[miss marmelstein]

Is your baking powder fresh? Do you overgrease or overheat your pans so that they either spread too much or melt?

[SAJ]

Good q's, miss marmelstein! Biggest mistake is often in the baking powder. Would you believe that lots of recipes don't even **call** for baking powder? Truth -- even Food Network doesn't use b.p. in its recipe.

Just btw, "fresh" seems to be relative. By keeping b.p. tightly sealed (after opening) in the fridge, I've had good results with it for up to 18 months.

[Jukeman]

Maybe the overheating. Thanks.