Five Things I've Learned: Baking

This girl named Ali who lives in Kansas City has this blog I really like called Gimme Some Oven. She has this series of posts called "10 Things I've Learned" where she invites people she knows to write about... you guessed it, ten things they've learned. I like this idea (copycatting is the highest form of flattery, right? That's what my momma always told me...) so I decided to do it myself. Except for I'm bringing it down to five things I've learned (because, well, I still have a lot to learn so I probably can't come up with ten) and have decided to focus on different things. So tonight is the first installment of Five Things I've Learned and we are starting with baking because, well, I know a thing or two (or five...) about baking.

Five Things I've Learned: Baking

-There is a difference between melted butter and softened butter. This may seem obvious to most people... but if you're a beginning baker you must know that there is indeed a difference between melting and softening. It can make or break a recipe so be careful.

-Read the recipe all the way through before deciding to make it or not. It could have weird ingredients or high maintenance instructions and you may not be up for it. Confession: I have learned this but rarely practice it and often regret it. The excitement gets to me and I just go for it. Then I realize - "Oh, this has to chill overnight before I can bake it." or "Oh, I should have melted that butter and let it cool like 30 minutes ago." Read the recipe first. You'll thank me later.

-Be careful when microwaving chocolate chips... you can burn the chocolate. I don't know how many times I've done this and had to run to the store mid-recipe to buy another bag of chocolate chips. The truth is, melting them on the stove is a better way. But if you're in a hurry or just like the taste of radiation in your chocolate, a microwave will do... just do it in short increments of time and/or on a lower power.

-If a recipe contains a lot of brown sugar, it's going to be a winner. I can't tell you why... it just is. Trust me on this one.

-It's better to undercook something than overcook it. I always take cookies and bars out a little bit before I think they should be done. They will continue cooking in the pan/on the sheet so it's ok to take them out a little early. It's better to be a little soft than completely charred - in my humble opinion.

So there you have it. Nothing grand... but a few things, five actually, that I have learned about baking.