30 Must-Know Baking Hacks

Love baking so much that you can’t get enough of it? Here are some tips and tricks that will make your baking life easier and make your kitchen more efficient

1. Broken eggshells in a bowl? Wet your finger and place it next to the shell. Watch the broken shells magically flow toward your finger.
2. Use butter instead of vegetable oil when making cake out of boxed mixes. You can also replace the water in the recipe with coconut milk, juice, or milk, depending on the taste you’re going for.
3. Decorate cookies and cakes like a pro with a frosting-filled syringe.
4. Store cookies with a slice of apple to keep them moist. Moisture from the apple will be transferred to the cookies keeping them soft and chewy.
5. Sprinkle powdered sugar through lace if you don’t have any frosting.
6. To soften brown sugar that has hardened, chuck it in the microwave covered with a wet paper towel for about 20 seconds. You can also put it in an oven at 300ºF for 5 minutes.
7. Store your brown sugar with a slice of bread or a large marshmallow to keep it soft.
8. Mix white sugar with molasses to make your own brown sugar.
9. Swap avocado for butter in cakes for a creamy and healthier alternative.
10. Use a box grater to lightly grate the charred portions of your burnt cake layers, cookies, or muffins.
11. Need to ripen your bananas? Put them in the oven for 40 minutes at 300ºF.
12. Putting a large marshmallow on your cupcakes during the last five minutes of baking will give you an easy, no-fuss frosting.
13. Make whipped cream even without a stand mixer by shaking it in a jar.
14. Placing a slice of bread on top of your cake will make it super moist until you’re ready to frost it.
15. To get the perfect texture, drop your cakes before putting them in the oven to get the air bubbles out. For cookies, drop the cookie sheet as soon as it comes out of the oven to make them settle faster.
16. Use aluminum liners or place cupcakes in jar lids if you don’t have muffin tins.
17. Make your own cupcake liners using parchment paper by shaping the paper using a measuring cup.
18. When decorating, use a toothpick to “write” on cakes.
19. Attach a paper plate as a shield on your mixer to prevent splatter.
20. Use an ice cream scoop lined with butter to get perfectly even cupcakes every time.
21. Food coloring, sugar, and a rolling pin is all you need to make sanding sugar sprinkles.
22. Tie wet fabric strips around the outside of your baking pan to cool the outside and allow your cake layers to cook evenly.
23. Use a Ziploc bag or plastic wrap cut with a small hole in a corner to make an icing bag.
24. Put butter under a warm glass, or roll it under a rolling pin to get it soft without melting.
25. Take chocolate chip cookies to the next-level by adding coarse sea salt on top to make the butter and chocolate taste richer.
26. Fold your frosting bag over a cup to make it easier to fill.
27. Using a can of Coke with your chocolate cake mix results in a simply delicious fudgy delight.
28. You can make bread by combining melted ice cream and flour.
29. Use ice cube trays to perfectly proportion your cookie dough.
30. Bake cookies in a muffin tin to make them soft and even. You can also flip the muffin tin over to make cookie bowls.