Articles
How to Soften Butter Quickly
Have you ever headed to the kitchen to get started baking and realize the recipe calls for softened butter? But your butter is still in the fridge and you don’t want to wait 1-2 hours for it to sit out to reach room temperature. Is it really that important? Is there a way to quickly soften the butter?
The Journey to Pavlova
Want to know what goes into recipe testing? Sometimes, it's 17 tries to get something just right! Here's the journey to pavlova – plus key tips and tricks to making the perfect pavlova every time.
Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder: What’s The Difference?
Have you ever had a baking disaster like an overflowing quick bread, or a cratered cake? It’s happened to experienced and amateur bakers alike, and the most likely culprit: mixing up the baking soda and baking powder. It’s easy to do, they’re both types of chemical leaveners They also look similar and have similar names. But that’s where the similarity ends. So, what is the difference between them?
All About Meringue: French vs. Swiss vs. Italian Meringue
While all meringues are featherweight and ethereal, they’re not all created equally. Originating from different European traditions, we’re exploring the similarities and differences of all three types — French, Swiss, and Italian meringues. Plus, we have tips and tricks to making perfect meringues every time.
How to Make Better Biscuits
Here in the Test Kitchen, I’m known as the go-to girl for biscuits. It’s because biscuits have always been one of my favorite comfort foods. Warm from the oven simply slathered with butter, or covered with sausage gravy, there’s no wrong way to eat a biscuit. Growing up, my Mom made Bisquick biscuits, and I’ve eaten my share of canned biscuits too, but once I learned how easy biscuits are to make, there was no going back. So welcome to Biscuits 101.
Baking With Kids: Rainbow Sprinkle Cookie Edition
If you’re like me and trying to find new ways to keep the kids busy, I have the perfect baking project for you - Rainbow Sprinkle Cookies. Even if you don’t have kids and just need a little pick me up while being cooped up at home, baking with sprinkles has a way to bring a smile to anyone’s face.
The Secrets to the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Want to know the secrets to making the best chocolate chip cookies? We're spilling everything, from if you should use butter or shortening to which kind of chocolate chips to use. Plus, grab our recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies.
Step Up Your Baking Game by Weighing Your Ingredients
I hate to tell you, but you're probably adding too much flour to your recipe.
Tips
How to Make Chocolate Leaves
Here's a simple way to make chocolate leaves. Buying fresh roses every time you make chocolate leaves is costly so try our cost-effective (and reusuable) way to make these decorative leaves that elevate the presentation of your desserts.
How to Keep Berries from Sinking in Muffins
Banish those heavy-bottomed, soggy blueberry muffins for good with this simple trick to keep berries from sinking in muffins.
How to Make No-Weep Meringue
With this simple trick, you no longer have to worry about your beautiful desserts being ruined by soggy meringue leaking droplets of liquid. Say goodbye to weeping meringues forever!
Use Dowels for Even Dough Rolling
Rolling dough and pastry to an even, accurate thickness is hard with just a rolling pin. Here's a simple way to create guides to ensure even rolling of your pastry and pie doughs.
An Easy Way to Line a Springform Pan
Instead of carefully tracing and cutting your parchment to fit into the bottom of your pan, here's a quick way to line torte and springform pans.
How to Prevent a Gap in Double-Crust Pies
When you remove a double-crust pie from the oven, you're always crossing your fingers for a masterpiece, but sometimes the top crust separates from the filling, causing a gap. Here's a simple way to prevent this baking problem.
DIY Non-Stick Muffin Liners
Baking cups are great for keeping muffin tins clean, but sometimes the muffins stick to them, leaving behind parts of your muffin and leaving them looking mangled. Here's a quick tip to make your muffin liners nonstick!
How to Keep Pie Crust From Sticking and Sliding
Keep your pie crust from sticking to your counters and stop chasing your pie crust around when rolling it out with this simple tip.
The Many Uses for a Bench Scraper
One of the best kitchen tools is the bench knife (also known as a pastry or dough scraper). It’s a baker’s best friend and performs many tasks. Here are a few ways to use one in your kitchen.
How to Make Butter From Overwhipped Cream
Have you ever turned on your mixer to whip some cream and—OOPS—got distracted and forgot about it, only to return to clumpy, overwhipped cream? Don't throw it out...make butter!
Bake Sweet Rolls in a Springform Pan for Easy Release
A springform pan can be used for more than just cheesecakes! How about baking cinnamon and other sweet rolls in the pan for easy release and serving?
How to "Flour" with Cocoa for Chocolate Baked Goods
Buttering and flouring a pan can help your baked goods release cleanly-but can leave a white film on chocolate-based desserts. Here's a super-quick tip to solve this problem.
How-To's
How To Assemble a Layer Cake with Frosting
Follow these simple steps for a cake that’s both impressive and stable.
How To Make Perfect Flaky Pie Crust
Making Perfect Flaky Pie Crust really is as easy as pie. Armed with just a few tips in this simple, step-by-step guide, you’ll be an expert in how to make flaky, tender, and crisp pie crust in no time — you'll wonder why you ever bothered with purchased pie dough in the first place.
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Recipes
German Chocolate Cake
If you’ve got an overactive sweet tooth or a nearly insatiable craving for the melt-in-your-mouth goodness of chocolate, grab a cold glass of milk. This German Chocolate Cake is sure to satisfy.
It isn’t an exaggeration to say most of our staffers are chocoholics, which means it’s also safe to say it’s never in short supply in the Test Kitchen — especially when you discover the two drawers we’ve devoted entirely to stashing it. If chocolate is your weakness, too, we have the recipe f…
Double-Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Get your chocolate fix on with these simple drop cookies. With cocoa powder for a rich chocolate cookie dough and sweet white chocolate chunks, there’s plenty of chocolate flavor to go around. Not to mention macadamia nuts add a little crunch, too.
New York Crumb Cake
Tender cake with buttery crumb topping is all it takes to make breakfast a hit — except maybe the cup of joe to go with it.
Perfect Flaky Pie Crust
Follow this recipe for Perfect Flaky Pie Crust and these simple, easy-to-follow steps to yield the most flaky and tender pie crust you'll ever eat. This will be your new go-to crust for all your pie-baking needs. And be sure to check out our in-depth tutorial How to Make Perfect Flaky Pie Crust for a little more info before you start.
Lemony Popovers
Our Lemony Popovers make the perfect side dish to soups and stews. These flavorful popovers are savory and satisfying.
German Chocolate Macaroons
Some cookies impress you with their good looks. Sweet, dense, and chewy, coconut macaroons impress you with their taste. This one, loaded with flavors from German chocolate cake, is sure to become a year-round favorite. More than anything, this cookie was inspired by the signature coconut-pecan frosting the cake is famous for. Sweetened condensed milk helps bind the cookie together, sweeten it, and, once reduced, decorate the outer layer as well.
Chocolate-Chip Banana Bread
What is quick bread, anyway? Some familiar quick breads are biscuits, corn bread, muffins, and these loaf breads. What they all have in common is that they use baking soda or powder to rise instead of yeast.
Banana-Spice Muffins with Streusel Topping
Muffins aren’t new to the low-fat scene—every coffee shop has them. These muffins taste great and they're the healthier option when you're craving a sweet pastry. The best part is you can make them all yourself.
Granola mini-cakes with cottage icing
Granola is big in these little cakes, adding a variety of whole grains and nuts for a hearty texture.