking experience. Now that you have some baking tricks up your sleeve, what are you waiting for? Get baking!;)

What are some of your favorite baking hacks?:)

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