I always thought weighing flour was overkill for home baking

I mean, I used cups for years and my stuff was fine, but after my chocolate chip cookies spread into one giant sheet for the third time, I bought a $20 scale. The difference in my cookie texture after one batch was insane. Anyone else have a kitchen tool they resisted that actually fixed a problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

rose_hart1mo ago

Read an article once that said a cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 4 to 6 ounces depending on how you scoop it. That's a huge difference. My muffins were always so dense before I got a scale. Now I just dump flour until the number hits 120 grams and they come out perfect every single time. It took away all the guesswork.

ross.kevin1mo ago

Yeah, I saw something similar about how packed brown sugar can mess up cookie recipes too. Do you weigh everything now or just the flour?

king.andrew1mo ago

The scale was my third attempt at fixing my cookie problem. First I tried chilling the dough, then I tried freezing it, then I finally caved and bought a scale. Turns out I was scooping almost 6 ounces of flour when I thought I was getting 4. My cookies went from frisbees to actual cookies in one batch. Now I just feel dumb for fighting it for so long, like I was personally offended by the concept of weighing things.