The three common baking mistakes are not measuring the ingredients accurately, especially with the flour, overmixing the batter, which results in tough textures of the baked goods and using incorrect oven temperatures and even failing to preheat the oven before baking.
Inaccurate measuring of the ingredients, like scooping flour or other ingredients instead of measuring them properly is a common mistake in baking.
Packing flour for example into a measuring cup or using the wrong cup type such as dry vs liquid can result in using too much flour in your recipe and cause dry, dense cakes or cookies.
For accuracy, ensure you're using the correct measuring cup or measuring spoon and even use a kitchen scale for measuring accurate ingredients or use the spoon and level method.
Mixing the batter for your baked goods too much after adding flour also develops too much gluten, which makes your baked goods tough or dense, instead of being light and fluffy.
So you should mix the ingredients for your baked goods only until the ingredients are just combined.
And always ensure you're using the correct oven temperature that is not too high or too low.
Using an incorrect oven temperature or even opening the oven door frequently when baking causes the temperature in the oven to fluctuate, which can prevent the baked goods from rising or cause sinking or lead to uneven baking.
Use an oven thermometer to verify the temperature of the oven and avoid opening the oven door until the final few minutes of baking.
When baking cakes a good rule to follow is the 1234 rule in baking.
It called for 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour, and 4 eggs - thus the name - plus a little baking soda and sour milk.
That was pretty much the formula for making a 1-2-3-4 for the next 50 years, even when baking powder and cake flour came into the picture in the early 1900s and the cake got even lighter.
When baking the golden rule of baking is that your oven needs to be primed and waiting at the right temperature for your baked goods as soon as you're ready, so make sure to preheat your oven before you start the recipe.
Cake batters in particular should be baked very soon after mixing to give them the best possible rise and fluffy texture.