Let’s Bake! I love to bake, do you? I dabble in baking whenever possible. Baking cookies + donuts + the occasional muffin are my absolute favorite. It makes my heart happy when one of you shares with me that you made a cookie recipe from this blog for your family. So, I hope that The Vegetarian’s Beginner Guide to Baking helps you as we enter holiday baking season with my top 10 tips for baking when you aren’t really a baker (like me 😊).
Tara’s Tuesday Tips:
The Vegetarian’s Beginner Guide to Baking
- Make sure you have everything on the ingredient list before you start. More importantly, make sure you have all the time you need to prep AND bake AND cool.
- Keep the oven door closed! This is a huge pet peeve of mine! Shut the door or the heat escapes + changes the structure of your baked goods + alters the cook time.
- Silicone baking mats are a baker’s best friend. So, you should invest in some!
- If you are a novice baker, bake cookies! There are no cake recipes on my blog! For a very good reason. I know that I am not that great at developing cake recipes or icing or working a piping bag. Regardless, I leave that to the trained bakers! However, I do make a very awesome cookie and leave the cakes to someone else.
- Melted butter + softened butter are not the same thing. The measurements are off if you swap one for the other. For instance, you will see it listed as melted, softened, room temperature or cold. Do what the recipe says!
- Baking soda + baking powder are not the same thing and are not interchangeable! Firstly, baking soda is simply sodium bicarbonate. Secondly, it needs to be mixed with an acid to work. Third of all, when it is mixed with the acid, it beings to work and releases C02. On the other hand, baking powder is a mixture of the acid and the sodium bicarbonate and requires moisture to activate. Above all, follow the recipe + don’t swap these!
- If the recipe says “flour” and does not specify what type of flour, it means all-purpose flour. Be careful with swaps, check the recipe notes or the body of a post to see if the creator gave flour swaps that will work.
- Embrace the baking fails. Making baking mistakes will make you a better baker! I have had many many many failed baking adventures. Keep calm + bake on!
- Measure your dry ingredients properly by using a scale (if the recipe includes weights). Alternatively, if you do not have a scale, measure dry ingredients by filling the measuring cup to the top and level it off using a straight edge or a knife (some measuring cup sets come with a straight edge).
- Get to know your oven. Surprisingly, all ovens have “hot spots” and will cook things faster or slower than your recipe calls for. The best advice I have on ovens is to always preheat first, use the middle rack, and don’t over crowd it!
The Vegetarian’s Beginner Guide to Baking RECIPES!
ALL of my baking recipes right here in one place!
The Vegetarian’s Beginner Guide to EGGLESS Baking
How To Bake Without Eggs is one of my most popular articles on this blog!
Everything you ever wanted to know about baking without eggs! Read it here.
Food For Thought
Baking intuition is not something we are born with. We cultivate our baking skills over time. However, the more you bake, the better you will become at it. It is so satisfying + wonderful to bake something that turns out right + your friends and family happily enjoy your baked goodies. These tips on my list are things I wish I knew years ago when I began my baking adventures. Don’t be frustrated if you fail! Firstly, keep at it and you might find that you get lost in a recipe. Secondly, baking can be a great stress release, a culinary therapy. Third of all, baking is a way to get family + friends gathered in the kitchen. Above all, lots of traditions are born out of baking. Life (and baking) are about the journey not the destination. I hope you find something wonderful to bake! 🍪
Happy Baking, fam! 🧁
All the best,
Tara 🍩
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