Useful Tips for Baking

• To add a Southwest accent to your brownies, unwrap and cut up 12 caramel candies. Sprinkle these on top of the batter in the pan before baking the brownies.
• If you have had baking powder or soda for a time, you can check to see it it still has leavening power by adding a small amount to a bit of very hot water. If it bubbles and fizzes, then it is still good.
• When adding nuts to a batter, do so at the very last moment and the nuts will have a crispier texture.
• Use only the collared portions of citrus skins, since the white pith is bitter.
• If you are chopping nuts in a fast food processor, use a portion of the sugar or flour specified in the recipe. It will keep the nuts from sticking together from their oils.
• All nuts taste better if they are roasted in an oven set at 350 degrees F for 5 to 7 minutes to crisp and release their fragrant oils.
• If you are out of baking powder, mix ½ baking soda and ½ cream of tartar.
• Mixing chopped nuts, dried fruit, or other additions with a little of the flour called for in the recipe will keep them from sinking to the bottom as they bake.
• Raisins and other dried fruits are better if plumped before they are added to a dough or batter. Pour boiling water over the dried fruit and soak for 30 minutes. Then drain and blot well on Bounty paper towels.
• If using glass baking pans instead of metal ones, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F.
• Shiny metal pans reflect heat, so foods are tender with a light brown crust. Dark metal or enamel pans absorb heat so foods brown more quickly and develop a crust.
• Non-stick cookie sheets should be light coloured, or cookies may brown too much on the bottom.
• Allow at least 1 inch between pans so that they do not touch the oven. Also allow at least 1 inch between the pans and the wall of the oven.