Hints

Baking has always been a passion and although I don't share all of my recipes, I'm thrilled to share others. There are some hints and tricks that everyone should know when trying to accomplish magic in the kitchen. They aren't secrets, but if you haven't spent a lot of time on recipe websites, in recipe books, or in the kitchen there are times when you feel at a loss that someone else can use the same recipe you use and get such a different result. Sometimes it is just nice to have someone hand you a few hints.

So I'm going to share some of my favorite hints for baking. Try them and you will know why I love to "tweak" a recipe.

So Here we go...

Hint 1: You don't have to recreate the wheel. Use the tools available to you and use them for all they are worth!

Hint 2: Pudding. Pudding. Pudding...

Let me elaborate on that. Take the Nestle Toll House Recipe for example...

Cut the Flour down to 2 1/8 of a cup and add a package of vanilla pudding. Don't take my word for it. TRY IT! I promise, you'll love the result. Tweak it a little more, to get a chewy cookie, use bread flour instead of all purpose.

To elaborate a little further...

Pudding and Cake... Have you noticed all the cake mixes that claim "the pudding is in the mix". Why? Did you ever wonder about that?

Try this the next time you bake a boxed cake mix. Ignore the instructions on the back of the box and do this instead:

Moist and Delicious Boxed Cake Mix

• 1 Box Mix (any flavor)
• 1 Package Pudding Mix (Vanilla for most flavors and Chocolate for Chocolate cake mixes)
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• 1/2 Cup Oil
• 1/2 Cup Warm Water
• 4 Eggs

Follow the mixing and baking instructions on your box only substitute these as your ingredients. You won't be disappointed. Oh... ADD CHOCOLATE CHIPS to your Chocolate Cake Mixes. I think Mini work best.