Recipe Testing Template and Tasting Cards
Plan a recipe test, print a sheet to fill in at the oven, and blind tasting cards for your tasters. Free, no signup.
What are you trying to fix or improve?
Your trials
Change one thing in each, so you know what made the difference.
- AYour recipe as it is (the one to beat)
- B
On a phone, choose “Save as PDF” in the print screen to keep a copy or share it.
What you’ll print
It updates as you type.
Test sheet · 1 page
BakeProfit · Recipe test
Fixing:
Date:
Baker:
One change per trial. Bake every trial the same day, in the same oven and pans. Label each one with its letter.
| Trial | AYour recipe as it isThe one to beat | B |
|---|---|---|
| Oven temp | ||
| Bake time | ||
| Yield or weight | ||
| Taste1 Not good · 5 Love it | 12345 | 12345 |
| Texture1 Off · 5 Just right | 12345 | 12345 |
| Look1 Off · 5 Beautiful | 12345 | 12345 |
| Cost per batch | ||
| Notes | ||
| Winner |
What I’ll test next:
BakeProfit · Free recipe test sheet and tasting cards at bakeprofit.com/tools/recipe-testing-template
Tasting cards · 2 pages, 4 to a page (first page shown)
Taste test
Rate each sample 1 to 5. Write the number in its box.
| Sample | A | B |
|---|---|---|
| Taste1 Not good · 5 Love it | ||
| Texture1 Off · 5 Just right | ||
| Look1 Off · 5 Beautiful |
Your favorite (circle one): AB
Would you buy it? Yes · Maybe · No
Anything else?
BakeProfit · bakeprofit.com
Taste test
Rate each sample 1 to 5. Write the number in its box.
| Sample | A | B |
|---|---|---|
| Taste1 Not good · 5 Love it | ||
| Texture1 Off · 5 Just right | ||
| Look1 Off · 5 Beautiful |
Your favorite (circle one): AB
Would you buy it? Yes · Maybe · No
Anything else?
BakeProfit · bakeprofit.com
Taste test
Rate each sample 1 to 5. Write the number in its box.
| Sample | A | B |
|---|---|---|
| Taste1 Not good · 5 Love it | ||
| Texture1 Off · 5 Just right | ||
| Look1 Off · 5 Beautiful |
Your favorite (circle one): AB
Would you buy it? Yes · Maybe · No
Anything else?
BakeProfit · bakeprofit.com
Taste test
Rate each sample 1 to 5. Write the number in its box.
| Sample | A | B |
|---|---|---|
| Taste1 Not good · 5 Love it | ||
| Texture1 Off · 5 Just right | ||
| Look1 Off · 5 Beautiful |
Your favorite (circle one): AB
Would you buy it? Yes · Maybe · No
Anything else?
BakeProfit · bakeprofit.com
Test Kitchen, part of BakeProfit Pro
Keep every test, not a pile of paper
Your trials side by side with the same ratings, photos of each one, what every change does to the cost, and one tap to make the winner your recipe.
Download blank printable PDFs
Blank copies to print and fill in by hand. Letter size; they print on A4 too.
Recipe testing template
Your recipe and up to three changes side by side: oven, time, yield, taste, texture, look, cost, the winner.
Download PDF
Taste test feedback cards
Four blind tasting cards to a page: samples A to D rated 1 to 5, a favorite, and would they buy it.
Download PDFHow to test a recipe like a test kitchen
The method big bakeries use, at home scale.
- 1
Bake your recipe as it is, every time
Trial A is the recipe you make now. It is the one to beat, and baking it alongside the changes is the only fair comparison: ovens, flour and weather change from day to day.
- 2
Change one thing per trial
The butter, the chill time, the oven temperature: one change in each trial. Change two things at once and you will never know which one did it.
- 3
Bake every trial the same day, the same way
Same oven, same pans, same rack. Weigh the dough or batter so every batch is the same size, and write the oven temperature and time on the sheet.
- 4
Label each one with its letter
A, B, C, D on the plates. Tasters only see the letters, so nobody knows which is the original and which is the change.
- 5
Taste blind and rate 1 to 5
Give each taster a card, small equal pieces of every sample, and water between them. Five to ten tasters is plenty for a home bakery.
- 6
Write down the winner the same day
Count the favorites, read the comments, tick the winner on the sheet and note what to test next. A test that is not written down is a test you will repeat.
Questions bakers ask
What is a recipe testing template?
A sheet that keeps a recipe test fair and on record: the original recipe and each change side by side, how each was baked, how tasters rated them, and which one won. This one adds the rating your goal needs, like Spread when cookies spread too much, next to taste, texture and look.
Is there a blank PDF I can print?
Yes. Under the tool are blank PDFs of the recipe testing template (your recipe and three changes, A to D) and of the taste test feedback cards, four to a page. Or fill in your recipe and changes online first, and print the sheet and the cards ready to use.
How many tasters do I need?
Five to ten is plenty for a home bakery. Mix people who will be honest with a few regular customers. More than ten rarely changes the winner, it only takes longer.
What should a taste test feedback form ask?
Keep it under a minute: a 1 to 5 rating for taste, texture and look, a rating for the thing you are fixing, a favorite, whether they would buy it, and a line for comments. The cards here ask exactly that.
How do I run a blind taste test?
Label the samples only by letter, cut equal pieces on matching plates, and serve them in a different order to different tasters if you can. Ask tasters not to talk until they have filled in their card.
How many changes can I test at once?
One change per trial, and up to three trials plus your original on the same bake day. More than that and the bake day gets long and the tasting gets muddled.
Can I keep my tests on my phone instead of paper?
Yes. Test Kitchen in BakeProfit Pro keeps every trial side by side with the same ratings, photos, what each change does to your cost, and adopts the winner into your recipe in one tap.
Keep going
- Why do my cookies spread? 9 causes, and how to test the fixA worked example: the causes, then the side-by-side test that finds the one that is yours.
- Recipe Cost CalculatorWhat each trial costs per batch, so a cheaper swap is a number, not a guess.
- Cake Pan Conversion CalculatorTesting a recipe in a new pan: how much to scale it and how long to bake it.
- Recipe Scaling CalculatorTest small: scale the recipe down to a half batch per trial.
Wish this did something else?
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