20 Baking Hacks That Will Save You Time and Money!

20 Baking Hacks That Will Save You Time and Money!

Whether you love being in the kitchen, or loath it, we all have those moments where we wonder what we were thinking stepping foot in there.  This rings even more true when something we’re baking goes awry. There you are making the perfect cupcakes only to realize you ran out of icing sugar.  Or perhaps you’re making your favorite cake and realize the brown sugar is as hard as a rock.  Your egg broke and left little shell pieces floating through your batter.  These kitchen hacks will help you out of many of those moments that make us want to never bake again.

  1. Use hot water to warm eggs to room temperature. There will be many a times where you’ll be baking away only to go add the eggs and realize that you were supposed to add them to the batter room temperature, not straight from the fridge. Don’t fret! Just grab a large bowl and fill it with hot water, place your eggs inside the water for a few minutes to bring them to the right temp                                                                                                                                      20 Baking Hacks That Will Save You Time and Money!
  2. Your recipe calls for buttermilk, but you don’t have any on hand. Simply grab some vinegar from your pantry and add 1 tablespoon for every 1 cup of milk. Don’t have any vinegar on hand? Don’t worry! You are looking to add acid to the milk to help it curdle, so lemon juice works great as well.
  3. You can make brown sugar at home if you run out! If you need some brown sugar for a recipe but ran out, don’t run to the store just yet. You can easily make some at home with white sugar and molasses! Add one tablespoon of molasses to every one cup of brown sugar you need. Mix in a bowl. Store in a Ziploc bag. It will look goopy at first, don’t worry. It works!                                                                                                                                                                                      20 Baking Hacks That Will Save You Time and Money!
  4. Juice your lemon to its fullest! To get the most out of your lemon, or lime, simply roll it on your countertop like a ball, apply pressure to it. You’ll be able to feel it going more pliable under your palms. Cut in half and squeeze all the juice out! Alternatively you can also heat the lemons in a microwave for 5-10 seconds.
  5. Use non-stick spray to easily release sticky ingredients. Peanut butter, corn syrup, honey or molasses can all be a hassle to get out of the measuring cup. To easily remove these stubborn, sticky ingredients from the measuring cup simply spray it before hand with non-stick cooking spray. It will easily release your ingredients into the bowl where they belong.
  6. Play-Doh cutters! Looking for some unique, themed or fun new cookie cutters? Look no further than your child’s play-doh stash. Wash and dry thoroughly before using!                                                                                               20 Baking Hacks That Will Save You Time and Money!
  7. Turn white sugar into confectioners’ sugar. If your icing can use a little more icing sugar, but you ran out, don’t worry because you can make your own with some granulated sugar you probably have on hand. Simply add it into a good blender, food processor or even a coffee grinder and continue to blend it until it resembles icing sugar. Voila!
  8. Use an apple to moist your brown sugar. We’ve all been there. You go to use your brown sugar and it’s hard as a rock. Simply add a slice of apple to an air tight container and leave it for a couple hours. It should moisten your sugar enough to be able to use it once again.
  9. Use water on your finger tip to get out egg shell pieces. This is a much easier method than trying to fish out the egg shells with a spoon. Just wet your finger and put it into the egg where the shell pieces are then watch the shell stick to your finger like a magnet!
  10. Use a doily to decorate your baking. If you’ve run out of butter or don’t have enough icing sugar to decorate your cupcakes or cookies simply lay a doily or lace over your baking and sift powdered sugar over the doily. Carefully remove and you have a beautifully decorated dessert!                                                                                                     20 Baking Hacks That Will Save You Time and Money!
  11. Use Jello to color and flavor your frosting. Who said you had to use food coloring to add a splash of color to your icing. Simply use a few tablespoons of your favorite Jello flavors/colors to add some fun and flavor to your baking!
  12. Ran out of butter for your baking? Use an avocado! This tasty alternative will not only work as a substitute for butter in any baking, but it will also make it a little healthier!                                                                                     20 Baking Hacks That Will Save You Time and Money!
  13. Ran out of ripe bananas for something yummy? Just place them into an oven on 400* for 30-40 minutes to ripen the bananas.
  14. No icing? No problem! Just place a marshmallow on your cupcakes for the last five minutes of baking to create a delicious, fluffy topping to your dessert!
  15. Is your cake crumbling while you try to put the icing on? Place your cake in the freezer for twenty minutes, or more (it won’t hurt it!), to create a sturdy cake that won’t crumble under the pressure.
  16. Ran out of sprinkles? Make your own! Just add a scoop of granulated sugar into a bowl and add a few drops of food coloring. Place on a baking sheet and bake for ten minutes in a 350* oven.                                                                     20 Baking Hacks That Will Save You Time and Money!
  17. Use a grater to help thaw butter faster! Just grate the butter into a container. It takes a lot less time for it to de-thaw and is very easy to grate in its hard state.
  18. Use Ziploc bags to replace a piping bag. We’ve all run out of a good piping bag at the worst moment. Don’t fret! Just grab a Ziploc bag from the drawer and snip the tip off. You can still use a piping tip in the bag and pipe with ease.
  19. Heat your knife for perfect cuts! If you’re ever making delicious brownies, cheesecake or nearly any other dessert and are worried about your cuts coming out jagged or sloppy just heat your knife under hot water for a few minutes, dry thoroughly, then cut!
  20. Chocolate melties are a great mess-free decorating alternative for kids!  We all know kids love to help decorate the goodies we make, and who can blame them!  To make it fun and mess-free for you simply melt some chocolate melties, either white colored with food coloring or colored already, and add it to a piping bag.  Draw your decorations on some wax paper and let cool, then remove.  Allow your kids to place the decorations to the cupcakes leaving a clean counter behind them!  Shown: chocolate meltie eyes, noses, ears, mouths and teeth!                                                                                                                                                                                    20 Baking Hacks That Will Save You Time and Money!
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