c/baking-fails-and-wins

My aunt swore I needed to chill my dough overnight and I finally listened

She's been baking for 40 years and always told me my cookies spread too thin. Last weekend I made chocolate chip cookies and stuck the dough in the fridge for 12 hours instead of baking right away. The difference was night and day. They came out thick and chewy instead of flat and crispy. I used the same recipe as always, just let it sit overnight. Has anyone else had a tip they ignored for years that turned out to be true?

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jana_ellis95•10h ago

Heard someone say "baking is just chemistry you can eat" and I wanted to throw my failed loaf of sourdough at them

After 4 tries this month with my starter from Portland that kept coming out like a brick, I finally realized I was skipping the autolyse step because I thought it was just extra work.

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oliver719•2d ago

Last Wednesday my sourdough loaf exploded in the oven like a volcano

I used too much water in the dough and didn't score it deep enough, so it burst out the side and coated the bottom of my oven in burnt flour. Has anyone else had a loaf go rogue on them like that or was it just my mistake?

c/baking-fails-and-wins

My aunt swore I needed to chill my dough overnight and I finally listened

Heard someone say "baking is just chemistry you can eat" and I wanted to throw my failed loaf of sourdough at them

Last Wednesday my sourdough loaf exploded in the oven like a volcano

Burned $60 on fancy European butter before learning my cheap store brand works better for croissants

Tried a new sourdough recipe at 3am and it turned into a pancake

I finally figured out why my pie crusts keep shrinking

Tried swapping out vegetable oil for butter in my cookies and wow what a difference

I used to ignore feedback on my pie crust being too tough

Took me 6 months to realize my oven temp was 50 degrees off

Spent 2 years trying to fix my pie crust before I found the real culprit

My fruitcake turned into a science experiment overnight

I blew $45 on a fancy silicone bundt pan and my cake still stuck like crazy

Shoutout to the day I forgot to add sugar to a birthday cake

Visited a bakery in Portland and noticed a key detail in their sourdough

Rant: Hand whisk vs stand mixer for buttercream is no contest

Why does nobody talk about oven temp swings on cheap stoves

Been baking for 5 years and just learned my oven runs 50 degrees cold

Tried sourdough with store yeast vs. wild starter side by side

My bread always came out dense until I switched to a kitchen scale 6 months ago

Tried to make a sourdough starter and ended up with something that smelled like a dead animal after 4 days

My grandma called me out for using a stand mixer for everything

Tried replacing butter with applesauce in banana bread... what a mess

My sourdough starter finally doubled in 6 hours after 3 weeks of feeding

Don't bother with those expensive silicone baking mats from Amazon

A baker in my building told me my pie crust was tough and it took me 6 tries to fix it