I’ve been a “baker” for most of my adult life. I say it like that because I still have times when I burn things or forget ingredients or (my personal favorite) assume I know what a recipe is going to ask for and mess it up. In my years of baking, I have amassed a collection of things I didn’t have when I needed/never knew I needed/wish I’d had from day 1. So I’m presenting you with the top 8 things every baker needs.
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A mixer
Yeah, I know. You have a mixer. Or a whisk. Or a fork that you pull out to “mix” things together.
No. Abort mission. Do not pass go and do not collect $200.
You need a mixer. A high quality one. I have several recommendations here.
If you need a regular mixer, I recommend this one. It’s good for day to day uses. It’s lighter in weight and comes in a variety of colors.
For bigger projects, this one is my go to mixer.
It’s heavy, but it can mix, make bread dough, and with the appropriate tools it can make noodles from veggies.
A good sifter
I really never put too much faith in these. I was always a member of the “why do I need this?’ group who messed LOTS of recipes up with unsifted flour. Never again. A good sifter is what made my cookies chewier and my dough fluffier. It also really helps mix together dry ingredients.
I recommend a good hand crank sifter like this one to begin with. It’s cheaper, easy to use and the cup measurements on the side are incredibly useful. I also highly recommend the stainless steel because rust is gross.
If you have a Kitchenaid mixer, though, you can get this one. Because using attachments is way better than moving flour from point A to point B. At least it is if you’re me.
Icing Decoration Supplies
If you’re even remotely interested in decorating with icing, you need a cake decorating kit. You need tips, a turntable, and piping bags.
I recommend this one. Easy, not too many pieces and it has everything you need as a beginner.
a really good cookie sheet
I love cookies. Also biscuits. And croissants. If you’re anything like me, you bake things that require a cookie sheet. I guess the correct term is baking sheet, but I like cookie sheet better because cookies.
I recommend this one by Wilton. Non-stick bakeware is where it’s at. I always use non-stick spray with my non-stick bakeware, though, because you can never be too careful.
Springform Pans in various sizes
I wanted to make a cheesecake once. I bought all of my ingredients, got home and started reading the recipe.
Then I realized I needed a springform pan. I didn’t even know what that was. So I went and bought one. it worked really well for my cheesecake, but it was the wrong size for the recipe so I had leaft over cheesecake innards. (Don’t worry, I ate them.)
That’s when I bought these springform pans. Now I have 3 different sizes, which is convenient for different recipes and also if you are making more than one cheesecake at the same time.
A really good cupcake carrier
I’ve had a million cupcake carriers in my life. Well, not really a million. I’ve had a not so good one and a great one.
The not so good one sucked because it only carried half of my cupcakes well. It was a 2-tiered rectangle shaped one that ended up always smashing the icing on the bottom tier. No bueno.
Then I got this one. Each of the 3 tiers has it’s own handle, so you can pull it out as you need to. It’s all dishwasher safe, which is really important.
Have you ever cleaned a muffin tin? Exactly.
Well there you have it. That’s my list of the 8 must have essentials for every baker.
Do you have something you think should be on the list? Drop me a suggestion in the comments.
Some of my favorite things
Here are some of my favorite things from this post.
