Cooking and baking are different skills.  Baking is much more of a precise skill. The ingredients and the order they are mixed are usually important. One thing they have in common is balancing the flavor of the finished product. Many times we don't think of tasting and adjusting our baked items as you assemble them. In other words think like a cook consider the flavor, adjusting it and balancing it, like you would when making soup.

Just because you're making something sweet like a chocolate chip cookie you still should be thinking about the balance of sweet to salt to bitterness. This is especially true when doing something with fruits. Let me give you an example, I just recently made a blueberry pie, the recipe called for blueberries and sugar that was pretty much the filling.  The first thing I did was taste the blueberries they were pretty sweet. The recipe called for 1 cup of sugar. In my opinion that was more sugar than I needed since the berries were sweet. So I cut the sugar to 1/3 of a cup. When I make a fruit pie I always cook the filling on the stove top, that gives me control over the amount of liquid in the filling. This will ensure a perfect consistency when you cut the pie. Also it gives you the chance to thicken and taste it before putting it into the crust.

The pie needed some bitterness to add depth to it. So I added 1/2 cup of cranberries. While the blueberries, sugar and cranberries were cooking on the stove, I tasted it, and added a pinch of salt, and an acid to brighten the flavor. I added 1 tablespoon orange zest for the acid. Now it was coming together all it needed was a little cinnamon. After it cooked and thickened up, to the correct consistency, I removed it from the stove and let it cool down. Now it was ready to be put into the awaiting pie crust. 

One final step was to sprinkle the top crust with coarse sugar before putting it into the oven. Since I reduced the sugar in the filling quite a bit, the sugar on top of the crust will trick your senses into thinking it's sweeter than it really is. This is a good way to save calories.

Tips
Taste Everything
Taste the dough, fillings or frosting and adjust as needed. More sugar or salt  is not always better.

Think Balance
Salty, bitter, and sour flavors are just as critical to a balanced dessert as sugar. Balance the sweetness with a touch of bitter to add depth to the baked item. Consider ingredients like booze, coffee, chocolate (all bitters), and fruit purées (sour) as “flavor-balancing tools” to bring depth to an otherwise flat tasting baked item or dessert. Don't forget about herbs and spices they bring flavor without calories.

Next always add a touch of salt unless the butter is salted butter. I always buy unsalted butter to give me more control with the recipe. So next time you make something play around and have fun. Taste it and consider adding something bitter or maybe salty to balance the sweetness of your baked item. You are sure to have a winning recipe!

Source
Bon Appetite, London's Hippest Baker Shares Her Tips for Making Better Baked Goods at Home
November 2, 2015 / Written by Christina Chaey

How to Make Self Rising Flour  - Sometimes a recipe calls for self rising flour. This is something that you don't need to stock in your kitchen.  It can easily be made by combining 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk together completely and use in the amount called for. Now if you are using whole grain soft white flour, increase the baking powder to 2 teaspoons per cup and leave the 1/4 teaspoon salt the same.

Measuring Flour or Weighing Flour - My best advice is no matter what type of flour you are baking with the only way to be accurate and consistent is to weigh out the flour. If you don't have a scale, the holidays are coming and this would be a perfect addition to your tools in the kitchen.

Parchment Paper - Used it to line your pans so there is no need to grease and butter the baking sheets or cake pans. Simply tear off enough to cover a cookie sheet. When lining your cake pans no matter what shape, draw around the bottom of the pan on the parchment paper and cut out.  Place it on the inside of the pan. This will save you time and cleanup along with knowing your cake will easily be removed from the pan. Parchment paper is a bit pricey so don't throw it out after one use. I reuse mine several times with out any issues.

To Prevent Over browning of Cookies: -  Baked goods made with brown sugar, honey, molasses or corn syrup brown very quickly in the oven. Cookies, because they are small and thin, can over brown or burn before they are finished baking.  My solutions is a sil pad, they line your baking sheets and prevent burning. If you don't have one double pan each baking sheet. Simply put one cookie sheet on top of another and bake according to the directions. The double panning slows the heat to the bottom and although they usually take a few minutes longer to bake, they will be perfect when finished.

To Make Buttermilk or Sour Milk - To make a substitute for buttermilk or sour milk called for in a recipe, remove 1 tablespoon milk and add 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of whole or 2% milk. It will probably curdle but that is fine. If you make kefir, you can use it instead of the buttermilk, use the same amount as called for in the recipe.

Toasted Nuts -  Nuts add great flavor, take the extra time to toast them it really enhances their flavor. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, spread the nuts out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 7 to 12 minutes depending upon the nut. Be careful not to burn them, so stay close to the oven. If you smell them remove them from the oven and allow to cool before adding to the recipe.

Cookie Additions - Sometimes it's hard to get the chocolate chips or any additions to the batter mixed evenly.  Save about 1/3 cup chips out of the batter. When you get to the bottom of the bowl where there aren’t as many chips, stir them in. That way the last cookies will have the same amount of goodies as the first ones baked.

Source:
Pastry Like a Pro
Helen S. Fletcher