A Comma In A Recipe Can Mean A Lot More Than You Think It Does

Recipe writing is an art. You might not even think of it as writing, but it requires absolute precision, not only in word choice but also in punctuation. Overlooking punctuation is one of several mistakes made by beginner bakers and cooks.

Just consider the damage that could be done if Ina Garten had left out the comma from this ingredient listing for flour in her recipe for chocolate pecan scones: "3 tablespoons plus 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided." Without it, you might dump all 4 cups and 3 tablespoons into the mixing bowl all at when the flour is first called for. You'd end up with a dense, inedible mess instead of perfectly baked scones. But one of Ina Garten's tips for becoming a better home cook is to follow a recipe exactly — and that means looking at its punctuation, too.

Of course, while you learned the importance of commas in school, most of us don't think about grammar when we're cooking (in fact, you might consider that one of the best things about cooking). But the comma in a recipe can radically affect the meanings of ingredients and instructions, making the difference between delicious and disgusting.

The placement of a comma in a recipe is very important. Consider the effect the difference between "½ cup raw peanuts, roughly chopped" and "½ cup raw, roughly chopped peanuts" would have if the latter was the one printed in our bakery-style peanut butter cookies recipe. Don't think it's a big deal? Think about the size of a whole peanut versus that of a chopped peanut. A half cup of peanuts contains more space between each nut because of their size. But if the peanuts are chopped, there's a lot less empty space, so when filling a measuring cup, you'll ultimately end up with way more peanut pieces than you want, ergo overly nutty peanut butter cookies. The comma in a recipe has an important meaning — that there's additional information that affects the instructions for preparing an ingredient.

Another great example of this in the case of a missing comma can be found in our recipe for Homeroom's ultimate macaroni and cheese. The second-to-last, and arguably most important, ingredient is "8 ounces shredded 2-year aged sharp cheddar cheese (about 3 cups)." Since shredded cheese doesn't solidly fill a cup, 3 cups of the stuff contains some air, leaving you with less cheese. And while more cheese may seem better, too much and your mac and cheese could end up overly thick instead of perfectly creamy. Bottom line, next time you follow a recipe, keep an eagle eye out for commas.