Cooking, baking, and spending time in the kitchen can be both fun and challenging. While it’s fun to make your favorite meals or desserts, the process can take time and a lot of effort.
Finding ways to make baking and cooking easier means you have more time to spend with your family or doing other non-cooking activities. We found 65 baking hacks that will change the way you bake, making your life in the kitchen so much easier.
These kitchen hacks range from ripening bananas faster, to easy ways to apply frosting to cupcakes or cakes, to tricks for keeping cake moist and softening hard bread.
If you are in a time crunch and need your bananas to ripen faster, put them on a baking sheet and throw them in the oven for 40 minutes at 300°F. They will come out perfectly ripe and ready to be made into a delicious banana bread right away instead of having to wait for days on end for them to ripen on their own.
Everyone knows how annoying it can be when you crack an egg and a little piece of the shell accidentally falls into the bowl. The tiny pieces are so hard to get out! Next time this happens, just wet your finger and place it next to the shell. It will be drawn to your finger and stick to it.
If you dip your cookie cutter in flour before using it, it will slice right through the dough much easier. There will be next to no sticking. You may have to add a little more flour occasionally depending on how many cookies you are cutting. The idea is to keep it nice and coated.
Next time you are using pre-made cake mix in a box, try replacing the vegetable oil in the recipe with butter. It will taste much better that way. For an even richer cake, you can also use milk, coconut milk, buttermilk, or juice instead of water.
A lot of recipes state that you should use room-temperature eggs. If you’ve just taken the eggs out of the fridge, that could take a while. One way to warm them up faster is to place the uncracked eggs into a bowl of warm water. After a few minutes, they will be ready for use.
Ever wonder how the professionals get the frosting on their cakes and cookies looking so perfect? The trick is to use a syringe. Fill a syringe with the frosting, and then squeeze it out in whatever design you would like.
Ever pull a stick of butter out of the fridge or the freezer and it is hard as a rock? Soften it up faster by placing the butter in a plastic baggie, then going over it with a rolling pin. Use a rubber spatula to scrape it back out of the bag.
If not stored properly, cookies can get stale and hard rather quick. In order to keep them moist, try placing an apple wedge in the container with them. The apple wedge will keep the cookies from drying out as quickly.
When making biscuits and pie crusts, you want your butter to be as evenly distributed throughout the dough as possible. An easy way to accomplish this is to grate your butter before mixing it in. Any regular cheese grater will work just fine.
10) Powdered sugar designs using lace
If you are out of frosting, make cool designs on the top of your cupcakes or cookies by sprinkling some powdered sugar through a piece of lace. Simply place the lace on the baked good. Then pour a small coating of powdered sugar over it.
If a recipe calls for powdered sugar, but all you have is regular sugar, don’t fret! You can make your own. Add one cup of sugar to a food processor or blender along with one tablespoon of corn starch. Then lightly pulse a few times until it reaches the desired consistency.
12) Color frosting with Jello
If you don’t have food coloring on hand, one alternative way to color frosting is to use Jello mix. It also adds a delicious fruity flavor to the frosting. Follow
this recipe so you get the perfect balance of color and flavor. You don’t want to accidentally use too much.
Make your own mixer splash guard by using a paper plate. Punch a hole in the middle of the plate, and fit it around your mixer. The plate will prevent any of your ingredients from splattering out of the bowl as you mix away. This hack works for both hand and stand mixers.
If your brown sugar is hard as a brick and stuck in a bunch of clumps, try microwaving it. Place the brown sugar in a baking dish, and cover it with a wet paper towel. Then microwave for around 20 seconds. It should come out much softer.
One of the big problems with measuring out sticky substances like honey or molasses is that they always get stuck in the measuring cup. Next time, try coating your measuring cups with cooking spray first. It will make whatever you are measuring slide back out much easier.
16) Keeping brown sugar soft
Prevent brown sugar from hardening by keeping a slice of bread in the container with it. You can also use a few large marshmallows. Don’t worry about the bread becoming moldy either. It normally isn’t an issue, and you should rarely have to change it out.
Dental floss works great for slicing through things like cinnamon rolls or cheesecakes. It will cut right through perfectly without any sticking like when using a knife. This hack works for pretty much any soft baked good.
18) Create your own brown sugar
If you find yourself fresh out of brown sugar, create your own by mixing together white sugar and molasses. Combine one cup of sugar with 2 tablespoons of molasses, and mix. It’s easiest if you have a small food processor, but it can also be mixed with a spoon.
19) Fluffier whipped cream
When making your own whip cream from scratch, chilling the bowl and mixer beaters in the freezer beforehand will result in a much fluffier end product. Everyone loves a light and airy whipped cream. The cold will help to create stiffer peaks.
20) Making gluten-free flour
Want to try baking some gluten-free cookies? Make your own gluten-free flour by running oats through a food processor. Not only will it work just as good as regular flour, but it is also healthy and delicious.
21) Getting rid of air bubbles
Air bubbles can be so annoying when making cakes. They can ruin an otherwise smooth cake or cheesecake. Next time, try hitting your pan full of batter on the counter top a few times before baking. It will force the air bubbles out of the batter.
22) Replace butter with avocado
If you are looking for a slightly healthier alternative to butter when baking, try replacing it with avocado. It’s not exactly the same but is a decent option. It’s probably best to try it out first with an avocado specific recipe like this
chocolate avocado cake.
23) Measuring cupcake batter
For perfectly uniform cupcakes, try measuring the batter using an ice cream scoop. It makes it so much easier to get an even amount in each of the liners. It also helps to spray the ice cream scoop with cooking spray first to prevent sticking.
24) Wine bottle rolling pin
If you are ever in a crunch and find yourself without a rolling pin, try using a big glass bottle like a wine bottle. They work great. The long, skinny neck of the bottle makes them very easy to hang onto and roll across your dough.
25) Prevent a cooking spray mess
It’s easy to end up with cooking oil everywhere when spraying it onto your baking pans and trays. Spraying your pan over top of an open dishwasher is a good way to catch all of that stray oil. Next time you do a load of dishes, it will all be washed away.
Cake has a nasty habit of drying out super quickly if you let it sit too long before icing it. Putting a slice of bread on top of it while it is cooling will help to keep it moist until you are ready to apply the frosting.
27) Making boxed-cake moister
The secret to making boxed-cake mix moister? Add a spoonful of mayonnaise into the batter. It sounds gross, but it actually shouldn’t affect the flavor at all. Really, if you think about it, mayo is basically just eggs and oil.
28) Make your own sanding sugar
Sanding sugar can be really expensive for the amount that comes in the little containers. Luckily, it’s actually super easy to make your own sanding sugar sprinkles at home. All you need is regular sugar, some food coloring, and a rolling pin. More instructions can be found in
this video tutorial.
You don’t need a whole bunch of special tools to make fancy designs on the edges of your pie crusts. Forks, spoons, and even tongs all work great for creating cool little designs. For starters, try taking a fork and using it to make a crisscross pattern or take a spoon and simply work it around the edges making little indentations.
Make your own icing bag by using a zip-lock baggie or even just normal plastic wrap. Fill the bag up with icing. Cut a small hole in the corner of it. Then decorate away! It won’t have the little metal nozzle like the professional bags, but it will still definitely get the job done.
31) Use breadcrumbs to keep cake from sticking
When making a cake, sprinkle fine breadcrumbs into the bottom of the baking dish for easy cake removal after baking. When finished, the cake should easily slide out of the pan. Breadcrumbs are a great alternative to flour, which many cooks use, and taste a lot better too.
For no-mess pancakes, mix the ingredients in a large plastic bag. Next, cut off one of the bottom corners and use the bag like a pastry bag by squirting the desired amount of pancake mix onto the cooking surface. Voila! No-mess cooking.
33) Turn regular sugar into confectioner’s sugar
If you find yourself low or out of confectioner’s sugar, you do have some options. If you have regular sugar, place it in a blender, blending the sugar until it is of a proper powdered consistency for your needs. If you have any powdered sugar left over, store it for later use.
34) How to make perfectly cooked cheesecake
It is sometimes hard to get your cheesecake just right. One way to ensure that your cheesecake gets baked all the way through is to measure the internal temperature with a cooking thermometer. Once the outside gets up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, you can turn the oven off. The heat generated by the outside should be enough to cook the center to the consistency you want.
35) How to boil water faster
You can do a simple task, such as boiling water, much faster by taking a few simple steps. The first thing you can do is to make sure to only boil as much water as you need, since more water means it takes longer to come to a boil. In addition, cover up the water using the lid of the pot you are boiling the water in. The lid helps trap in the heat, which makes the water boil faster.
36) The best way to get the juice out of a piece of citrus fruit
If you find that you need to squeeze a piece of citrus fruit for its juice, warm it up beforehand. By placing it in the microwave for 5 to 10 seconds before squeezing, you can get way more juice out of the fruit.
37) Keep your cookie dough in the freezer
Not only does it keep cookie dough fresher to keep it in the freezer between bouts of making cookies, it also makes the dough easy to work with. Wrap the dough in plastic or place it in a bowl covered with plastic when storing. In addition, you can go ahead and roll the dough into the perfect cookie size before freezing to make it easier to use later on.
38) Keep brown sugar soft
The easiest way to keep brown sugar soft is to place a marshmallow, or two, in with the brown sugar. At the same time, keep the brown sugar in an airtight container to keep the moisture in the sugar from leaking out. This can lead to the hardening of your brown sugar.
39) How to get a perfect cut with your brownies
An easy way to get the perfect cut the next time you make brownies is to place the knife under hot water before using it. Dry off the knife, and then cut the brownies. The residual heat should make a perfect slice every time. Make sure to repeat the process for each cut.
40) How to roll pie dough
Before rolling pie dough the next time you decide to bake a pie, cool down the countertop first. This should make it easier to remove the dough from the countertop once you roll it out. To do this, fill up gallon-sized Ziploc bags with ice and a little bit of water. Lay the bags flat on the countertop where you plan on rolling out the pie dough.
41) How to cook bacon using a waffle iron
For the perfect crispy bacon, place a few half strips onto a waffle iron, set on medium heat, and cook for two minutes and 30 seconds before moving the bacon around. Cook the bacon for an additional two minutes and 30 seconds before removing.
42) Easy-to-make buttermilk
If you ever find yourself in need of buttermilk for a recipe, save yourself a trip to the store and make your own. To do so, mix 1 tablespoon of vinegar in a cup of milk, and allow it to sit for five to 10 minutes. You can also use lemon juice if you do not have vinegar.
43) Keep your mixing bowl steady
Keeping your mixing bowl steady when combining ingredients is easy with this simple trick. Roll a damp dish towel into a long tube, and place it on your counter in a circle. Then, place the bowl on the towel and mix the ingredients using a mixer.
44) Make stale bread soft again
To make stale bread, such as baguettes and whole loves, soft again, hold the bread under some running water until the crust is good and wet. Next, place the bread in the oven set at 325 degrees for six to seven minutes. The steam from the water should rehydrate the bread making the interior soft once more.
45) Store cake in the microwave
Your microwave is the perfect place to store cake leftovers at room temperature. The microwave is free of dust, sealed, and keeps your cake fresher for far longer that leaving it sitting on the counter. You can also keep bread, tortilla chips, and other items in the microwave for maximum freshness.
46) How to bake a perfectly level cake
To avoid the necessity of leveling out the layers of a cake you are baking, soak tea towels in water and wring them out. Wrap the wet tea rags around the outside of your baking pans. The moisture should keep the temperature of your cake more even, allowing the layers to rise more evenly.
47) Ripen avocados faster
If you buy your avocados from the store and find that they are not ripe enough for use when you need them, use this simple hack. Place the avocados in a paper bag, and seal it to speed up ripening. You can even add in an apple or banana to make the ripening process go even faster.
48) How to apply salt to cookies
If you have a cookie recipe that requires sea salt, place the salt on the bottom of the cookies for the best taste. In addition, placing the salt on the bottom of the cookies keeps the salt from bouncing off of the dough and all over the place.
49) Using dental floss in the kitchen
Keep a small box of unwaxed, unflavored dental floss handy in the kitchen for a variety of cooking hacks. Not only does dental floss allow you to easily cut cakes and soft cheese, you can use it to stress meat and easily lift cookies from a baking sheet.
50) Best way to prepare eggs
For a fluffier egg texture when cooking, raise the temperature of your eggs first. The easiest way to do this is to leave them in a bowl on the counter at least 30 minutes beforehand. In addition to being fluffier, room-temperature eggs makes your batter more even.
51) Grill fish atop citrus fruit
To prevent fish fillets from becoming a stuck-on, burnt mess, cook them atop sliced citrus fruit. Simply slice the fruit of your choice into equal slices, and then place the fillets atop the fruit on the cooking surface. Not only does this keep your fish from sticking, it adds a little flavor.
52) How to remove the burnt part of a cake
To easily remove the burnt part of a cake, use a vegetable peeler to shave the burnt portion off. This allows you to save as much of the good part of the cake as you can. You can also use this with muffins. Some cooks even use a file to file away burnt areas on their baked goods.
53) The benefits of using unsalted butter
For better baked goods, make sure to use unsalted butter in your recipe. Salted butter often changes the chemistry of your baked goods and can interfere with the overall flavor. Plus, many recipes already include salt, so using salted butter adds salt you don’t really need.
54) Use a spoon to easily peel ginger
An easy way to peel ginger is by using a spoon. To peel ginger using a spoon, lightly scrape the tip of the spoon across the surface of the ginger. As you scrape the coarse brown skin away, you should see white flesh underneath.
55) How to stabilize whipped cream
A cake with whipped cream frosting is delicious, though the whipped cream can deflate or become weepy. To help your whipped cream maintain its shape for longer, add marshmallow fluff. The fluff helps the whipped cream hold its shape.
56) How to chill wine and beer faster
An easy way to chill a bottle of wine or beer fast is to wrap the bottle in a wet paper towel and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes. If you just need a single glass of chilled white wine, add frozen grapes or blueberries to chill the wine without diluting it.
57) Hard-boiled eggs in the oven
To prepare hard-boiled eggs in the oven, place the eggs into the cavities of a muffin tin. Heat the eggs for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. After you take the eggs out of the oven, immediately submerge them in ice water for 10 minutes.
While it might seem backwards, starting at the end of your recipe and working your way back ensures that you have all of the items you need when cooking. Only after you have everything ready, should you follow the recipe from the beginning.
59) Keep your greens fresh
An easy way to keep your greens, such as salad, spinach, or arugula, from wilting is to place them in a plastic container lined with paper towels. The paper towels absorb any excess moisture away from the greens, keeping them fresher for longer.
60) How to ripen bananas fast
If you need ripe bananas but only have green ones, use this simple hack to ripen them quickly and easily. Place the bananas on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven at 300 degrees until dark brown.
61) Easy butter warming tip
If you need warm butter but only have cold butter, you can use this hack to quickly warm it. Fill a glass with boiling water, and allow to sit for a minute. Carefully pour out the water, and place the now-warm glass over the cold butter. Remove the glass once the butter begins to melt.
62) How to easily peel hard-boiled eggs
To easily peel a hard-boiled egg, place the egg in a small glass and fill it halfway with water. Next, shake the glass with your hand over the opening. Pour out the water, and remove the egg. The shell should easily slip off the egg.
63) Make pitting cherries easy
Place a cherry on top of an empty beer bottle. Use a chopstick to squeeze the pit out of the cherry. The pit will fall into the bottle.
64) Prevent microwave dryness
Microwaves can cause food to dry out. But there is a way to combat this. Place a cup of water next to your food in the microwave when you cook it.
Wrap a rubber band around the lip of your jar. It will give you a better grip on your jar. If you need more help, use a dishtowel over the rubber band top.
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The next time you need to save time in the kitchen, try out these hacks. More than a few of these tips will most likely make your life much easier when preparing your next meal or baking a fun dessert.
