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    Home

    Baking Basics

    Foundational Recipes and Techniques for Exceptional Home Baking

    Years ago, when I first started learning how to write good recipes, I was struck by the realization that most recipes assume that the person baking the recipe has a basic understanding of baking terms and techniques.

    Phrases like "grease and flour the pan", or "cream the butter and sugar" make perfect sense to someone who's been baking for a while. But, if you're a new baker, they can leave you feeling uncertain about what to do and how to do it.

    That's what this page is about. It's an ever expanding collection of baking tips and tricks designed to deliver important information and techniques for great home baking.

    Scroll down a little further on this page, you'll find a list of recipes I refer to as "Building Block Recipes". Building block recipes are tried-and-true recipes that I consider foundational to great home baking. Master these and even more complicated and intricate baking projects will become easy and familiar.

    • A white tray filled with whipped cream filled cream puffs.
      How to Make Choux Pastry {Pâte à Choux}
    • How to bring eggs and dairy to room temperature for baking
      How to Quickly Bring Dairy & Eggs to Room Temperature
    • How to separate eggs.
      How to Separate Eggs
    • How to grease and flour cake pans so cakes won't stick to the pan.
      How To Prevent Cakes from Sticking to the Pan
    • Someone using their fingers to crimp the edges of a pie crust inside a pie plate.
      How To Pre-Bake A Pie Crust

    Building Block Recipes

    Building block recipes are tried-and-true recipes that I consider foundational to great home baking. They are the kind of recipes I come back to over and over again, sometimes baking them as is, but often using them as a jumping off point to create something new.

    Master these and even more complicated and intricate baking projects will become easy and familiar.

    • Chocolate ganache dripping over the sides of a chocolate truffle cake frosted with milk chocolate buttercream.
      How to Make Chocolate Ganache
    • A loaf cake covered in vanilla icing, the icing dripping down the sides of the cake.
      Simple Vanilla Icing Recipe {Vanilla Glaze}
    • A Basic Vanilla Loaf Cake on a wood board that's been cut in half so you can see the moist, tender crumb.
      Best Vanilla Loaf Cake Recipe with 4 Flavor Variations
    • A tray of peach almond thumbprint cookies.
      Almond Thumbprint Cookies
    • A thick slice of New York Cheesecake with cherry sauce on top on a white plate with a gold fork.
      New York Cheesecake with Classic Shortbread Crust
    • Several freshly baked buttermilk biscuits on a serving tray.
      The Ultimate Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits {All-Butter Recipe}
    • Carrot Cake Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream and Salted Caramel Rum Sauce.
      Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream & Caramel Rum Sauce
    • A plate of pancakes covered in syrup with a fork cutting into the stack of pancakes.
      Everyday Buttermilk Pancakes
    • A baked toasted almond pie crust filled with chocolate pastry cream.
      Toasted Almond Pie Crust {All-Butter Recipe}
    • A pie made with foolproof pie crust, baked and ready to eat.
      Foolproof Pie Crust {Flaky, No-Fail Recipe}
    • A slice of pound cake covered with maple brown butter roasted fruit.
      Perfect Pound Cake
    • Spooning roasted fruit in brown butter maple sauce over vanilla ice cream.
      Roasted Fruit Sauce with Maple Syrup and Brown Butter
    • A stack of Anything Cookies with one cookie on the top broken in half to see inside.
      Anything Cookies {One Basic Cookie Dough, Endless Kinds of Cookies}
    • Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe, Quick and Easy | ofbatteranddough.com
      Easy Pizza Dough Recipe + How To Make Homemade Pizza
    • A spoonful of perfect pastry cream
      Best Pastry Cream {Crème Pâtissière}
    • Sinfully Rich Chocolate Devil's Food Cake {or Cupcakes}
    • Serving a slice of Spice Cake with Chocolate Buttercream.
      Intensely Flavorful, Super Moist Spice Cake
    • A beater full of Chocolate buttercream.
      Quick, Super Creamy Chocolate Buttercream
    • A tray stacked with Spritz cookies shaped like Christmas wreaths.
      Spritz Wreath Cookies
    • A tray of profiteroles that have been filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with a sweet red wine sauce.
      How to Make Profiteroles {French Cream Puffs}
    • Soft, homemade dinner rolls piled on a plate.
      Homemade Dinner Rolls {Soft and Buttery}
    • No peel, slow cooker apple butter for canning.
      Easy Apple Butter Recipe {Crockpot Recipe - No Peeling Required}
    • Drizzling salted caramel sauce from a spoon into a jar.
      Salted Caramel Sauce ~ All Cream Recipe
    • Piping American Buttercream onto Cupcakes
      American Buttercream {with Butter and Heavy Cream}
    • A slice of 3-layer perfect vanilla cake with vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream
      Best Tasting Vanilla Cake Recipe {Soft and Flavorful}
    • Someone dipping a chocolate chip cookie in a mug that's filled with milk. The mug is surrounded by stacks of chocolate chip cookies.
      Perfectly Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
    • Classic French Napoleon Dessert Recipe. Also known as the Mille Feuille Cream Pastry.
      Napoleon Dessert | Mille Feuille Cream Pastry
    • A stack of melt in your mouth buttery vanilla sugar cookies
      Vanilla Sugar Cookies {Soft & Chewy, with Cream Cheese}
    • Italian Meringue Buttercream {Step-by-Step Instructions}
    • A stack of three Perfect buttermilk caramel cupcakes with caramel frosting
      1 Hour Buttermilk Caramel Cupcake Recipe
    • A stack of soft, warm homemade flour tortillas.
      Homemade Flour Tortillas Made with Butter
    • A sliced loaf of easy banana bread.
      Classic {One Bowl} Banana Bread Recipe
    • A piece of homemade whole wheat bread.
      Honey Wheat Bread Recipe with Oats
    • Perfect White Sandwich Bread
      Simple Homemade White Bread {made with butter!}
    • Someone piping cream cheese buttercream from a pastry bag onto the top of a chocolate cupcake.
      Cream Cheese Buttercream
    • Everyone's Favorite Homemade Granola
      Homemade Maple Almond Granola
    • Moist yellow cake recipe with chocolate buttercream | ofbatteranddough.com
      Moist Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream
    • Champagne Cake with Champagne and Strawberry Italian Meringue Buttercream
      Champagne Cake with Champagne Italian Meringue Buttercream
    • A jar of butterscotch sauce with some sauce dripping over the side.
      Best Butterscotch Sauce {3 Secret Ingredients}
    • Homemade Cheese Crackers | ofbatteranddough.com
      Homemade Cheese Crackers ~ Buttery, Tender, Flaky Crackers
    • Homemade doughnut recipe featured | ofbatteranddough.com
      Doughnut Recipe | Overnight Homemade Doughnuts
    • Taking a bite of a chocolate eclair filled with vanilla pastry cream.
      Perfect Chocolate Eclairs {Filled with Pastry Cream}
    • Homemade hot fudge sauce recipe | ofbatteranddough.com
      Hot Fudge Recipe
    • The BEST Apple Pie Recipe | ofbatteranddough.com
      Best Apple Pie Recipe
    • New York Style Crumb Topping
      Buttery Brown Sugar New York Crumb Topping
    • Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
      Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour Substitute

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    Rebecca Blackwell

    Hi! I'm Rebecca, a baker, recipe developer, food photographer, and full time RV nomad.

    I’ve been baking for 25 years, both professionally and just for the sheer pleasure of it. In 2013, I launched this blog as a way to share my most tested, trusted, and much-loved recipes.

    Learn more -->

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    Logos from publications that have featured recipes published on this website.

    What to Bake Now

    • Classic French Napoleon Dessert Recipe. Also known as the Mille Feuille Cream Pastry.
      Napoleon Dessert | Mille Feuille Cream Pastry
    • A thick slice of New York Cheesecake with cherry sauce on top on a white plate with a gold fork.
      New York Cheesecake with Classic Shortbread Crust
    • Someone using a spoon to pour custard sauce over a slice of Irish Apple Cake.
      Irish Apple Cake with Custard Sauce
    • A slice of olive oil cake filled with lemon mascarpone pastry cream on a plate, ready to eat.
      Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Mascarpone Pastry Cream
    • Serving a slice of Lemon Layer Cake with Blackberry Italian Meringue Buttercream
      Lemon Layer Cake with Blackberry Italian Meringue Buttercream
    • A Basic Vanilla Loaf Cake on a wood board that's been cut in half so you can see the moist, tender crumb.
      Best Vanilla Loaf Cake Recipe with 4 Flavor Variations
    • A tray filled with white chocolate raspberry cookies.
      White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies
    • A slice of banana cream cake on a white plate with a bunch of bananas in the background. A gold fork is cutting a bite from the slice of cake.
      Banana Cream Cake
    • Carrot Cake Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream and Salted Caramel Rum Sauce.
      Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream & Caramel Rum Sauce
    • Someone using a fork to cut a bite from a health chocolate banana muffin.
      Healthy Chocolate Banana Breakfast Muffins
    • Using a spoon to scoop out a bite of warm homemade berry cobbler topped with ice cream.
      Berry Cobbler with Sugar Cookie Topping {Fresh or Frozen Berries}
    • A mixed berry muffin with brown sugar and oats streusel in the center of a table covered in muffins and berries.
      Mixed Berry Muffins with Streusel

    Trending Recipes

    • Salted Caramel Rum Sauce Dripping Down the Side of a cake.
      Caramel Rum Sauce
    • A stack of soft, warm homemade flour tortillas.
      Homemade Flour Tortillas Made with Butter
    • Champagne Cake with Champagne and Strawberry Italian Meringue Buttercream
      Champagne Cake with Champagne Italian Meringue Buttercream
    • French Cruller Doughnuts with Honey Glaze
    • Jars of strawberry rhubarb jam sitting on a table covered with bright green artificial grass.
      Strawberry Rhubarb Jam {No Pectin}
    • A slice of olive oil cake filled with lemon mascarpone pastry cream on a plate, ready to eat.
      Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Mascarpone Pastry Cream
    • Piping American Buttercream onto Cupcakes
      American Buttercream {with Butter and Heavy Cream}
    • A tray of profiteroles that have been filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with a sweet red wine sauce.
      How to Make Profiteroles {French Cream Puffs}
    • A slice of 3-layer perfect vanilla cake with vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream
      Best Tasting Vanilla Cake Recipe {Soft and Flavorful}
    • Soft, homemade dinner rolls piled on a plate.
      Homemade Dinner Rolls {Soft and Buttery}
    • Jars of homemade peach preserves on a table with a spoonful of preserves laying next to one of the open jars.
      Peach Preserves Recipe {No Pectin}
    • Several freshly baked buttermilk biscuits on a serving tray.
      The Ultimate Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits {All-Butter Recipe}

    New Recipes

    • A chocolate truffle cake frosted with milk chocolate buttercream, covered in dark chocolate ganache and decorated with homemade chocolate truffles.
      Dark Chocolate Truffle Cake with Milk Chocolate Buttercream
    • Someone using an offset icing spatula to spread milk chocolate buttercream over the top of a two-layer dark chocolate cake.
      Milk Chocolate Buttercream
    • A collage of 9 different desserts that were popular recipes in 2022.
      Top 22 Recipes of 2022
    • Using a cake server to serve a slice of French Apple Crumb Cake.
      French Apple Crumb Cake
    • A vegan banana chocolate muffin that's been broken apart so you can see how moist and tender it is inside.
      Vegan Banana Chocolate Muffins with Maple Tahini Glaze
    • Someone using a pie server to lift a slice of pecan pie from a cast iron skillet.
      Cast Iron Skillet Maple Pecan Pie
    • Three tahini brownies stacked on a cutting board. The top brownie has a bite taken out of it.
      Tahini Brownies
    • A piece of no-bake chocolate pie on a white plate with a gold fork cutting a bite from the slice.
      No Bake Chocolate Pie ~ Chocolate Mousse Filling and Oreo Crust

    Cake Recipes

    • Cinnamon Swirl Loaf Cake on a wood cutting board that's been cut in half so you can see the cinnamon swirl inside the cake.
      Cinnamon Swirl Loaf Cake with Vanilla Icing
    • A white forest cake topped with white chocolate ganache buttercream and cherry sauce on a wood cake tray.
      White Forest Cake
    • A serving of chocolate honey cake on a white plate. Someone has used a fork to cut into the cake so you can see the cake's soft texture.
      Chocolate Honey Cake with Whisky Sauce
    • Favorite old fashioned gingerbread | ofbatteranddough.com
      Glorified Gingerbread

    Cookie Recipes

    • A wire rack with freshly baked chocolate chip pecan cookies cooling on it. One of the cookies has been broken in half so you can see the gooey center.
      Massive Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies {Extra Gooey}
    • 12 different photos showing different creative Christmas Cookie recipes.
      50 Creative Christmas Cookie Recipes
    • 12 images of different kinds of Gluten Free Christmas Cookies
      50 of the Best Gluten Free Christmas Cookie Recipes
    • A tray of gooey chocolate chip cookie brownie bars.
      Brookies ~ Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars

    Breakfast and Brunch

    • A fork with a bite of fluffy blueberry pancakes on it, syrup dripping from the pancakes, and a stack of blueberry pancakes in the background.
      Blueberry Pancakes with Buttermilk and Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
    • An Apple Cinnamon Muffin with the wrapper pulled down so you can see the apple butter center.
      Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Apple Butter and Brown Sugar Streusel
    • Three parchment wrapped no-bake, high protein chocolate peanut butter breakfast cookies stacked on top of each other on a wooden tray.
      No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies
    • Someone lifting a slice of almond plum cake from the whole cake so you can see the moist, tender crumb.
      Almond Plum Cake

    Fruit Pies

    • A slice of German Apple Pie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
      German Apple Pie ~ The Easiest, Creamiest Apple Pie!
    • A slice of peach pie with a lattice crust on a plate.
      Fresh Peach Pie Recipe
    • A slice of triple cherry pie on a plate, ready to eat.
      Cherry Pie with Sweet, Sour, and Dried Cherries
    • A slice of Cherry Crumb Pie on a plate, ready to eat.
      Sweet Cherry Crumb Pie

    Cream Pies

    • A slice of black bottom banana cream pie on a tin plate.
      Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie with Vanilla Wafer Crust
    • A slice of coconut cream pie on a tin plate.
      Coconut Cream Pie with Toasted Almond Crust
    • Someone using a spatula to lift a slice of chocolate cream pie from the whole pie so you can see the thick layers of chocolate cream and whipped cream.
      Chocolate Cream Pie {Made with Chocolate Pastry Cream}
    • Apple Butter and Cream Hand Pies
      Apple Butter and Pastry Cream Hand Pies

    Homemade Bread

    • A stack of soft, warm homemade flour tortillas.
      Homemade Flour Tortillas Made with Butter
    • Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe, Quick and Easy | ofbatteranddough.com
      Easy Pizza Dough Recipe + How To Make Homemade Pizza
    • Soft, homemade dinner rolls piled on a plate.
      Homemade Dinner Rolls {Soft and Buttery}
    • Perfect White Sandwich Bread
      Simple Homemade White Bread {made with butter!}
    • A loaf of homemade cinnamon bread, cut in half so you can see the cinnamon swirl inside.
      Cinnamon Bread
    • A piece of homemade whole wheat bread.
      Honey Wheat Bread Recipe with Oats

    Chocolate

    • Someone using a cake server to lift a slice of chocolate almond cake from the whole cake.
      One Layer Chocolate Almond Cake
    • A one layer chocolate almond cake that's been frosted with chocolate orange buttercream and decorated with chopped almonds and orange zest.
      Chocolate Orange Buttercream {3 Ingredients}
    • A white forest cake topped with white chocolate ganache buttercream and cherry sauce on a wood cake tray.
      White Chocolate Ganache Buttercream
    • Three pieces of chocolate loaf cake stacked on top of each other on a wood serving board.
      Chocolate Loaf Cake {Fudge Brownie Cake}

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