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Chatelaine Kitchen

Bakers, it's time to make the switch to a kitchen scale

Playing fast and loose with your measurements can produce dramatically different results – keep it precise and those cookies will be perfect every time.
How to make the best chocolate chip cookies Chocolate-chip cookie variations. (Photo, Sian Richards.)

Cooking is an art, baking is a science. If you’re making soup, it’s okay to play fast and loose with measurements, but in baking, precision is essential – small variations can produce dramatically different results (as seen above). That’s why professionals use scales rather than measuring cups (so 150 g flour instead of 1 cup). Not only is this method perfectly precise, it’s faster and easier: Instead of mucking up cups and spoons, just plunk one big mixing bowl on a scale and start adding ingredients. You can find pretty scales that sit on the counter or slim ones that tuck away. Trust me, you’ll be in baking heaven.

Baking weights cheat sheet

All-purpose flour: 1 cup = 150 g

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Granulated sugar: 1 cup = 205 g

Brown sugar (packed): 1 cup = 205 g

Butter: 1 cup = 225 g

Baking powder: 1 tsp = 4 g

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Table salt: 1 tsp = 6 g

Baking soda: 1 tsp = 5 g

Worth its weight: Scales

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Kitchen scale Kitchen scale, $28, The Shopping Channel.Vintage kitchen scale Vintage kitchen scale, $55, Williams-Sonoma.OXO Food scale, $80, Danescoinc.com OXO Food scale, $80, Danesco.

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Baking powder versus baking soda
6 rules for baking the perfect cake
Pastry 101: How to make a better pie
How to pick the right pan for cooking and bakingWatch: Baking School: How to measure ingredients accurately

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Chatelaine celebrates, inspires, informs and empowers. We know that Canadian women contain multitudes, and we cover all of the issues—big and small—that matter to them, from climate change to caregiving, Canadian fashion and what to cook now.

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The cover of Chatelaine magazine's spring 2025 issue, reading "weekend prep made easy"; "five delicious weeknight meals", "plus, why you'll never regret buying an air fryer"; "save money, stay stylish how to build a capsule wardrobe" and "home organization special" along with photos of burritos, chicken and rice and white bean soup, quick paella in a dutch oven, almost-instant Thai chicken curry and chicken broccoli casserole in an enamelled cast-iron skillet

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