I’ll ‘fess up: baking is not my strong suit. So over the years, I’ve hoarded all the baking tips, hacks and ingredient substitutions I could find, hoping they could help me learn to be a better baker.

And you know what? They’ve helped!

I’ve gone from making horribly rock-solid cookies, sunken cakes and dirty-tasting brownies, to making deliciously airy meringues and moist, yummy cakes.

I’ll probably always be on the lookout for sneaky tricks that make me be a better baker, but I’ve gotten a heck of a lot better than I was.

I’ve been keeping most of the hacks, tips, and tricks I find stored away in a big fat Evernote file.

Because I’m me and I’m obsessed with organizing my Evernote, I’ve got every tip tagged. That way, I can quickly search something like “butter substitution” when I find myself stuck.

(Which reminds me. There’s a tip down below of one of my fave baking hacks, especially for when I suddenly discover I’m short on butter!)

In any case, I’ve got the whole list of all my fave hacks, tips, ingredient substitutions right here for ya!

HERE ARE MY ALL-TIME FAVE BAKING HACKS AND TIPS TO MAKE YOU A DAMN BETTER BAKER:

»Take the chill away: Let your eggs and milk come to room temperature before using.

»Weight over volume: When possible, weigh your ingredients instead of using a measuring cup or spoon. It’s a lot more accurate!

»Turn them around: Rotate your baked goods in the oven halfway through baking.

MAKE LIGHT AND AIRY BISCUITS:

KEEP THAT FLOUR FRESH

No peeking! Keep the oven door closed while your item is baking. This one I learned the hard way (it’s the number one cause of sunken cakes!)

»Make your own powdered sugar: pulse it in the food processor or blender until it’s super fine.

»Cold hands, warm heart, better bread. It’s way easier to knead with cool hands, but I tend to run hot in the best of situations (especially when I’m breakin’ a sweat kneading dough!) If my hands start to get too hot, I’ll run them under cool water for a bit. It helps the dough knead way easier.

SKIP THE FLOURED SURFACE

MIX YOUR BUTTER BETTER

That’s it! Go forth and bake like the badass you are.

Got more tips and ideas? I wanna hear them! Leave your favorites in the comments, or drop me a line on Instagram or Facebook.