2. You don’t have to always follow the recipe. I’ve started to learn to cook and bake by feel and taste more than by following a recipe. If you don’t like one thing that’s in the recipe but you do like everything else that is in it, take out the thing you don’t like. I tend to add more of things I like into a recipe (chocolate) and take out things I don’t (not chocolate). I’ve been known to add double the amount of chocolate chips to a cookie recipe and omit the nuts entirely. (Really, who needs all those nuts getting in the way of a good chocolate chip cookie!)

3. The devil’s in the details. Little things like adding ingredients in the proper order can make all the difference. I’ve learned from very painful experience that putting the ingredients in the wrong way can easily ruin a baking recipe. The baking powder has to go in before you put it in the oven. (Who knew?)

4. It doesn’t have to be complicated to taste good. Some of the best baking recipes that my mom ever made were ones that had five ingredients or less. If you’re like me and don’t have the patience to squeeze a million tiny dots onto a cake in order to make pretty frosting, it’s nice to know that I can make something that is simpler and still tastes good. (Anyone have a recipe for dipable (yes, I just made up that word) frosting? Lets skip that whole thing of having to frost the cake entirely. Dipable frosting, the wave of the future.)

5. Always mix in some love. I’m convinced that this is why store bought sweets never taste as good as homemade ones. Machines don’t know how to inject this special ingredient. All baking recipes at the very minimum need at least one cup of love to be any good at all.

Happy Baking!

Jill Seader is the founder of Your Baking Story. Her website shares her baking stories and recipes and also allows visitors to share their own baking stories and recipes. Come visit and share your own stories.