If you enjoy baking, you’ve probably noticed that most recipes for muffins, cookies, cakes and other baked goods, have moderate to large yields. The word “yield”, when used in a recipe, is the number of servings the recipe makes.

If you have kids at home, or live with someone, or are a scout leader, or like to take goodies into the office, these moderate to large yield recipes are no big deal. Even if you have or are none of these things, you can always package up extras and stash them in the freezer for up to three months for future consumption. I like to freeze baked goods in single-size portions so I can grab a solo serving and toss it in my lunch bag.

All this said, some of you don’t want extras lying around. Maybe you’re trying to stay away from carbs or you’re afraid you’ll binge on every cookie you have hiding in the freezer or your freezer is already full enough, thank you very much.

What then?

Can you simply make less of the food? Perhaps scale muffin or pie or scone recipe down, much like I showed you how to in this post here?

Baked goods are tricky, thanks to a few fiddly ingredients that don’t divide down well (nor do they multiply up well). Leaveners for instance—ingredients like baking soda, baking powder and yeast, which help baked goods rise and expand—need to be in a specific ration with liquids and fats and flours. Simply cutting everything in half, often means the leaveners won’t work. Further, things like one egg, doesn’t reduce down very easily. And so on.

You get the picture.

But, as I like to say, giving something a try is one of the best educations you can offer yourself. That goes for experimenting a bit with scaling down a recipe for a smaller yield.

* If a recipe is in metrics, go ahead and divide all ingredients by 2 for a recipe that will deliver ½ the original yield. Or divide by 4 to get a recipe that will deliver ¼ of the original yield. It is almost impossible to scale a baked good recipe down to a single serving, but you can chunk a traditional yield down significantly.

* If the recipe is in Imperial (aka standard, or traditional measure, which is what we use in the States), you can so quarter or halve your recipes down.

* But you’ll need to do something different with the leavener. Most baked goods with a soft, moist crumb use some type of leavener, such as cream of tartar, baking soda, baking powder or even yeast. These often cannot be precisely quartered or halved down—you might have too much of the stuff and end up with metallic or soapy-tasting (too much leavener creates a yucky flavor) product, or one that rises in a weird, domed way. Here’s what I do: It is super unscientific and I know that I am going to get nasty comments by offering it up, by I use this all the time and it’s never done me wrong: I go ahead and half or quarter this measure along with all the other ingredients, then I remove a small pinch of the scaled down amount of leavener. I literally take my thumb and second finger and remove a small pinch. That way, I diminish the chance the finished product will taste soapy or metallic or overly tangy—my family is exquisitely sensitive to these tastes and will not eat something if they can taste baking soda or baking powder or cream of tartar. Weird, right?

* What do you do if the original recipe called for an uneven number of eggs? This means your scaled recipe most likely will end up requiring three-and-a-half eggs or even one egg. Here’s a secret about eggs in baked goods: You have some flexibility here. If your reduced recipe calls for 2.5 eggs, go ahead and use two of the largest eggs in your carton (or two of the regular ones with a splash of water to make up for the lost liquid). If your converted recipes asks you to use.05 of an egg, either find a small egg in your carton and use the entire dang thing, or crack the egg in a separate bowl, use a fork and mix it up a bit, and use half of that. Give the other half to the dog, or put it the fridge and add it to tomorrow’s scrambled eggs.

* Don’t lower the oven or stove temp. If the original recipe says 350 F or 375 F or 425 F, then that’s what you should use.

* Do use a smaller pan. For instance, if a recipe calls for a 13 x 8-inch or an 11 x 9-inch pan, try an 8-inch square pan.

* Bake or cook for a shorter period. Check the item 10 to 15 minutes earlier than the original recipe suggests.

And now, a low-yield cookie recipe. Those of you who’ve done programs with me in the past, know this recipe. It is nut-butter based, gluten-free, high-protein and super nutritious. If you don’t have baking soda, the recipe works well without it. Don’t lower the sugar content too much, as it helps leaven, tenderize and bind these cookies. They won’t hold together when baked without the sweetener. Sorry!!!

FLOURLESS NUT BUTTER COOKIES

Makes about 10 to 12

1 cup natural almond or peanut butter, smooth or crunchy  (I often substitute cashew, sunflower or hazelnut butter; or you can even use seed butter)

1 cup natural sugar (such as sugar, maple sugar in the raw or coconut sugar)

1 large or medium or small egg, lightly beaten

Optional: 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Optional: Dash cinnamon or allspice

Optional: 1/2 teaspoon baking soda for lighter texture

Optional: If your nut butter is runny, add a tablespoon or two of almond meal or pulverized oats or gluten-free flour or regular flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

2. Using a hand or stand mixer, mix the peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla on low speed until well combined.

3. Cover dough tightly and chill for an hour or for several days

4. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough 1 1/2-inches apart onto the baking sheet. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, drop the dough with a spoon.

5. Optional: Flatten the dough balls the tines of a fork, making a cross pattern on the cookies.

6. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until they are golden around the edges. Allow the cookies to rest on the counter for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.