Most recipes can be halved easily. Keep in
mind that less food will cook in less time. You may need to reduce the
total cooking time to avoid overcooking the smaller amount of food. For
a saute, there are fewer ingredients absorbing heat from the pan. Pull
the food from the pan sooner, or cook it at a lower temperature or in a
smaller pan to avoid overcooking. For cookies, make sure that the pan
has no significant vacancies, or it may overheat and burn the cookie
bottoms. For muffins or cupcakes, if you aren't filling all of the cups
in the muffin pan, add 1" or so of water to each empty cup to prevent
the pan from overheating.
Baking by the Book : Altering baking
related recipes is decidedly more risky than altering any other recipe.
Whenever possible, follow a baking recipe to the letter. Amounts of
leavener, flour, sugar, liquid and other ingredients are specifically
calculated for balanced results in the crucible of the oven. Change the
amounts, and the results can be drastically different. Cakes, for
instance, are very temperamental. If you want to double the yield of a
cake recipe, make 1 cake, then follow the recipe again to make another
cake while the first one bakes in the oven. Or look for a cake recipe
that is specifically written for a large cake. Likewise, with pie crusts
for a 2-crust pie, it's best to make 1 crust according to the recipe,
then make another one as the first curst chills to avoid overworking a
large amount of pie dough (which results in tough, chewy pastry).
Cookies, on the other hand, are generally more amendable to increasing
or decreasing yields. That's yet another reason why cookies are so
popular and versatile.