Simple Things #4
I have to give credit where credit is due for the idea of posting about “simple” things. Amelia from YouCanAlwaysStartNow and I collaborate regularly on ideas for posts like travel, life, monthly challenges, as well as many other things.
I love to bake, it’s one of the things that relaxes me so today’s “simple things” are all about baking.
1. Easier Cookie Cutting
Once you’ve made your cookie dough and have it rolled and ready to go, dip your cookie cutter in flour before cutting out your cookie shapes. The flour helps the cutter cut through the dough so you can cut your cookies out faster and with less frustration!
2. Ripen Bananas Quickly
Here’s a great tip if you want to make a recipe like banana bread and your bananas are not ripe. To quickly ripen underripe bananas, put them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 300°F for about 40 minutes. You’ll end up with perfectly ripe bananas for your cakes and breads!
3. Warm Up Eggs Quickly
Starting a recipe that calls for room temperature eggs, but you just barely took your eggs out of the fridge? You can quickly bring those eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass or bowl of warm water. Let them sit in the warm water for a few minutes, and they’ll be ready to use!
4. Grate Your Butter
One of the keys to making perfectly flaky biscuits and pie crusts is having small pieces of butter evenly distributed throughout your dough. The easiest way to achieve this is to use grated butter! Grate your butter on a cheese grater then stir the butter pieces into the other ingredients.
5. Instant Powdered Sugar
If you’ve made a batch of cookies or cake that requires frosting and you check the cupboards and you could have sworn you had icing sugar, fear not! You can actually make powdered sugar if you have white sugar and cornstarch on hand. Just add 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to a blender or food processor. Just pulse the sugar mixture a few times until it gets to the right powdery consistency.
6. Mixer Splash Guard
I’ve been baking a long time and only figured this out recently. I use a KitchenAid stand mixer and every time I mix dry ingredients in it, even on the slowest speed, it still sputters out over the side. I now put a dish towel over the top of the mixer which drapes down over the sides and no more sputters. For eight more brilliant KitchenAid Hacks (and where I found this picture) visit the crazy coupon lady .
What is your favorite baking “simple thing”?
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Love the banana ripening idea. Don’t suppose overripe bananas …. freezer??? Wouldn’t that be great!
All my overripe bananas get peeled thrown in freezer bags, frozen and used for smoothies lol
Great tips but am especially drawn by the cookies. Yum…
yes those darn cookies get me every time…lol
lol me too 🙂
Great ideas. A few I have not heard before.
I’ve tried them all except the pancake and waffles one – that’s next 🙂