From cake pans, to cookie scoops, there’s so many tools in the market! This blog post will highlight all the Essential Baking Tools That Every Home Baker needs (and some of the ones you don’t!). If you’re struggling with what to buy, at what price point (and do you buy the cute color or the stainless steel!?), then you’re in the right place!
What You Need (and What You Don’t!)
Kitchen stores are some of my favorite places to go, from Williams and Sonoma, to Crate and Barrel, I just feel instantly at peace when I walk through the doors. My wallet, on the other hand, starts to sweat! There’s so many wonderful tools, plates, bakeware, silverware, the list goes on and on! I could easily spend way too much money stocking my kitchen will all the matching sets!
However, there’s a lot of tools that look great, but you don’t really need! As someone who used to live in an adorable townhouse with a small kitchen, I had to learn the tools that I really needed, and the ones that I didn’t! Throughout this blog post, I’ve listed all of the essential tools I recommend to buy first, and then the tools to buy when you’re feeling fancy!
Does Pricing Matter?
When it comes to pricing, baking tools can get pricey pretty quickly! A great place to start, especially if you’re just starting out, would be to buy a slightly cheaper tool first, and then you can see if it’s something you like! I don’t recommend going out and buying a stand mixer before you’ve even started baking! Start out with a hand mixer, see if you like it, and then you can upgrade after baking for awhile! You might discover that you don’t really need anything bigger or you might figure out that you prefer baking breads and dough over cookies and cakes!
I recommend staying in a price point that works best for you and your kitchen! There’s always going to be a cheaper option! For example, a lot of people will recommend using a food processor making pie dough, but really you only need a pastry cutter or two knives work just as well! It’s all about finding what the right baking tools are for you!
Baking Tools:
Cookie Cutters
This might be an odd place to start, but I have a set of round cookie cutters that I use all the time! I have this baking trick for making your cookies perfectly round every time! As soon as the cookies come out of the oven (especially if they’ve spread out), take a round cookie cutter and place it around the cookie, then gently move the cookie cutter in a round circle. This gently nudges the edges of the cookie back into itself, creating a perfectly round and thick cookie! I do this every single time I make cookies because sometimes cookies spread too much in the oven, and that’s okay!
Cookie Scoop
I can’t even tell you how much I love my cookie scoops; I have a set of three that I love more than anything! I use them with things like cookie dough, to cake batters, to muffins, I use them with everything! It really just helps to make sure whatever you’re portioning out is all the same size! If you don’t do this, you can cookies that bake up quicker than the rest and they could burn! No one wants half burned cookies while the other half is raw!
I highly recommend getting a set of three, small, medium, and large! You can use the small and medium for cookies, and the larger size for muffins and cakes! I love having the different sizes to use depending on what I’m baking! I used my large cookie scoop for making these perfectly domed Chocolate Muffins here!
Rubber Spatula
Spatulas are a must have tool that’s pretty inexpensive to buy! Honestly you can find these at most grocery stores! These are really great for scraping down the edges and bottom of the bowls! I also like to mix my dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spatula first, then use my hand mixer! It helps prevent the dry ingredients from flying all over the place! I really like to use this when I’m mixing with my stand mixer, because some ingredients can sink to the bottom of the bowl and not get incorporated! This helps prevent that!
You can use really whatever kind of spatula you like, a rubber or silicone spatula works great!
Electric Mixer
I use my electric hand mixer basically every time I’m in the kitchen! It’s great for making cookies, cakes, you name it! Plus, it saves the time of having to mix things by hand! I recommend using a cordless mixer because I think you get more movement without it! However, you can find pretty cheap hand mixers at your local grocery store!
If you know you love baking and really want to splurge, you can invest in a stand mixer! They are quite a bit more expensive than a regular hand mixer! However, they do make it a bit easier, because you can just toss your ingredients into the bowl, and let the mixer go to town! If you are wanting to get into bread making, I would recommend getting a stand mixer to help with the kneading process! But make sure it’s something you want to do first!
Pans and Bakeware:
Glass Bowls
For Christmas a few years ago, I got a set of stacking glass bowls that I absolutely love! I use them when I’m baking or cooking! It’s just great to have a bunch of different sizes that you can use as a mixing bowl for making large batches of cookies, or a small bowl to whip together a small dip for your fries! I love being able to portion out ingredients with the smaller bowls and mix everything together with the large bowls!
It’s also great to have multiple bowls because you don’t have to do dishes as often, and that’s a huge win for me!
Cake Pans/Square Pans
I recommend having two different baking pans: a cake pan and a square pan! I use my cake pan for cakes, cheesecake, and even coffee cakes! The square pan is perfect for blondies, brownies and rice krispie treats! I like having both as an option to use for different things!
If you really love to bake cakes especially, I would recommend getting a set of three round cake pans, for when you’re making layered cakes! However, I have a few cake recipes listed here for single layer cakes! You can get a 8 or 9 inch cake pan, I typically use a 9 inch cake pan!
If you wanted to really stock your kitchen, you could also add a rectangular baking dish if you wanted! Those are great for casseroles and larger cakes!
Sheet Pans
Baking sheets or sheets pans are one of my favorite kitchen essentials! I would recommend this be one of the first things anyone buys when starting out their kitchen tool shopping! I use these pretty much daily, from baking cookies, to roasting vegetables for dinner! Even if I’m baking a cake in a cake pan, I’ll still put a baking sheet underneath it to make sure that nothing drips into the oven!
I recommend getting a set of three baking sheets! Typically I only out about 6 cookies on a sheet pan so they have plenty of room to spread out! Having multiple cookie sheets means you can bake more cookies at once!
Things to Stock Your Pantry:
Besides all the essential tools I’ve listed, there’s a few things that I always like to keep in my pantry to make my baking experience a little bit easier! These are all things that you can find at your local grocery store and they’re all pretty inexpensive!
Parchment Paper:
This is an absolute must-have in my kitchen! Any time a baking sheet comes out, so does the parchment paper! It’s great to help prevent cookies from sticking to the trays and preventing the bottoms from browning as quickly!
I also use it when I’m cooking dinners to help make clean up easier! Just roll out the parchment and throw it away! There’s a lot of different kinds of parchment paper at the store; even some that comes pre-cut so you just have to lay a piece on your sheet pan!
Nonstick Spray
This isn’t a tool that I use as frequently, but I still recommend it to keep on hand! I use it whenever I’m making cakes or rice krispie treats! Whenever I’m baking a cake, I like to add a generous spray on nonstick spray, then I lay down parchment paper! This double duty process makes sure that cakes slide right out of the pan! If you’ve ever dealt with bundt pans, you know how crucial it can be to make sure your cake slides out easy!
At the grocery stores now, you’ll find two different types of nonstick spray: a nonstick spray with butter or some kind of oil, and a baking nonstick spray that has flour incorporated! I typically have both, because I use the baking nonstick spray for cakes and the regular nonstick spray for sticky items like marshmallow fluff and honey! However, you can pick which one you think you’ll use more often!
Muffin Liners
I don’t think I’ve ever used a muffin pan without having muffin liners! They are so important to make sure that your cupcakes and muffins come out of the pan! Not to mention they make muffins a bit more portable by holding on to all of the crumbs! This isn’t scientifically proven, but I also think that having a wrapper on the bottom of cupcakes and muffins helps prevent them from drying out as quickly!
Adding some muffin liners to your pan is the easiest way to ensure that nothing sticks when you’re making cupcakes or muffins!
If you run out, there’s a lot of different tricks on how to make your own muffin liners using parchment paper (another great reason to keep parchment paper in your pantry!) You cut out a small square of parchment paper, and then gently wrap it around the bottom of a glass to help it mimic the shape of the muffin tin! I don’t always use this trick, but it’s great in a pinch!
Extras (for when you’re feeling fancy!):
Now that you’re a seasoned baker and want to step up your game, I have a few more tools that I would recommend grabbing! They’re not expensive but they can help your baked goods come out a bit better! Keep on reading to find out what they are!
Pastry Brush
A pastry brush is one of those things that makes me feel fancy for having! A pastry brush!? Did I go to pastry school in Paris!? However, they’re actually really great to have on hand, especially if you make a lot of pies!
Whenever you’re working with pie dough or puff pastry, it’s really great to have a pastry brush to brush on the egg wash! Egg washes help the dough stick together and creates a nice golden brown crust on the top! I used one in this recipe for my Raspberry Crumble Galete! Perfect for helping the crumble stick to the edges of my pie crust!
There’s a lot of different types of pastry brushes, some that even look like a paint brush! I prefer to use a silicone pastry brush because then you don’t have to worry about any bristles falling off in your dessert! Not to mention, they’re a bit easier to clean!
Oven Thermometer
One of the biggest roadblocks home bakers can run into is their oven! Seems kind of crazy, but not all oven are created equal! Some can run hotter than others, while some can take a long time to preheat! What does this mean for your baked goods!? Well, for example, if your cookies need to be baked at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, and your oven beeps saying it’s preheated, but it’s really only at 300 degrees, you can put your cookies in at the wrong temperature. Which means you’re not really baking your cookies at 350 degrees for 15 minutes and your cookies can come out under baked!
It’s really great to have an oven thermometer to make sure that this doesn’t happen! That way you can tell what temperature your oven is really at and if there’s any hot spots in your oven! This is one of the easiest ways to help improve your baking and cooking skills!
Food Scale
This isn’t a tool I use a lot but there are a lot of people who only use a food or digital scale and highly recommend it! It’s great to keep in your kitchen for measuring out ingredients for cakes, cookies, and even pasta dough!
There are a few bakers that use food scales instead of measuring cups to help get a more accurate measure! This really comes into play with things like flour! A lot of people don’t realize but there’s actually right and wrong ways to measure flour for your baking recipes! If you’ve been struggling with crumbly cookie dough, if could be that you’re measuring the flour wrong! I have a whole blog post about it here!
Rolling Pin
Another one of those tools that you may not need right away, but it’s great to have on hand! I use it whenever I’m rolling out pie crusts, cookie dough, or puff pastry! I also like to use it as a way to crush up ingredients like pretzels, graham crackers, and potato chips! It’s a fun way to just pop your ingredients in a sandwich baggie, and smash away! It’s a great way to get your kids involved with baking or to relieve some built up stress! I used it a lot for my Sweet and Salty Rice Krispie Treats! Perfect for crunching up those pretzels and chips to add to my bars!
There’s a ton of different shapes and sizes with rolling pins! You can grab whatever one works best for your kitchen!
You can shop all my favorite tools here! This website uses Affiliate links which may earn commission at no extra cost to you. Each item is one I use or a similar item.
?If you’re just starting out baking, I have put together a complete guide of all my favorite baking essentials, from what to stock your pantry with, things to keep in the fridge and all my favorite baking tools! I’ll link that here for you to check out! It’s got all of my favorite tips and tricks into one place!
Having the right tools helps make baking just that much easier and more enjoyable! After all, baking should be fun and relaxing, and these tools will help you get there! It’s all about finding out the best baking tools that work for you and your kitchen! These are some of the tools that I recommend and use all the time in my kitchen! I hope that some of these tools can help you make the sweetest treats! Happy Baking!
Cheers!
-Holly Michelle
