With fall in full swing, and the holiday baking season quickly approaching, now would be a good time to make sure you’ve got those baking essentials. You don’t want to find yourself stranded when you’re in the thick of baking!
I did some online digging, had some in-depth discussions with some of Taste of Home’s resident bakers, and did a deep cleaning of my own kitchen to come up with this list of baking must-haves.
- French Rolling Pin – There are few things that I have to have in the kitchen; this rolling pin is one of them. With tapered ends, a French rolling pin helps you roll out dough with minimal effort and flatten the dough evenly with the best control.
- Measured Cookie Scoop – Our Taste of Home bakers all had cookie scoops on their baking list. These scoops help with portion control so you get the perfect cookie every time.
- Parchment Paper – I promise you, this will make all the difference in your baking endeavors. Not only will it help with clean up, but it helps cookies from over-baking, helps cakes come out clean, and gives other baked goods golden bottoms.
- Pastry Blender – The secret to a light, flaky piecrust is a pastry blender. According to our Test Kitchen, it’s key for incorporating cold butter into flour.
- Kitchen Scale – Whether used for pouring batter into cake pans or weighing yeast dough for rolls, a kitchen scale will help ensure all of your delicious goodies are the same size and bake evenly. Weighing cake batter guarantees that all cake layers will be the same height and the bake time will be uniform.
- Cooling Racks – I know what you’re thinking: “how could a baker not have cooling racks?” Well, you’d be surprised how many don’t. Be sure to have multiple cooling racks so if you’re going on a baking bender, you’re not trying to fit everything on one rack.
- Good Spatula – Let’s be honest, there’s nothing better than a good, sturdy spatula for scraping, mixing, and spreading. It’s good to have different sizes – one large, one small – for various projects.
- Wet & Dry Measuring Cups – Some people use dry measuring cups for liquid ingredients and liquid measuring cups for dry ingredients. Well the madness stops here. Be sure to pick up some sturdy measuring utensils – in multiples if you can – before your next baking project.
- Kitchen Timer – A kitchen timer is a baker’s best friend, especially if you’re baking multiple things at once. I like to have three in my kitchen incase I’m cooking more than one thing. They also make a great backup in case you don’t hear the one on your oven or microwave.
- Mini Food Processor – One of the best gifts my Mom ever gave to me was my KitchenAid food processor. I love this little guy. Perfect for chopping nuts, making piecrust, or making some last minute whipped topping, it’s become my right hand man in the kitchen.
- Dough Scraper – Great for helping you pick-up, turn, and portion dough, the dough scraper is great for bread and cookie bakers. Some of our more serious Taste of Home, say it’s a definite must have and that they’d be lost without one.
- Whisk – Never in my life have I owned a flour sifter. I’ve always relied on my handy-dandy whisk. It’s great for blending dry ingredients without dirtying up a larger piece of equipment. Plus, owning whisks in multiple sizes helps tackle various projects with ease.
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If anyone is looking for some of these top kitchen tools and live in Canada … feel free to visit my Tupperware site and check out the shop section for options!
I call these bowl scrapers.
Some people call pancake turners spatulas.
A spatula is a spatula so they say.
Thanks for the tips. I use a flour sifter now, but I’m going to get the largest whisk I can find-and some of the other stuff.
I love pastry brush. Not just for doing egg wash. I use it to grease the cake pans with homemade pan release. No mess on hands.
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