Baking Tips

I came across some useful general baking tips on this website and thought I'd share them:  

• Ingredient Prep
• Always make sure to read through a recipe start to finish - ingredients and instructions - before beginning. You may miss a crucial step needed in the preparation, or realize you need an ingredient that you're missing.
• In recipes calling for apples, try using two or three different types for variety in the dish.
• If your jam or preserves are a little too thick to spread, microwave them for a few seconds until they loosen up (but don't overdo it).
• Don't use old yeast! It only has a shelf life of 3 to 4 months.
• While you can buy many different tools to separate eggs, probably the best one out there is the shell itself. Just crack it open and catch the yolk in one half, and pour it back and forth until it's fully separated. You might not get it the first time, but practice makes perfect!
• Measure out oil first before other ingredients like honey or peanut butter because it helps them not stick to the measuring cup. Alternatively, you can give the measuring cup a quick spray with Pam.
• Butter softens best sitting out for an hour at room temperature, but if you need to speed it up, use the microwave - just make sure to put it on a lower setting or you'll end up with melted butter.  
• Using room temperature eggs in your recipe will help them better incorporate into the rest of the ingredients.
• Keep your brown sugar tightly sealed so that it doesn't harden. If it does, you can try and revive it by microwaving it next to a cup of water for two to three minutes.
• Brown sugar is usually measured as a "packed" cup - which means you press the sugar down into the cup to make sure it's as full as possible.    
• Happy Baking!