I have wanted to write this post for literally forever. I credit my love and ease of baking to having a fully stocked kitchen, including both products AND baking materials. I’ve rounded up my top tips and products that you need to make sure baking is fun, easy, and delicious.
Also, you can just head straight to our Amazon Storefront to shop all these items and some of our other favorites.
*please note that there are some affiliate links here which give me a small commission to maintain my love for baking.
The Basics
I firmly believe you need to have some solid and trusty items to make sure your baked goods come out just as intended. Here are the all-purpose items we use in our kitchen. I fully stand behind any and all of these products but love trying new things, so let me know what you use too!
- Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer
- I currently have the 6qt in red, which you can get here. I love that there are so many colors now too! I may or may not want like 3 in other colors.
- $350
- I also have a 4.5qt one which comes in handy when you are baking a lot or you are lazy and don’t want to clean your other bowl for icing. #LifeHack
- $190
- I currently have the 6qt in red, which you can get here. I love that there are so many colors now too! I may or may not want like 3 in other colors.
- Kitchen Aid Hand Mixer
- They don’t make the exact one we have, but this is the updated version.
- $55
- They don’t make the exact one we have, but this is the updated version.
- Gold Touch Baking Sheets & Pans
- Joel bought me the 6 pack here from Williams Sonoma for Christmas one year. I have since bought more of this line. I recommend their cake pans, baking sheets, and cooling racks for sure.
- $99
- If you want to start with just one, get the baking sheet and you will be amazed at how awesome it is.
- $32.95
- Joel bought me the 6 pack here from Williams Sonoma for Christmas one year. I have since bought more of this line. I recommend their cake pans, baking sheets, and cooling racks for sure.
- Silicone Spatulas
- I just recently ordered these and am in love. I struggled with finding good rubber spatulas that didn’t fall apart or get moldy. These ones are just a single piece and the shape really gets the job done.
- $15 for a 4-pack
- I just recently ordered these and am in love. I struggled with finding good rubber spatulas that didn’t fall apart or get moldy. These ones are just a single piece and the shape really gets the job done.
- Metal Measuring Cups & Spoons
- I’m not married to a certain brand but we have these and they work great.
- $14.99 for cups and spoons
- I’m not married to a certain brand but we have these and they work great.
- OXO Cookie Scoops
- These are a GAME changer. I only use the OXO brand and use them for cookies, cupcakes, seriously everything that needs easily measured.
- $13.99
- These are a GAME changer. I only use the OXO brand and use them for cookies, cupcakes, seriously everything that needs easily measured.
- OXO Whisk
- Again, love the OXO brand. I hope they see this. *wink wink*
- $9.99
- Again, love the OXO brand. I hope they see this. *wink wink*
Nice to Have
I have all of these ingredients and they are definitely useful but not a requirement for the average baker. If you an infrequent baker, no need to super stock up but once you purchase them, you’ll be hooked.
- Silpat Sheets
- I actually use the Utopia Kitchen Brand which works super well and are a bit cheaper than Silpat. This is a replacement for parchment paper so you can argue it’s more sustainable to have these.
- $7.99 for 2
- I actually use the Utopia Kitchen Brand which works super well and are a bit cheaper than Silpat. This is a replacement for parchment paper so you can argue it’s more sustainable to have these.
- Pyrex Glass Measuring Bowls
- I have these in 1, 2, 4, and 8 cup sizes. Yes, I’m crazy.
- Escali Kitchen Scale
- We use this one because Alton Brown said so and it’s never steered us wrong.
- $24.95
- We use this one because Alton Brown said so and it’s never steered us wrong.
- OXO Dough Scraper
- Again, I love the OXO brand. I find that this has many uses and is just a handy kitchen tool.
- $9.99
- Again, I love the OXO brand. I find that this has many uses and is just a handy kitchen tool.
- OXO Offset Spatula
- Seriously, they don’t pay me. I just love their products.
- $9.99
- Seriously, they don’t pay me. I just love their products.
Pantry Staples
If you follow us on Instagram or know me in real life, you know that we LOVE Costco. I’ve actually strongly considered writing a weekly blog posts about what we buy at Costco. Someday, that will happen. Anyways, a lot of these items you can purchase at Costco for a very very reasonable price. You can definitely pick up at your local grocery store or even online if that’s your thing.
- Ground Cinnamon
- I bought this one from Costco and it’s seriously a magical price. Plus, it’s awesome.
- $3.49 for 10.7 oz
- I bought this one from Costco and it’s seriously a magical price. Plus, it’s awesome.
- Canned Pumpkin
- This might be a weird one, but canned pumpkin is only really available during the fall so I tend to always grab a couple of cans to have on hand.
- Usually $0.99 from Kroger
- Flour
- Don’t judge us, but we actually buy the 25 lb bag of all-purpose flour from Costco.
- $7.99
- Don’t judge us, but we actually buy the 25 lb bag of all-purpose flour from Costco.
- Sugar (White, Brown, Powdered)
- Our friends over at Imperial Sugar // Dixie Crystals sent us SO much sugar so we’ve been using their white, brown, and powdered all year. But, again you can easily purchase 10-15 lb bags from Costco or general 5 lb bags from Kroger.
- Corn Starch
- We have the Argo brand in our pantry.
- Cream of Tartar
- We aren’t married to a brand here, whatever you pick up at your local grocery store.
- Cocoa Powder
- I will stand behind this statement, you must get the Rodelle Baking Cocoa. It’s AMAZING. Plus, Costco gets it during the fall season so I buy like 7 bags.
- $5 – $8
- I will stand behind this statement, you must get the Rodelle Baking Cocoa. It’s AMAZING. Plus, Costco gets it during the fall season so I buy like 7 bags.
- Vanilla Extract
- Our friends at Adams Extract hooked us up with a ton of vanilla extract this year, including clearvan which is a clear vanilla extract and seriously awesome. You can also get a giant container of vanilla at Costco for like $30.
- Cute Sprinkles
- There are so many cute sprinkle packs out there now. A few good brands are Sprinkle Pop and Sweetapolita. I sometimes find great ones at HomeGoods and Michaels too.
- Cute Cupcake Liners
- I buy random cupcake liners whenever I see them. I seriously love the ones at HomeGoods so that’s usually my go-to place to get fun ones.
Always in the Fridge
Okay, this is kind of a boring list. But, I always have these three items in my fridge. If you need to whip up something last minute, you can also do cupcakes, cake, cookies, or brownies with the ingredients above and below. If you tend to make a lot of whipped cream, I would add heavy cream to that list too!
- Eggs
- Not totally married to any brand to be honest. You can get 18 eggs at Costco for $3 so that’s always a top option for us. I have a whole post about eggs, read about them here!
- Milk
- Whole milk only. Don’t @me with that skim milk crap. You need fat for flavor.
- Butter
- Again, not married to a brand. I loveeee Kerrygold butter but we go through it so fast that I usually buy a 4-pack of regular unsalted butter from Costco for $10.
