These tips and tricks will make your holiday baking a cinch.
Updated: Nov 19, 2021
By ALEXIS ROCHESTER
These fun scientific kitchen tips will make holiday baking easier and might come in handy with Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner.
I absolutely love how science plays such a big role in baking, but also can help you out when you are in a jam. Like when you run out of an important ingredient, or your brown sugar is rock hard!
Thanks to science, there are some tips to keep handy that will make holiday baking easier this year!
Let’s get started!
Does your recipe call for buttermilk, but you have none?
Simple! Use 1 cup of regular milk, then add 1 tbsp. of vinegar or lemon juice. The acidity of the vinegar or lemon will sour the milk making it just like buttermilk.
Keep your brown sugar soft and fresh with bread!
Every year, I whip out all my ingredients for baking. Usually, the brown sugar is hard as a rock! All you have to do is place a slice of bread in the container it’s in and let it sit for a while.
It will be soft and fresh! Read more about that in this fun post.
Keep cookies softer for longer with bread or apples!
You can add a slice of bread or a slice of apple to a container full of cookies to keep them soft! The sealed container will help the cookies absorb moisture so they stay soft for days.
If you run out of BAKING POWDER, use this…
Baking powder is one of those ingredients you probably run out of easily because it isn’t as versatile as baking soda.
You can replace any baking powder in a recipe with this handy ratio: 1 tsp. of baking powder = 1/4 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp vinegar.
Vinegar will have a leavening impact on baked goods when you use it with baking soda (the acid and base react to form carbon dioxide and salt). I have used this substitution before and it works!
If you run out of eggs, try one of these substitutes!
You can find some easy substitutes for eggs in this list. This is also great if you can’t eat eggs! The key to eggs is texture and absorption in baking.
Fix gritty melted chocolate with boiling water.
Have you ever melted chocolate then it comes out really gritty and clumpy? You can fix this with a little boiling water.
Here are some instructions!
Microwave citrus to get more juice. I love using winter citrus in baking.
If you microwave the citrus (just stick the entire fruit in there) for a few seconds, it will breakdown the carbohydrates making it juicier!
Alexis Rochester is an investigative chemist, blogger and founder of Chemistry Cachet. She shares science-based skin care, cleaning, gardening and health tips. She was diagnosed with RA at age 10, so she has a passion for pain management tips and research, along with sharing her journey through this disease. When she’s not writing for Chemistry Cachet, she is taking Pilates or Barre classes, and also received her Barre teaching certification this year! She grew up in Stephenville and recently moved back with her daughter, husband and bulldog. You can find her posting pictures and fun stories daily on Instagram. Also look for Chemistry Cachet on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and LinkedIn.
