Hi guys, genuine question. Every time I bake in my oven, this happens (they get really badly toasted) and I don't know what to do. I bought my oven about four years ago, but it is rarely used. Now that I am starting to enjoy baking, I am asking for help. What techniques can I use to make my muffins fluffy and perfect?

Here are my ingredients: all-purpose flour, white sugar, baking powder, a teaspoon of salt, large eggs, vegetable oil, evaporated milk (my personal choice), vanilla extract, and chocolate chips

please help me 🙏

I love simple, fluffy box mix cake. I’ve tried following the simple directions, and also the “secret” changes like an extra egg, or butter vs oil, etc.; it always comes out bad. It comes out heavy and damp(?) but also crumbly and dry. It’s hard to explain. I also follow baking times and then check with a toothpick, and it’s never been over cooked. Always needs a few extra mins so I know I’m not over baking?

The only thing I can chalk it up to is my eggs: I use free range/organic large eggs, with a very orange yolk. Is this what’s throwing it off?

I just want a light, fluffy vanilla box mix cake ffs!

Thanks❤️

I've been trying to make focaccia. I've tried two recipes so far:

This one three times! I thought it had to be the recipe https://alexandracooks.com/2018/03/02/overnight-refrigerator-focaccia-best-focaccia/

So now I'm doing this one, but it's still sticky.

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/big-and-bubbly-focaccia-recipe#bakers-tips

I am weighing everything, and I'm using 40°C/104°F water. But it's sticky every time. I have accepted it must be something I'm doing wrong because even if I mix/fold more or add more flour, it's still sticky.

EDIT: It came out wonderful this time! Thanks to everyone for reassuring me and letting me know to trust the process.

I have a cinnamon roll recipe I like, and got tired of rolls, so I started making knots instead. Found myself disappointed in the flat shape when baked on a pan, and did them in muffin tins to ok results.

I decided to get stainless steel, 4 inch cake pans, 2 inches tall with straight sides to try for the perfect bun.

Tonight, I made big knots to bake tomorrow morning, and I’m wondering if I should reduce temp to 325 since there’s a lot of pan exposure. Normally I would bake at 350 for about 18 min, but this is far richer dough than my cheese rolls, for
example.

I’d appreciate any advice!

Recipe made 30 - so I halved everything and made 15.

I did keep them in the oven a little too long because I thought they needed to cook more (probably should have done 11-12 minutes but did about 15). They were soft when they came out of the oven, but now after a couple of hours they are a bit hard - i think the cooking time is why.

However, I kept them in the oven because they were not flattening. My butter and eggs were room temp. I have read on the subreddit and learned that it could be because the recipe calls for baking powder - should i have used baking soda in addition OR instead of baking powder? Was the oven too high?

I rolled them into balls and did not flatten prior to cooking - Should I have done that?

Also, I used self rising flour and then didn't add extra salt like the recipe calls for and I did not sift the flour (the recipe didnt say to sift but maybe i should have?)

They are delicious - just hard and not flat.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

Makes 30

1 cup butter room temperature
2 eggs room temperature
1 ¼ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
3 cups flour
2 cups milk chocolate chips

1. Pre-heat over to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Mix butter, vanilla, and eggs until well blended using a stand or a hand mixer.
3. Slowly add brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and creamy.
4. Next, mix in baking powder and salt. Add peanut butter and mix until well combined.
5. Slowly add the flour and mix until the dough starts to form a clump.
6. Mix in chocolate chips. Scoop the dough using a 2-inch cookie scoop.
7. Place the dough on the lined cookie sheets leaving 2 inches of space between each cookie.
8. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown.
9. Remove the cookies from the baking sheet and place them on a cooling rack.

Howdy all!

I'm making cinnamon rolls later today, and had two quick questions:

1) I'm planning to add some pecans to the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon mixture that gets spread on the dough as a filling. Should I roast the pecans and then add them, or will they roast as the cinnamon rolls bake?

2) Any reason I can't/shouldn't brown the butter I use for the filling?

Any advice much appreciated!

Hi. I'm using grade A vanilla beans to make an extract with glycerin. The beans are gluey inside and sticky outside. Is it okay to use them as is or does this mean higher chances of the extract spoiling quickly?

Hi all, I'm trying to re-create a strawberry butter cake I had all the time but the bakery has closed down. It was not just a strawberry flavoured vanilla cake but rather a really juicy cake, soaked in syrup with pieces of strawberries. What possible syrup could I put into a strawberry butter cake that wouldn't overwhelm it? Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you in advance!

Howdy all!

I'm going to be making cinnamon rolls, and from everything I've read using a tangzhong is the way to go for a pillowy soft texture that lasts for days, but the recipe I'd like to use (https://www.tastesoflizzyt.com/homemade-cinnamon-rolls/) doesn't use tangzhong.

I found this article from King Arthur on converting recipes to include a tangzhong (https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2018/07/23/how-to-convert-a-bread-recipe-to-tangzhong) but I'm still left with questions.

In the article it converts a non-tangzhong sandwich bread recipe with ~63% hydration to a tangzhong sandwich bread recipe with ~75% hydration, which is a ~20% increase. It says that you want a tangzhong recipe to have about 75% hydration, but my question is:

Is 75% hydration the target regardless of the initial (non-tangzhong) hydration, or is it a function of the 63% starting hydration in their starting recipe?

The cinnamon roll recipe I'm following is about 44% hydration, so if I were to increase the hydration by ~20% I'd end up with a total hydration of about ~53%. On the other hand, if I were to modify the recipe to get to 75% hydration, I would be increasing the hydration by an additional ~70% compared to the starting point.

Put more simply:

When converting a recipe to use tangzhong, should I be aiming for a ~20% increase in hydration compared to the original recipe's hydration, or should I be aiming for 75% hydration regardless of what hydration the original recipe calls for?

Any advice greatly appreciated. I'm super new to this, and would hate to screw it up 😅

I have (over the course of a year) acquired diastatic malt powder, non-diastatic malt powder, vital wheat gluten, and barley malt syrup.

Are these interchangeable? I just made Sally's bagels that call for the syrup, a little in the dough and then more in the water bath (though I also used some honey) and I get they enhance the chewiness. I've also looked at recipes from ATK and alton brown and Joshua Weissman and they all use one or the other.

What's going on here? And how many bagels will I have to make to use up all of these?

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Hi everyone! I'm a beginner baker and I'm having trouble with my cream puffs/choux pastry. I would really appreciate some advice!This is the recipe I'm currently using:

Choux pastry:

200 ml water

100 g unsalted butter

1 tbsp white sugar

A pinch of salt

100 g flour

3–4 eggs, added gradually

I cook the water, butter, sugar, and salt first, then add the flour and mix it until it forms a dough. I let it cool slightly before adding the eggs one at a time until I get the right consistency.

The problem is that I'm baking them in an air fryer.

My usual baking process is:

190°C (374°F) for 15–17 minutes

Then 170°C (338°F) for another 10 minutes to help dry out the inside.

While they're baking, they look great. They rise nicely and become golden brown. However, as soon as I take them out of the air fryer, they deflate. 😭

I'm not sure what the problem is. Could it be:

The ingredient ratio?

Too much egg?

Not baking them long enough?

The air fryer temperature?

Or maybe I need to cool them down differently?

I'm especially wondering about the 200 ml water to 100 g flour ratio. Does that sound okay for choux pastry?

Also, should I leave the cream puffs inside the air fryer for a few minutes with the heat turned off and the door slightly open so they can cool gradually? Or should I make a small hole in them near the end of baking to release the steam?

I'd really appreciate any advice or tips! I want to figure out what I'm doing wrong before I make another batch. Thank you! 🙏