Confession. I didn't know how to cook until my mid 30's much less bake. My idea of cooking was throwing a pizza in the oven or cooking pasta and topping it with a jar of spaghetti sauce.
As far as baking, my skills went as far as being able to read the instructions on the back of a brownie or muffin mix.
I literally knew nothing about cooking or baking which is why it's hysterical that I now run a food blog and do recipe development for several websites full time.
As I was losing 80 pounds and started transitioning to eating healthier, I became more interested in cooking and baking because I knew if the foods I ate were boring, I would never stick with my goals.
How did I learn? Reading cooking magazines, asking my Mom who's a wiz in the kitchen and a lot of trial and error.
When it comes to cooking and baking, you just need to jump with both feet in and face your fears.
Accept that not everything you make will be perfection, and realize that this is how you will perfect your skills.
Now, I can look at a recipe and almost immediately figure out how to make it gluten free, lower calorie and even Paleo-ish.
Today the focus is on baking. Specifically, how to measure for baking. Baking requires more precision than cooking.
You can't throw a dash of baking soda and a sprinkle of flour and pray it turns out.
There's more science involved, and with gluten free or grain free baking, you have to be even more careful than with regular flours as some of them are more dense.
I'm always surprised by the number of people who comment on a recipe assuming the recipe is bad, when in fact, it's actually a bad habit. For example, if you dunk a measuring cup into a bag of flour you will get 1.5 to 2 times the amount of flour.
A recipe for a baking disaster! That's generally the case with those who I speak with. A bad practice yields a bad outcome. Hence, why I'm writing this post today!
In the video, I show you 3 tips on how measure for baking the right way and what mistakes to avoid.
I don't see a video
The video is showing on my end in this post. Certain browsers like Safari may be blocking it.
So where's the video?
It's there now. Not sure why it wasn't showing previously.
I'm trying to make the Coconut Flour waffles and the batter always turns out runny and I have to add more coconut flour. I do as the recipe says and measure everything. But I have yet to get it to work without adding more coconut flour. What's wrong.
Hard to say because I'm not there watching, but a few things to consider. Is your baking powder old? Have you subbed any other ingredients? Are you spooning the flour into a measuring cup? Also recommend you watch the recipe video for the waffles. It's in the recipe and may be helpful to answering this.
Ok, I'm laughing! Face palm to forehead and big fat DUH! This is Home Econ 101, and I'm thinking,"Egad, it's true! The advanced work in anything is the basics done really well. No wonder my waffles have been so heavy! Thanks for the reminder!
Thank you for the specifics about measuring. I have been baking for 65 years, and many times out of convenience have measured flour and sugar incorrectly, I an now making vegan recipes and protein recipes, and will do it the right way.
I'm glad it was helpful for you Nancy! Thank you so much for commenting and letting me know.
Thank you Megan, finally the answer to my baking nightmares, never realized I did everything the wrong way in measuring until now! I was laying the blame on the almond and coconut flours, I guess I owe them an apology. Thank you for all your great helpful videos.
Thank you! I'm so glad it helped!