08/10/2026
5 things I’ve learned about baking since opening my business 2 months ago…
-To get those big tall and fluffy muffins you see in restaurants and bakeries? 1) Always always always do every other space on the muffin tin for extra air flow. 6 a pan. 2) Use a tulip liner which is extra tall, which in turn forces the muffin to get taller because there’s no where else to go! 3) Start on high heat for 5 minutes before switching to a lower heat to finish baking. This is usually 425. This blast of heat causes the muffin to expand quickly, giving a tall rounded look.
-Want thick and chewy cookies? Shape into ball’s and freeze. Bake from frozen. Starting from frozen means they wont spread as much because everything is so cold! If you want the chewy cookie but it didn’t spread quite as much as you wanted and still kind of looks like a ball? Just press on it with the back of a spoon or your hand a little to flatten. Make sure the surface doesn’t still look greasy and shiny. That means it’s not done.
-Baking and then freezing quick breads while still warm(specifically those with fruit or vegetables in the batter) deepens flavor and retains moisture.
-How differently the different materials that compose a pan will make things bake!
•Glass pans- heat more slowly, retain heat longer, produce more browning on edges and bottom, food can take longer to finish on the middle.
•Aluminum- gives even light browning, heats quickly and evenly, good for delicate cakes
•Dark/nonstick metal- absorbs more heat than shiny aluminum, can burn edges and bottom before middle is finished, can give cakes thick edges. You may need to use a reduced oven temperature.
•Disposable aluminum pans- heat quickly, don’t distribute heat as evenly, thinner than regular pans so will have more browning, the pan can flex which makes handling items harder
•Ceramic/stoneware- takes a while to heat up, retains heat extremely well, gives gentler/slower baking(so bake times can be longer), gives light brown edges
•Cast iron- takes a long time to heat, holds heat very well, gives strong browning/crisping
So choose the right pan depending on what you are making for optimum results 🙂
-Lastly: baked goods are an amazing community builder. Everyone likes treats. But a lot of people are scared to bake because there are a lot of little tricks that it takes time to know to get consistent goodness. So they don’t. I lived on my street 3 years and hadn’t gotten to know my neighbors as much as I liked. So when I started this business I asked them if I could gift them my practice goods so that they weren’t wasted. And they all were so excited and happy to receive them! In 2 months I went from living there 3 years and not knowing anyone’s name to knowing all their names, having their phone numbers, knowing their kids, waving hi and yelling out the window “have a good day!” as we drive past each other on the street, and learning about life moments for them and how hard other peoples lives can be. A muffin seems small but when no one else gives you muffins it becomes a pretty big thing! It’s been good for my kids too, to see their mom sharing, and to sometimes get to be the one to hand it off to the receiver. My son will walk in the kitchen and see me baking and ask “are we going to be kind and give it to our neighbor?” 😅 because that’s what I tell him when we do it! I love to see them learn goodness. Matthew 7:12- “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” ♥️ Happy Baking!
