The Science of Baking

Understanding how and why your favorite baking recipes work can be so helpful to mastering homemade baking. Every article, video, and tutorial on this page will help you enter the kitchen with confidence and bake the BEST treats your friends and family have ever tasted. As a professionally trained chef and cookbook author, I hope you find these resources useful. -Tessa

Start here: baking science essentials!

One of the quickest ways to improve your baking is to improve your measuring techniques and to understand your oven and baking pans. I know it sounds kind of basic and boring, but I promise it will be a game changer! Check out the three articles below before baking another recipe ever again:

OVEN 101 - You NEED to know this stuff! My oven always runs cold and yours probably isn't accurate either.

Oven 101: What You NEED to Know

Side-by-side testing to find the best baking pans! Including nonstick vs. aluminum, and which pans specifically you should NEVER use!

Best (and WORST) Baking Pans

How to Measure Flour

Battle of the Baking Ingredients:
Side by Side Comparisons

baking powder vs baking soda products

Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder

cocoa powder in a jar

Natural Cocoa vs. Dutch Process Cocoa Powder

Butter vs Shortening, which is BETTER? The exact differences simply explained (video included) with side-by-side comparisons in cookies, biscuits, and pie crusts so you can SEE the difference.

Butter vs Shortening: Which is Better?

Salted vs. Unsalted Butter

Ultimate Baking Guides

Understanding Baking Ingredients

buttermilk biscuit recipe stacked on top of each other

What is Buttermilk?

cupcake comparison for cake flour 101

Cake Flour 101

Download my
Cookie Customization Guide

Get the simple tweaks to make any cookie recipe more chewy, soft, thick, cakey, thin, or crispy so you can make your own version of perfect cookies!

I'm so happy you're here!

My name is Tessa and I’m the creator of Handle the Heat. I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I’m also a professionally trained chef and cookbook author. You can learn more about me here.

More from Tessa

•Learn about the science of cookie baking VISUALLY

• Instant Download

• My FAVORITE perfected cookie recipes

• Printable Recipe Cards

and so much more!

Bake with complete confidence, every single time.

Become the baking HERO among your friends and family.

The Magic of Baking is an online baking class with tons of videos, PDFs, and photos that will teach you the secret fundamentals and science of baking in a fun and visual way.

•Learn about the science of cookie baking VISUALLY

• Instant Download

• My FAVORITE perfected cookie recipes

• Printable Recipe Cards

and so much more!

Bake with complete confidence, every single time.

Become the baking HERO among your friends and family.

The Magic of Baking is an online baking class with tons of videos, PDFs, and photos that will teach you the secret fundamentals and science of baking in a fun and visual way.

Convenient ... and Socially Sweet!

The Handle the Heat community is filled with enthusiastic home bakers just like you! In my humble opinion, people who like to bake are the BEST kind of people. Creative, thoughtful, and extra sweet. Every month hundreds of people in the HTH community join in our monthly baking challenges… hopefully you will too!

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Classic Cake Doughnuts 🍩 You just can’t beat

Classic Cake Doughnuts 🍩 You just can’t beat that fried golden brown crust with that tender, soft, and delicate interior. And then to top it all off with a super rich, chocolaty, and fudgy glaze takes it to a whole other level.⁠
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INGREDIENTS⁠
For the doughnuts:⁠
3 cups (381 grams) all-purpose flour⁠
1 tablespoon baking powder⁠
1/2 teaspoon fine salt⁠
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg⁠
3 tablespoons (43 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm⁠
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature⁠
2 large eggs, at room temperature⁠
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar⁠
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract⁠
Vegetable, canola, refined coconut oil, vegetable shortening, or peanut oil, for frying⁠
For the chocolate glaze:⁠
1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter⁠
1/4 cup whole milk⁠
1 tablespoon light corn syrup*⁠
2 teaspoons vanilla extract⁠
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped⁠
2 cups (250 grams) powdered sugar, sifted⁠
Rainbow sprinkles, if desired⁠
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Google “handle the heat cake doughnuts” for the full recipe 💞⁠
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#handletheheat #cakedoughnuts #donutrecipe

"Every person that I’ve ever made these cookies

*Cue Donkey from Shrek voice* And in the morning,

Have you ever wondered why some brownies have that

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins are ready in 30 minu

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins are ready in 30 minutes from start to finish 🍌⁠
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INGREDIENTS⁠
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (205 grams) bread flour⁠
1 tablespoon baking powder⁠
1/2 teaspoons baking soda⁠
1/2 teaspoon fine salt⁠
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional⁠
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional⁠
1 1/2 cups (354 grams) mashed, very ripe bananas (about 3 large bananas)⁠
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar⁠
1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar⁠
2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled⁠
1/4 cup (50 grams) vegetable or canola oil⁠
2 large eggs⁠
1 teaspoon vanilla extract⁠
1 cup (170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips⁠
Coarse sugar, for garnish if desired⁠
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DIRECTIONS⁠
1️⃣ Preheat the oven to 425°F. Position an oven rack to the middle or upper middle position. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.⁠
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2️⃣ In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices if using.⁠
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3️⃣ In a medium bowl, whisk together the bananas, sugars, butter, oil, eggs, and vanilla until well combined. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just barely combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.⁠
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4️⃣ Divide evenly among the muffin tin cups, filling each 3/4 full for large muffins. You can also make about 15 smaller muffins by filling the cavities of two pans just 2/3 full. Sprinkle each with a generous amount of coarse sugar for a crunchy shiny topping, if desired.⁠
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5️⃣ Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 14 to 15 minutes. Let cool in muffin pan for 5 to 10 minutes before removing to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.⁠
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6️⃣ Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.⁠
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#handletheheat #bananamuffins #muffinsrecipe #muffinrecipe

Mexico photo dump! 🇲🇽 1 - all dressed up fo

Mexico photo dump! 🇲🇽

1 - all dressed up for Joe’s sister’s beautiful wedding!

2 & 3 - the hacienda we stayed at where the wedding was held was STUNNING. It gave me inspiration for the renovation of our new home (!)

4 - Joe has decided Mexican food is the best wedding food. I think I might agree.

5 - the sunset was insane…

6 - I kind of love the humidity because for once my skin isn’t so dry compared to living in Phoenix and my hair’s natural wave kind of cooperates (slightly)

7 - after the wedding we snuck away to Sayulita and stayed right on the beach for a few days and simply ate, drank, read, and relaxed 😌

Such a treat to step away from our normal lives for a week but since I love what I do and I’m a weirdo… I’m itching to get back to work on Monday!

Already getting excited thinking about making my P

Already getting excited thinking about making my Peanut Butter Pie for Easter 😍 This pie can be made completely ahead of time, so it's my go-to for entertaining. *Everyone* will want seconds of this pie. It’s THAT good.⁠
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Google "handle the heat peanut butter pie" for the recipe. 🥜⁠
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#handletheheat #peanutbutterpie #peanutbutterlover

Just a little over a week left to join the March B

Just a little over a week left to join the March Baking Challenge. Take a peek at some of your pies 😍
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Here are just a few of the 5-star reviews on my Whoopie Pies (this month’s challenge recipe pick!):⁠
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⁠”These are quick and easy to put together. I made these for my son’s baseball team. They were a HUGE hit!” -Julie⁠
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“These were really delicious!! Soft chocolate cake cookies and not too sweet marshmallow filling, so,so good! I will be making these again!” -Holly⁠
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“These are everything I’d ever hoped to have in a whoopie pie – chocolatey, soft, moist cake with a not-too-sweet filling.” -Emily⁠
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“These were super fun to make and the recipe was easy to follow.” -Jessica⁠
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🍫⁠
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For every valid entry, we’ll donate $1 to @aclu_nationwide in honor of Women’s History Month as well as give a $75 Amazon gift card to two lucky entrants just for joining.⁠
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Go to handletheheat.com/challenge to join this month’s FREE baking challenge or click the link in our bio.

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