additional time .
TIPS AND HINTS
Before preheating your oven, adjust racks to accommodate your baking task. Most recipes use the middle rack; pies bake
best in the lower third of the oven.
Carefully follow each mixing step in a recipe. Take care not to over- or under-mix.
Don’t crowd the oven, and avoid opening the oven door during baking – use the oven light to help you watch. With certain
recipes, particularly when baking more than one tray of cookies at a time, rotate halfway through baking.
Proper measurements are very important when baking. To measure flour correctly, stir the flour first, then spoon into the
measuring cup. Level off the top with the blunt side of a knife blade or the handle of a spoon. Do not press or compact flour. It
is also very important not to measure directly from the bag – while the flour is pre-sifted, it has been pressed/compacted to fit
into the bag. Baked goods made from unstirred flour are likely to be heavy and dry because too much flour is used.
For most baking recipes, refrigerated items like butter, milk and eggs incorporate better when they are at room temperature.
Remove butter from the refrigerator and cut into ½-inch pieces to help it come to room temperature faster while you measure
out the remaining ingredients. Do not warm butter in the microwave; this can change the
structure of the butter if it melts and give the finished product a different texture.
To separate eggs for use in any recipe, break them one at a time into a small bowl. Gentlyremove the yolks, then transfer the
whites to a spotlessly clean glass or stainless bowl. If a yolk breaks into a white, use that egg for another recipe. Just a drop
of egg yolk in the white prevents the white from whipping properly.
Scraping the entire bowl – sides, bottom and paddle over the course of mixing and adding new ingredients – ensures even
incorporation of ingredients and overall best results. The more you scrape the bowl, the better.
For whipping egg whites, both the mixing bowl and chef’s whisk must be spotlessly clean and dry. Any trace of fat/oil will
prevent the egg whites from whipping properly.
To check the freshness of eggs, place them in a bowl of warm water – if they float, they are not fresh. This is most important
when using for whipping egg whites. The fresher the eggs, the more stable the foam.
To melt chocolate for a recipe, put chopped chocolate in a double boiler insert or larger bowl over a pan of barely simmering
water.
The water should not boil, nor should it touch the bottom of the double boiler insert or bowl. If it does, this could cause the
chocolate to “seize” and you will not be able to use it in your recipe.
Always test yeast for freshness before using it in a recipe. Sprinkle a little over warm (105°F–110°F) water and add a pinch of
sugar or flour from the recipe. If it does not become foamy/bubbly in 5 to 10 minutes, the yeast may be “dead.” Start over with
fresh yeast from a new package.
COOKIE BAKING
Use an ice cream scoop to measure out cookie dough
this keeps the cookies evenly shaped and uniform in size. We recommend ice cream scoops in several sizes
#40, #50 and #60, as well as a larger one (about 1⁄3 to ½ cup) for jumbo cookies. Ice cream scoops are also good for
filling muffin tins. Use a #16 ice cream scoop to make muffins or meatballs.
To better maintain cookie shapes, put scoops of cookie dough onto sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap on a tray and chill
before baking. Most cookie dough can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days prior to baking
be sure to wrap well.
Cookie dough may also be frozen. Shape into individual cookies, double wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw before
baking.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper for easy release and easy cleanup.
Let cookies rest on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool.
This keeps cookies from wrinkling, crumbling or breaking.
Cookies must cool completely before being put into storage containers to ensure they don’t get soggy or misshapen.
BREAD BAKING
One ¼-ounce packet of yeast equals 2¼ teaspoons yeast.
Using milk in place of water will produce a softer crust.
After baking, you can soften the crust, if desired, by rubbing it with unsalted butter soon after removing it from the oven. This
prevents it from drying out quickly.
If a recipe calls for a specific type of flour, use the flour recommended. If you do not have bread flour, you can substitute
unbleached, all-purpose flour, but your bread may not rise quite as much.
Do not use “lite” or tub margarines for bread baking – they have different structures and they do not work as well in baking.
Vital wheat gluten is the dried protein taken from the flour by eliminating the starch. It is a good dough conditioner or
enhancement for yeast breads, especially for whole-grain breads or when using all-purpose flour. If a recipe specifically calls
for vital wheat gluten, we recommend that it be used for best results.
For 100% whole-wheat bread, use 1½ teaspoons vital wheat gluten per cup of flour.
Lite salt can be used if it has both potassium chloride and sodium.
Many bread recipes have a “range” amount of flour – start by using the lower end of the range, then add more flour as needed
to produce a smooth, not sticky dough.
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