However, you’ll get the best results if you follow the measurements and instructions exactly as written in each recipe. Baking relies on chemical reactions for success, so slight changes to one ingredient can alter the outcome.
Apple Pie
Easy
cake Essentials
Mix the batter just right to make the best cake.
Most recipes call for beating cake batter until just combined; this means you’ll stop mixing as soon as you can’t see any individual ingredients like powdery flour anymore. Overmixed batter will be very smooth and feel dense instead of light and airy.
Triple-Layer Chocolate Cake
with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
One key to baking the best bread is to let it rise (or proof) just enough.
Your recipe should list a rising time, but you can tell dough has risen enough when it has doubled in size and slowly springs back when poked with a finger, leaving a small indentation behind.
Basic bread
Avoid the trademark of underproofed bread (dense, solid and gummy center) by letting the dough rise (proof) until it doubles in size
before baking.
Avoid the trademark of underproofed bread (dense, solid and gummy center) by letting the dough rise (proof) until it doubles in size
before baking.
underproofed
overproofed
crust is too thick
dough didn’t rise
Prevent the large holes and collapsed, irregular shape caused by overproofing by following the proofing time given in the recipe and baking once dough has doubled in size
If your oven is too hot, it may cause a thick, tough, dry crust. Double-check your oven’s accuracy by hanging an oven thermometer from the rack and preheating to 350°F.
For a fluffier bread, use fresh yeast and activate it according to instructions. Use an instant-read thermometer to check the water temperature against the package to activate the yeast.
Bread Solutions
Many cookie problems can be solved by making a minor adjustment to the dough before baking.
Let pans cool before placing more dough
on them or chill the dough for 30 minutes
before baking.
spread too much
too gooey
tough texture
dry and crumbly
Bake cookies for a few extra minutes to help them set. Remove when the edges feel firm and don’t move inward when poked.
Mix just until all of the flour is incorporated into the dough. Overmixing flour with liquid causes gluten to form, creating toughness.
Excess flour causes dryness; if you’ve added more than the recipe says, add a little liquid (like milk) or fat (like butter) to the dough, and mix.
Cookie Solutions
baked unevenly
Different-size dough balls can lead to unevenly baked cookies. Use a cookie scoop for uniform sizes, and rotate the cookie sheet partway through baking.
flattened
Beat the butter with the sugar while it’s soft but not melting, and stop mixing once all the flour is incorporated.
For many different kinds of cookies, chilling the dough before baking leads to better results.
Chilled dough won’t spread as much when it bakes, which yields thicker, cakier cookies for most recipes. It also helps cutout and sugar cookies hold their shape better. Refrigerating cookie dough also allows the flour to break down and the sugar to absorb more moisture, which will help the cookies caramelize and brown more as they bake.
cookie Success
Whenever you need an irresistible dessert or a loaf of bread quickly, head to the Hy-Vee bakery to pick up professionally baked goods.
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fundamentals
Baking
Learn tricks for baking classic cookies, cakes, breads and more, plus solutions for baking problems as they arise.
View Recipe
Simple Muffins
The essential element is the right amount of moisture.
The best muffins have a moist crumb (or center) with a slightly chewy texture. Follow these tips before, during and after baking for muffins with superior texture and shape.
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Muffins
Banana-Nut
No-Knead Overnight
Bread
View Recipe
View Recipe
Double-Chocolate
Sea Salt Cookies
• Apple
• Banana cream
• Blueberry
• Cherry
• Chocolate cream
• Coconut meringue
• French silk
• Lemon meringue
• Peach
• Pumpkin
• Wildberry
Pie
• Chocolate chip
• English toffee
• Monster
• Oatmeal raisin
• Peanut butter
• Snickerdoodle
Cookies
• Banana-nut
• Blueberry
• Lemon-poppy seed
• Pistachio
• Red velvet
Muffins
• Artisan Asiago cheese
• Artisan ciabatta
• French bread
• Gourmet cinnamon rolls
• Honey butterflake rolls
• Sourdough
Breads
• Angel food
• Carrot
• Custom orders
• Gourmet cupcakes
• Ice cream
Cakes
fresh baked daily
Here is a sampling of the treats you’ll find at your Hy-Vee Bakery. Call ahead to place a special order.
What would you like to bake?
Muffins
The trick to making a beautiful, flaky pie crust from scratch is to keep everything cold.
Tiny pieces of fat (cold butter or shortening) in the pie crust dough steam in the oven, leaving behind pockets of air and an ultra-flaky crust. Chilled dough rolls out more evenly without sticking or tearing. If the fat or the dough isn’t cold enough when you start working with it, chill it quickly in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Easy as pie
Easy as pie
View Recipe
Cookies
Pie
Bread
Cake
tips
Fruit pies are finished baking when the juices bubble up in the center as well as around the edges and the crust is golden brown.
tip 1
Brushing the crust with milk or lightly beaten egg before baking can also help with browning.
tip 2
The bottom crust takes longer to bake. Use a glass pie plate whenever possible to easily see when It’s done.
tip 3
Since you can’t judge browning on dark cookies, they’re finished baking when the edges feel firm and the centers are set.
tip 3
It’s always a good idea to double-check ingredient measurements before adding to help ensure accuracy.
tip 2
For chocolate cookies, adding a sprinkle of sea salt helps provide contrast and keeps the cookie from tasting too sweet.
tip 1
tips
To make chocolate curls, melt a Zöet 57% cacao dark chocolate bar & spread on a baking sheet. Let stand until firm. Hold a metal spatula at an angle & apply gentle pressure to scrape chocolate into curls.
tip 4
When a cake is finished baking, the edges pull slightly away from the sides of the pan.
tip 2
White and yellow cakes should be golden brown, and chocolate cakes should display a matte finish when they complete baking.
tip 1
tips
A well-baked cake should feel light and springy in the center when gently tapped with a finger.
tip 3
Dark pans absorb heat (and moisture) quickly. If baking with one, decrease oven temperature by 25°F.
tip 2
Rounded tops signal that muffins will have a light, airy texture and were not baked too long.
tip 1
tips
Look for a dark crust that is slightly rounded and evenly crispy with a burst where it was scored (shallowly cut).
tip 2
The middle of the loaf (also called crumb) should be light and airy, with holes evenly spread throughout.
tip 1
tips
solutions
If fruit pie filling is runny, make sure the thickener (usually corn starch or flour) is evenly distributed throughout the filling. Toss corn starch with sugar to prevent clumping.
Watery Filling
Pie Solutions
Pie crust is finicky. Find out how to fix some common issues.
pale
crust
Soggy
crust
Crumbly
crust
Watery
Filling
Crumbly
Dough
Sticky
Dough
Dough that’s too thick or baked at a low temperature will be underbaked and pale. Roll the dough to about ⅛ in. thick, and bake at the temperature listed in the recipe.
Pale Crust
Trapped moisture causes sogginess. Prick the bottom crust before adding the filling and cut a vent in the top crust to let moisture escape.
soggy Crust
If the dough is too wet and sticks to the counter as you roll it, dust your work space with more flour or roll the dough on waxed paper.
Crumbly Dough
Slicing the pie while it’s still hot can cause the filling to run and the crust to fall apart; let the pie cool for at least one hour before slicing.
Crumbly Crust
If the dough is too wet and sticks to the counter as you roll it, dust your work space with more flour or roll the dough on waxed paper.
sticky dough
CRUST HOW-TO
Crust How-To
Follow these techniques to roll out and move pie crust dough to the pie plate. Crimp and decorate the edges any way you want.
Generously flour the work space and your hands to prevent dough from sticking. Place the rolling pin in the center of the dough and gently roll outward from the center to the edge. Lift and rotate the dough by 90 degrees. Repeat rolling and rotating until the dough is large enough to hang over the pie plate.
Roll out dough
Ready to bake something else?
COOKIE Solutions
Many cookie problems can be solved by making a minor adjustment to the dough before baking.
Beat the butter with the sugar while it’s soft but not melting, and stop mixing once all the flour is incorporated.
flattened
Mix just until all of the flour is incorporated into the dough. Overmixing flour with liquid causes gluten to form, creating toughness.
tough texture
Different-size dough balls can lead to unevenly baked cookies. Use a cookie scoop for uniform sizes, and rotate the cookie sheet partway through baking.
baked unevenly
Bake cookies for a few extra minutes to help them set. Remove when the edges feel firm and don’t move inward when poked.
Too Gooey
Let pans cool before placing more dough on them or chill the dough for 30 minutes before baking.
spread too much
Excess flour causes dryness; if you’ve added more than the recipe says, add a little liquid (like milk) or fat (like butter) to the dough, and mix.
dry and crumbly
flattened
baked unevenly
dry and crumbly
tough texture
too gooey
spread too much
solutions
Cake Solutions
To make it easier to accurately measure ingredients like baking powder, try using a kitchen scale to weigh ingredients before adding them to the batter.
If cake quickly rises but then collapses while baking, try using less baking powder.
Sunken Middle
Craked Top
Sunken middle
solutions
If a cake top cracks from rising too quickly, next time add less batter to the baking pan or use less baking powder.
cracked top
Bread Solutions
Use fresh yeast and keep a close eye on bread as it rises for a fluffy, airy loaf.
If your oven is too hot, it may cause a thick, tough, dry crust. Double-check your oven’s accuracy by hanging an oven thermometer from the rack and preheating to 350°F.
crust is too thick
Prevent the large holes and collapsed, irregular shape caused by overproofing by following the proofing time given in the recipe and baking once dough has doubled in size.
overproofed
Avoid the trademark of underproofed bread (dense, solid and gummy center) by letting the dough rise (proof) until it doubles in size before baking.
underproofed
For a fluffier bread, use fresh yeast and activate it according to instructions. Use an instant-read thermometer to check the water temperature against the package to activate the yeast.
dough didn’t rise
dough didn’t rise
crust is too thick
Over-proofed
Under-
proofed
solutions
Muffin Solutions
Moisture from the air can affect ingredients and how muffins turn out.
Guarantee moist muffins by preventing moisture evaporation even after baking. Cool muffins on a wire rack.
dry texture
To ensure muffin batter sets without collapsing, use fresh baking powder stored in an airtight container. Baking powder loses its effectiveness if it absorbs moisture from the air.
flat tops
Flat
tops
dry texture
solutions
If you used waxed paper for rolling, carefully lift the paper and gently invert it over the pie plate. Or roll the dough onto the rolling pin, then unroll it into the pie plate. You can also loosely fold the dough in half, then in half again to form a triangle. Transfer the crust to the pie plate with the point of the triangle in the center, and unfold.
Gently press the dough into the pie plate. Trim any excess dough that overhangs by more than a few inches. For a double-crust pie, add filling and cover with top crust. Crimp the edges of the crust as desired. For a fluted edge, use your thumb and forefingers to gently squeeze the dough into V shapes all around the edge.
1
Transfer Dough to pan
2
Crimp the edges
3
Close
Cookies, bread, muffins, pies and cakes all get easier with practice.
• Angel food
• Carrot
• Custom orders
• Gourmet cupcakes
• Ice cream
Cakes
• Chocolate chip
• English toffee
• Monster
• Oatmeal raisin
• Peanut butter
• Snickerdoodle
Cookies
• Artisan Asiago cheese
• Artisan ciabatta
• French bread
• Gourmet cinnamon rolls
• Honey butterflake rolls
• Sourdough
Cookies
• Apple
• Banana cream
• Blueberry
• Cherry
• Chocolate cream
• Coconut meringue
• French silk
• Lemon meringue
• Peach
• Pumpkin
• Wildberry
Cookies
