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Over the years, I’ve compiled a list of the questions I get most often from readers, as well as the general tips I like to give to set you up for success when baking my (or any other) recipes.

These tips apply to the majority of my recipes, but if you ever have any specific questions – just drop a comment on the post itself so I can help you directly!

#1: Measuring in Grams and Properly Measuring Flour

I cannot emphasize this enough: this is the most common mistake I see people make when baking, and it can and will make or break a recipe.

All my recipes are written in both grams and cups, but measuring in grams is the most accurate way to bake. Not only do cup sizes and measurements vary around the world, but the amount in a cup can even vary based on the method in which you fill the cup.

This is especially true with ingredients like flour, cocoa powder, and brown sugar. If you use the cup to scoop directly out of the bag, you’re pretty much guaranteed to end up with too much.

If you are measuring with cups, be sure to use the fluff and scoop method. Fluff flour or cocoa powder in the bag/container with a fork then use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup, then run the back of a knife along the top of the cup to even it out.

Using a simple kitchen scale to measure all your ingredients is the easiest way to bake. It will change your baking game – I promise!

#2: Should I Use Salted Or Unsalted Butter?

I know this is a hotly debated and controversial topic among bakers and recipe developers. I’ll be honest, when it comes to butter, I just don’t think it’s that serious!

I personally find that salted butter adds so much richness and enhances the flavor of many baked goods. At the same time, I personally prefer my desserts on the less sweet side, and salt really cuts the sweetness.

You are welcome to use either unsalted or salted butter in my recipes, but I, myself, love using salted butter.

Whether something is too sweet or not sweet enough is always going to come down to personal preference. “It’s too sweet” or “It’s not sweet enough” is always an opinion, never a fact!

#3: Why aren’t my cookies soft?

In my experience, if you followed the recipe and measured everything correctly, then this is most often due to over-baking.

Most people are overbaking their cookies! Trust me, I used to do this when learning how to bake in my teens and never understood why my cookies weren’t soft.

For most of my cookie recipes, you’ll want to remove them from the oven when they still look slightly underbaked in the middle, but the edges are set. Golden brown means you’ve likely already overbaked them!

This is the key to cookies that actually stay soft for days. You can always bake a test cookie first!

This topic leads me to…

#4 Oven Thermometers

If you are consistently finding that your recipes are over or underbaked, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are typically quite inexpensive (in North America you can get one for under $10), and will tell you if your oven temperature is accurate.

I’ve baked in 5+ ovens over the last few years and at least 4 of them had completely innacurate temperatures, either being way hotter than the temperature I set them to, or not hot enough.