- 7 minutes ago
Ever wish baking could be a little easier? In this video, Nicole shares 21 of her favorite baking hacks—simple shortcuts, clever tricks, and time-saving tips that will make homemade cookies, cakes, and pies a lot less stressful this holiday season. These are practical solutions for common baking frustrations, from keeping your hand mixer from making a mess to softening brown sugar and measuring sticky ingredients without the struggle.
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00:00If your holiday baking plans are bigger than your patients,
00:02then this one's for you.
00:03I'm sharing 21 clever hacks
00:05to help you bake more with less stress.
00:07Starting with splatter-free mixing,
00:09and all you need is a paper plate.
00:11You're going to poke two holes in your paper plate
00:14and let this act as a shield with the mixer.
00:18This way, all of your ingredients
00:19don't splatter out all over you.
00:20This comes particularly in handy
00:22if you're making whipped cream.
00:23Just put the plate over the mixer
00:24and take a pen and mark where the holes are.
00:27Take a little paring knife
00:28and just make the tiniest slit in there
00:30so that you can slide your beaters through.
00:32And now you've got your little mixing shield.
00:35If you find your plate wants to slip down the beaters,
00:37you can add a little tape to the backside
00:41just to keep it stuck to the mixer.
00:42This makes you confident enough to bake in black.
00:45Splatter's on there and not on here.
00:47100% of the time when I go to make muffins or cupcakes,
00:50I never have cupcake liners.
00:52I don't know what it is, but when I go to the store,
00:53I just don't even think to buy them.
00:55And now I really don't
00:56because all you need is parchment paper.
00:59And I always have parchment paper.
01:00To do this hack, all you do is cut your parchment paper
01:03into squares about four to five inches all the way around.
01:06And then you're going to take some scissors
01:08and cut into each side about an inch and a half.
01:13That's all you do.
01:14And then when you place it into your muffin tin,
01:15it is the perfect bakery style looking cupcake liner.
01:20The trick is you don't want your parchment squares
01:21to be too big.
01:22And then you want to cut almost all the way to the center.
01:26Then they'll fit right in.
01:28I'm so grateful to TikTok for things like this.
01:33And just watch, they bake up perfectly normal.
01:35I mean, look at that.
01:36I don't know if I'll ever buy cupcake liners again
01:38because the way these elevate your cupcakes and muffins,
01:41it's like they just came from a bakery.
01:44And they're easy to open.
01:46And you don't have all those lines
01:48over your cupcakes or your muffins.
01:50Pretty genius if you ask me.
01:52Let's get into cookie hacks now
01:53because cookies are the most popular item
01:56to be baked during the holidays,
01:58especially if you were doing those rollout,
02:00cute Christmas cookies.
02:02This hack is genius.
02:03Nine times out of 10, your recipe's going to call
02:05for you to shape the dough and then chill it.
02:08You want it to be nice and cold before you roll it out
02:11so that your cookies don't spread out too much.
02:13After you have shaped your dough into a disc
02:15and you refrigerate it, it is not that easy to roll out.
02:18It's like, good, yay, I have cold cookie dough.
02:21But this is real hard to roll.
02:24And whenever it is just warm enough to roll out,
02:27it breaks all over the place.
02:29No thank you.
02:30The smarter thing to do is to roll it out
02:32while it's soft and then chill it.
02:34That is going to give you perfect cutouts.
02:37So you're gonna take your freshly made dough,
02:41place it between two pieces of parchment,
02:43then roll it out.
02:44This is much easier.
02:45The dough is going to be a lot prettier.
02:47And what's even better is it's already on parchment.
02:50You can cut and bake it right on this.
02:52Now you've got it rolled out into an even layer,
02:55ready to cut right after it goes into the fridge.
02:59After chill time, it's rolled and ready to cut.
03:03Which brings me to my next hack.
03:05If you want cutouts with beautiful edges,
03:08the trick, dip your cutter in flour first.
03:11This will act as a barrier,
03:12and the dough will not stick to the cookie cutter.
03:15Perf, you want those nice little sharp edges.
03:17It's especially good for cookie cutters
03:18that have kind of sharp corners,
03:21because that's where the dough
03:22always wants to kind of stick in the corners.
03:24Not today.
03:25And that's gonna be a beautiful start.
03:27If you want perfectly round bakery style cookies,
03:30grab a glass.
03:31As soon as your cookies come out of the oven,
03:33if you've got some that are not perfect circles,
03:35just take a glass, place it over the cookie,
03:38and then give it a little spin.
03:41It makes them perfectly round
03:43and a little thicker in the center,
03:44so they're gonna be perfectly gooey and delicious.
03:48This is a great hack,
03:49especially if you're using store-bought dough,
03:51because it gives you that homemade look.
03:54Not that I would know.
03:55Give them all a little spin,
03:57then let them cool completely as directed.
03:59What we're left with,
04:00perfectly round bakery style cookies
04:02that are a little gooey in the center.
04:05Ever had this happen to you?
04:06You go to get some brown sugar,
04:10and it's nothing but a hard brick.
04:12The trick to keeping it from drying out,
04:14a slice of good old white bread.
04:16White bread has a lot of moisture inside of it.
04:19The brown sugar somehow knows to draw out
04:20just enough moisture from the bread
04:22to keep this nice and tender.
04:24When the bread dries out,
04:25just replace it with another piece.
04:27The bread will become dry,
04:28but your sugar will stay nice and soft
04:31and ready to measure.
04:33When you measure sticky ingredients,
04:35you don't want any sticky situations,
04:37so this trick is so smart.
04:39You take whatever your desired amount is,
04:41let's say, for example,
04:43a quarter cup of honey into our dried ingredients.
04:46We don't want it to stick all into the measuring cup.
04:48So we're gonna go ahead and create
04:50a quarter cup inside the dry ingredients.
04:53Press straight down just to the size of your measuring cup,
04:55and when you lift out,
04:56you're left with a quarter cup hole.
04:58And this way you get exactly a quarter cup
05:01of your sticky ingredient.
05:03When you add it straight from the measuring cup,
05:04you end up with a whole lot left inside,
05:06so you're not getting the proper amount into your batter.
05:09Look at how much ends up sticking.
05:11And nobody wants to have to do this.
05:13Now you can prevent being a sticky mess.
05:15While we're talking about measurements,
05:16I've shown you this one before,
05:18but the perfect, easy way to measure a perfect amount
05:21of a teaspoon of vanilla is just use the cap.
05:23The cap is a perfect teaspoon.
05:27Don't believe me?
05:32Magic.
05:33Let me show you two hacks to tell
05:35if you're baking soda and baking powder are any good.
05:37If you're like me and you're not an avid baker
05:39who goes through these ingredients quite fast,
05:42then they may go bad even if they are not expired.
05:45If they've been open for a while,
05:46they just might not activate as well as if they were fresh.
05:49So for baking soda, all you need to check its activation power
05:53is a little vinegar.
05:55So place a little baking soda in a bowl.
05:57This one has been in the cabinet for quite some time.
06:01And then I have a fresh box.
06:02When we add the vinegar, we wanna see rapid bubbling.
06:06If that bubbling has a lot of power,
06:08then you know your baking soda is good to go.
06:10I think my hold is still good,
06:11but in comparison to the new, pretty good.
06:15This one, the bubbles are a little bigger
06:17and a little more active in the fresh one.
06:18There's definitely a difference between the new and the old,
06:21but I think my old is still pretty good.
06:22Let's do the same test with baking powder.
06:24However, all you need to activate this
06:26is just boiling water.
06:27So I've got some old and some brand new.
06:32Adding in boiling water to the old.
06:34Pretty good bubbling.
06:35A little bit faster and a little bit bigger bubbles
06:37on the fresh one.
06:38But again, I think we're safe
06:40to use the one that's in my cabinet.
06:42Another 10 out of 10 times,
06:44if my recipe calls for buttermilk, I don't have it.
06:47But no fear, you can just make it.
06:48All you need regular milk
06:50and either white vinegar or lemon juice.
06:53We always have those things.
06:55Maybe I want buttermilk for the perfect pie filling
06:58or biscuits or even ranch dressing.
07:00Here's how we get it.
07:01For every about cup of milk,
07:04you're gonna do about a tablespoon of your acid.
07:07And you're gonna stir it in
07:08and let it sit for about five minutes
07:09until it thickens and becomes the consistency
07:12and the flavor of buttermilk.
07:14It happens almost immediately.
07:15You can feel it start to thicken that milk.
07:18You want it to have a little tang to it
07:19because buttermilk naturally has that sour taste to it.
07:24Let's show the difference.
07:26Homemade buttermilk, store-bought buttermilk.
07:39You'll never be without buttermilk again.
07:52You'll never be without buttermilk again.
07:56Just place them in a bowl and add hot water.
07:59You don't want the water to be boiling.
08:01We're not trying to cook the egg.
08:02We're just trying to take the chill off of them.
08:04And this only takes just a few minutes.
08:07Perfectly room temp eggs.
08:09It's pie time.
08:10Here are a few hacks
08:11when it comes to baking those holiday pies.
08:14This first one is my favorite
08:16because I use it all the time.
08:18I've never been good at crimping the crust
08:20to make it pretty without my fingernails getting all involved
08:24and it not being perfect.
08:26All you need is your whole hand.
08:28After you have put your crust into your pie plate
08:31and it's ready to crimp,
08:33all you do is take your whole hand,
08:35place it over the pie,
08:38and then use your fingers as your guide.
08:41It's so much faster and everything is evenly spaced,
08:45and you have a perfect fluted crust.
08:48Picture perfect and ready for the filling.
08:50If you're like me and you go to cut pies
08:52and you always break the crust,
08:55especially on that first piece,
08:56then this hack is for you.
08:58You can bake a perfect, easy to cut pie in a cake plate,
09:03not a pie plate.
09:04Then you don't have that little lip that you risk breaking.
09:07Take whatever size cake pan, eight or nine inch,
09:09line your cake pan with parchment paper,
09:11and then you're gonna place your bottom crust down.
09:14This is great for a two-crust pie.
09:16Work your pie crust up the sides of the pan
09:18and add your filling.
09:19And take your second crust,
09:20put it right on top and pinch the two together,
09:23just like you would in a pie plate.
09:25Once you tuck everything under,
09:26you can do our other little pie trick.
09:28It's not as easy as it's not hanging over the sides.
09:31Then you're gonna take your knife,
09:33make some little slits in it,
09:34pop it in the oven and we'll see what comes out.
09:37The pie in a cake pan.
09:39Now see, it's already out of the pan,
09:42so you don't have to worry about that first slice
09:44not coming out.
09:46Deep dish, I mean, 10 out of 10 times,
09:48I break that first crust.
09:50Not today.
09:51I mean, never have I ever had a slice that good,
09:55except the last time I did this hack.
09:57Have I blown your mind yet?
09:59Apparently, your mason jar lids
10:01are the perfect mini pie plates.
10:04You see all those cute mini desserts all the time,
10:06but nobody wants to invest in mini cooking equipment
10:10that you will only use one time.
10:12We all have these.
10:14So you take your pie crust,
10:16roll it out slightly,
10:17and you can use your lid as a template
10:19to cut out the circle,
10:21then roll it out slightly bigger.
10:22You're just gonna press your crust into the lid.
10:25Oh my God, that's gonna be so cute.
10:27It's okay for these to go into the oven.
10:29You know, these lids can withstand
10:32the temperature of boiling water for quite some time
10:35when you do canning.
10:36Add some filling.
10:38Then take another circle,
10:39place it on top,
10:41and then kind of crimp the edges together.
10:43I think my hand's too big to do the hand trick here.
10:46Who knew your mason jar lids could be a pie plate?
10:50Place them down on a pan and bake like normal.
10:53Just look at our mini pies.
10:55I had one that, you know,
10:57kind of messed up a little bit, but that's okay.
10:59Oh, that was a perfect little pie.
11:00You just pop out the pie from the bottom.
11:04It's like your own little springform pan.
11:07The mason jar lid, that's a good little hack right there.
11:10Now you have individual pies
11:12on their own little serving plate.
11:14These are just too cute to resist.
11:20Not only will I be doing this again,
11:22I'm also gonna try it with little quiches.
11:25That's gonna be good for the holidays too.
11:28We're just knocking them out of the park.
11:29These hacks are all about butter,
11:32because butter makes it better.
11:33And I'm starting with the butter wrappers.
11:36They are the perfect thing to use to grease your pan.
11:39There's just enough butter left on the inside.
11:42You also don't have to get your hands all messy.
11:45Use the butter wrapper as your device
11:47to get the butter into the pan.
11:49Now, after it has served its final purpose,
11:53can it go in the trash?
11:54And your pan is greased and ready to go.
11:57What's even more genius than that is you can use the butter wrapper
12:01to line the pan and cook right on it.
12:04It's basically a flavored parchment paper perfect for baking.
12:08You're gonna place it buttered side up into your pan.
12:10That way, the remaining butter flavors whenever you're baking.
12:14And then the outside is going to still keep it from sticking to the pan.
12:17Who knew you could do this?
12:21And it's just the right size.
12:22You don't have to be fooling with fussy parchment paper.
12:25I mean, how did we not know this before now?
12:28To the oven, we go.
12:30What I love is that we didn't catch anything on fire, you know?
12:33That butter paper never caught on fire, in case you were worried about that.
12:37It's still warm, but it can finish cooling on the rack.
12:44That is pretty amazing.
12:46This one might be the most mind-blowing of the day.
12:49We love cold butter, but sometimes it can be a challenge.
12:51First off, you've seen me do this maybe a million times,
12:56but it's one of my favorite butter hacks.
12:58When the recipe calls to cut in the butter.
13:02If you have never cut in butter, it takes a long time,
13:06especially if all you have are two forks to do it with.
13:09Cutting in the butter means you want the butter to be in, like, tiny little pieces
13:14dispersed throughout the dry mixture.
13:16As long as you have a box grater, you can do this step, and it is so much easier.
13:21Just take a box grater and grate your butter in.
13:25It becomes the perfect size, and it can easily, evenly disperse throughout the dry mixture.
13:31I find it helpful to not do the whole stick at a time, but do a little bit,
13:35and then mix it with the fork.
13:37That way you get those tiny little pea-sized amounts.
13:40So next time your recipe calls to cut in butter,
13:43grab your box grater and do it a whole lot easier and in a whole lot less time.
13:48Just like when you need room temperature eggs or softened cream cheese,
13:52you also sometimes need softened butter.
13:54That's another thing I forget to do.
13:56Your box grater can come in handy for that, too.
13:59This is not frozen butter that we need to keep cold,
14:01but also by grating just butter straight from the fridge with your box grater,
14:06it immediately softens it.
14:09It's pliable and just what you need for when the recipe calls for softened butter.
14:13Another hack for softening butter and also getting out your frustrations, just give it a whack.
14:19Take your cold butter straight from the fridge,
14:23place it between two pieces of parchment paper and go to 10.
14:31And that is a two-for-one special.
14:33You're less stressed and your butter's soft.
14:35My last two hacks are all about the kitchen item I did not know I could not live without.
14:41Parchment paper.
14:42This is a true godsend when it comes to baking.
14:46I wish you could just buy it like you can buy Ziploc bags where it comes in all different sizes,
14:50because it sure would be a lot easier because you've got all different sizes of pans.
14:54But there's a hack for that.
14:57You've got a pan that is much smaller than the piece of parchment.
15:03You've got to do this.
15:04It does not stay, so here's the trick.
15:10Crinkle it.
15:13Wet it.
15:14You don't always have to wet it, but it just makes it a little easier.
15:18Unravel it and lay it down in your pan.
15:20It is not popping out anymore, and it is ready for whatever
15:24we want to throw in.
15:25Because I buy the roll of parchment paper.
15:29And I can never tear a straight piece anyway,
15:31so I just tear it and immediately scrunch it up no matter what pan I'm using.
15:34It's just become a habit now.
15:36The parchment paper is easy to go in because it helps your food come out easier.
15:41And our pan stays nice and clean.
15:44If it's a cake, you just want a piece of parchment at the bottom of your pan.
15:47You don't necessarily want the sides hanging over,
15:49because sometimes it makes the sides of your cake a little crinkly.
15:52So we just need a perfectly round piece.
15:56Here's what we do.
15:58Fold it.
15:59Get it into a cone shape where it has a pointy edge.
16:04Then you're going to flip your cake pan over,
16:06and you're going to place the center of your cone into the center of your cake plate.
16:12And that'll tell you just how big it needs to be.
16:13Then you're going to cut along the sides.
16:16And when you unravel it, the perfect circle.
16:20It fits perfectly down in the bottom of the cake pan.
16:23Tis the season for cookies, cakes, and pies.
16:25And I hope these baking hacks save you time and stress,
16:28so you can skip straight to the sweet stuff.