Top 3 Baking Tips

Get the inside scoop on how to enjoy great results from every recipe with my Top 3 Baking Tips. They make baking so much easier and virtually stress-free.

Learn how to measure accurately, whether you prefer baking with weights or measures – as well as the inside scoop on which way works best. I also share why it’s important to follow a recipe exactly but when it’s okay to be a little creative, as well as how to make easy swaps and substitutes. Last but not least, let me show you how to get the most out of your oven for beautiful bakes every time.

Baking is in my blood. I helped my Mom make her famous Bachelor Buttons cookies when I was just five years old and I have not stopped baking since. Get the benefit of my experience with my Top 3 Baking Tips.

My Top 3 Baking Tips

Whether you are just starting out or have been baking for some time, you can transform your baking from ordinary to extraordinary with my Top 3 Baking Tips – and don’t miss the short video below.

Top 3 Baking Tips

1. How To Measure Accurately

When it comes to my Top 3 Baking Tips, accurate measuring is one of the most important.

Both weights and cup measures work perfectly well. Weights are more accurate, but generations of cooks have been using cups very successfully. My recommendation is to always make the recipe using the measurements it was first written in unless there is a conversion provided. Attempting to convert recipes yourself doesn’t always lead to a good result.

If you measure using a scale, be sure to zero the scale using the bowl you are placing the ingredient in, and always measure each ingredient separately.

Top 3 Baking Tips - Make baking easy with my Top 3 Baking Tips - measuring with cups and measuring spoons

Here’s how to measure using cups. Be sure to use actual cup measures and measured teaspoons and tablespoons, available in most kitchen and grocery stores and of course on Amazon. You can’t just use a random cup or mug – or cutlery spoons for teaspoons and tablespoons – that doesn’t work.

Pour or scoop the ingredient into the measuring cup and then level the cup with the flat of the knife.

It’s the same with teaspoons and tablespoons.

The only exception is brown sugar, which recipes will call for either ‘lightly packed’ ‘packed’, or ‘firmly packed’. Lightly packed means just pushed into the measuring cup, packed is a little more pressed in and firmly packed is pushed in quite hard.

2. Baking Is Like Alchemy – The Formula Makes The Recipe Work

The second of my Top 3 Baking Tips is this. Unless you are a recipe developer, don’t mess with measurements of flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda/baking soda, eggs etc. Flavourings and spices can be usually be left out or changed. Add-in ingredients like raisins, nuts etc can generally be substituted or left out fairly easily. However, if you do change a recipe and it doesn’t work, please don’t blame the recipe developer. They tested the recipe as it was written.

3. Be Mindful Of Oven Temperatures and Baking Times – Keep An Eye On The Oven

The last of my Top 3 Baking Tips is this – be careful with oven temperatures and baking times. Recipes are affected by type of oven, the altitude you live at, even the weather. Keep an eye on the oven and always err on the side of caution (eg. If it says 8 to 10 minutes, set the timer for 8 minutes first). You can always cook things for longer, and sometimes you may need to. However, once they are over-cooked, there is nothing you can do.

And there you have it – my Top 3 Baking Tips. I hope they will give you great results every time – and help you enjoy baking as much as I do.