Questions tagged [baking]

Questions about cooking by dry heat without direct exposure to a flame, typically in an oven.

Most questions in this tag will be about some type of leavened product: cakes, pastries, breads, and so on. However, any food cooked by convective heat at moderate temperatures may be considered baking.

If your question is about cooking meat, vegetables, or other non-rising food, especially at very high heat, consider using the tag instead. Other common oven techniques that are not baking include and .

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How do you decide what temperature to bake at?

What is the logic behind the choice of temperature for baking? Obviously if you're following a recipe it will say what temperature to use, but I'd like to understand the reasoning behind it. Is it a matter of density (thicker foods need to be cooked…
Gabriel Hurley
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Substituting butter for oil: Does it matter for baked goods?

When a recipe (like for muffins) calls for vegetable oil, does it matter if I substitute the oil for butter because I want that buttery taste in the muffins? Do I need to compensate for the difference by adding/subtracting the amount of butter…
zachary
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What makes a chewy brownie?

I've tried many different brownie recipes and most of mine bake to a cake-like consistency. The brownie holy grail for me is crusty top chewy brownies. What can I add/remove/do that will make my brownies chewier?
Issam
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Difference between Maida and All purpose flour

I'm baking tonight and I'm out of All purpose flour. I'm lazy to run out to the grocery store. Can I replace All purpose flour with Maida (Maida is better known to Asian Indians - we use it for making Naans and such)
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How to get threads in a yeast dough?

I think I may make some traditional food for Easter this year. What I love most is a type of rich sweet bread called kozunak. The perfect kozunak is defined by many qualities, but what I find hardest is the texture. First, it should be really…
rumtscho
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How to stop my cupcakes from sticking to their cupcake wrappers?

I have found that every time I make cupcakes (or muffins, cornbread & hot dog muffins, etc) that the paper liner sticks to the finished cupcake. I know its not me because the Tim Hortons 'muffins' also stick to their liners. How do I fix this?
Kyra
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Why is there a difference between softened and melted butter when baking?

I once tried to make some cookies and assumed that melted butter would be the same as softened butter. It didn't work out... Why does it make a difference if you use softened or melted butter? Seems like it all ends up the same if you beat it…
Brh
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How to adequately secure a liquid filling in a piece of pastry?

I mixed peanut butter, chocolate, heavy cream, honey and froze it in an ice cube mold. Then I put those cubes into dough and baked at 180°C for 15 minutes. The dough is great, the filling is good, but all of them leaked: How can I adequately…
Sergey Zolotarev
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Why do my brownies inconsistently end up hard and thin?

When I make brownies, I sometimes end up with really hard thin brownies instead of thick fudgy soft brownies. I bake them the same amount of time, use the same ingredients, and use the same equipment each time. Are there any reasons why my brownies…
Jacob R
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When baking a cake that calls for butter, should you use salted or unsalted?

I'm baking a cake using a cake mix and extra ingredients. It calls for 5 tbsp of butter, but I'm not sure which to use, salted or unsalted. What difference would it make??
user4053
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Is cheesecake a cake or a pie?

Is cheesecake technically a pie or a cake? I'm curious as to why. Are there solid definitions of what makes a dessert a cake or a pie?
Paul Biggar
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Why should I boil pretzels in baking soda water before baking?

This weekend I made pretzels from Alton Brown's recipe. This recipe, and others I've seen, call for dipping the pretzels one by one in boiling water with baking soda for 30 to 60 seconds. I assume the boiling water will help the pretzels come up to…
stephennmcdonald
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How much do egg yolks and whites weigh, in grams?

I have an Italian recipe that has been translated to English. The recipe calls for 360g egg whites and 240g yolks. Can anyone tell me how much this is?
My Sister Eileen
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Order of combining wet and dry ingredients when baking

I've always learnt that you add the wet ingredients to the dry ones. Looking at some recipes: "Combine the dry ingredients, the flour ... Add the other wet ingredients, melted butter ..." "Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until just…
rbrayb
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Why can't these fish sticks be made in a toaster oven instead of real oven?

My toaster oven has a temperature gauge just like my oven 200-450 degrees. I opened a package of fish sticks and the instructions said "Do not cook in microwave or toaster oven." It only had instructions for cooking them in a regular oven. Do you…
user4296
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