The 3-Ingredient Baking Spray Alternative You Should Be Making At Home

Every baker knows the frustration of a baked good that just won't come out of the pan. You try to gently pry and wiggle and tap to coax it out, and when it finally ends up releasing, there are big chunks of your baked good still stuck to the pan, leaving you with a less-than-picture-perfect final product. That's why coating your pan with something that helps prevent sticking is so essential for professional-quality baked goods that easily slide right out.

Opinions vary on what to do with pans before pouring in the dough or batter. Some swear by just a spritz of cooking or baking spray, while others like to use a piece of butter to coat the interior. Since many recipes instruct the baker to "grease and flour" their pan, they often follow up their greasing agent of choice with a layer of flour, tapped to remove the excess. Then, of course, there are those who prefer to avoid all that and just line their baking pan with something like parchment paper (however, this approach isn't as universal, as it won't work with more delicate or intricate pans, such as bundt pans).

If you've ever been curious about finding a better alternative that is both easy and quick, there's a recipe recently shared on TikTok that you'll want to check out — and the best thing is, it uses basic ingredients you might already have.

The America's Test Kitchen TikTok account shared an easy, three-ingredient recipe that requires mixing together vegetable shortening, vegetable oil, and flour. The magic is in how the ingredients work together.

On their own, the vegetable oil and shortening are respectively quite thin and thick, and using them would be the same as oiling or buttering your pan in the standard method — not to mention, you'd still need to coat the pan with flour. When you combine the trio, you skip the separate flour step. Plus the shortening helps to ensure the flour is dispersed evenly throughout the mixture so you're not left with unsightly clumps of flour clinging to your pan. The consistency of the DIY spray is almost like a batter — not too runny, not too thick, and easy to spread around your pan.

Now, as many noted in the comment section, it's not technically a spray — America's Test Kitchen recommends using a pastry brush to coat your pan with the mixture. For one commenter, Meredith Shoop, this was actually a plus — "added bonus, it doesn't lubricate the entire kitchen when you use it indoors," she cheekily commented, referencing the way that baking spray often travels far beyond the confines of your pan when spraying.

Some commenters were relatively unimpressed, saying they would just continue to use the traditional methods. However, there were also several fans who stated they would be giving the new approach to coating their pans a try.