Baking Ingredients
24 Kitchen-Tested Ingredients
(Very) Dark Chocolate Bars
We found a 90-percent bar with flavor that's more “beautiful” than bitter.
Published: November 2019
Unsweetened Chocolate
Plain-Jane unsweetened chocolate may not inspire the same passion as our favorit…
Published: January 2019
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Vanilla
Cyclones, theft, petrochemicals, market swings—vanilla is anything but boring. W…
Published: January 2019
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Dark Chocolate Chips
With chocolate chips now coming in different shapes, sizes, and even cacao perce…
Published: January 2018
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Dark Chocolate
It’s easy to find a great snacking chocolate. But cooking is different: Choosing…
Published: November 2013
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Molasses
Terms like "mild," "full," and "robust" are meaningless when it comes to molass…
Published: November 2011
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Vanilla Beans
For custard-based recipes in which vanilla is the star, we’ve found that vanill…
Published: July 2011
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Whole-Wheat Flour
If you thought all whole-wheat flours are created equal, you were wrong.
Published: March 2011
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All-Purpose Vegetable Oils
Vegetable oil should stay behind the scenes, whether you’re baking, sautéing, or…
Published: March 2010
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Stone-Ground Oats
We tested one brand of stone-ground oats. Could they please our tasters' palates…
Published: July 2009
Steel-Cut Oats
Judging from the brands and styles cramming supermarket shelves, there's an oat …
Published: July 2009
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Quick Shine—Aerosol Spray For Bread
This product supposedly helps seeds stick to dough. Is it worth buying?
Published: January 2007
Splenda
We tested Splenda’s claim that it can be used cup for cup to replace sugar.
Published: January 2004
All-Purpose Flour
Here’s everything you need to know about buying, storing, and baking with all-pu…
Published: September 2020
Lemon Curd
We tasted jarred varieties to see if we could find an acceptable substitute for …
Published: April 2007
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Baking Powder
We always assumed all baking powders were created equal.
Boy, were we wrong.
Published: December 2015
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Processed Egg Whites
How do these packaged products compare to fresh egg whites—both in taste and per…
Published: February 2013
Almond Extract
Just ¼ teaspoon of almond extract can perfume entire cakes with the unmistakable…
Published: February 2012
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Lard
This creamy, white pork fat used to be America’s mainstream choice for baking an…
Published: May 2019
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Espresso Powder
We tasted six products, including four labeled as espresso powder and two labele…
Published: June 2021
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Oat Milk
We tasted six oat milks, including ones from big-name brands such as Oatly and C…
Published: June 2021
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Chocolate Cake Mixes
We tasted eight boxed chocolate cake mixes, including options from big-name bran…
Published: May 2021
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