Best Baking Tools and Essentials for Every Home Baker

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‘Tis this season for baking and I wanted to give you a head start on prepping your pantry and kitchen for the BEST baking season yet. These are my tried and true baking tools and essentials that I use daily in the kitchen. Now is the time to take a look at what you have and get everything prepared… You’ll be thanking yourself later, I promise.

What Do You Really Need?

When it comes to baking tools and baking essentials for cookies, cakes, pies, and everything in between, what you use will make a huge difference. If you already have some of these, great! You’re already a few steps in to prepping your kitchen for a terrific baking season! Maybe you have these items, but it’s time to upgrade those cookie sheets or get new oven mitts. Seriously though, when was the last time you bought new oven mitts? Make sure to read the full list so you can make note of what you need or what needs to be replaced in your kitchen!

The Basics

1. Measuring Cups/Spoons – Definitely baking tools we can’t live without! When it comes to measuring ingredients, you don’t need anything fancy, but you do need a set of dry measuring cups and a set of liquid measuring cups. There is a difference! Measuring spoons can be used for both for dry and liquid ingredients. I also love using this sticky measuring cup for ingredients like peanut butter or honey!

2. Cooling Rack – If you need a cooling rack for cakes and cookies, these are great. If you’re going to be baking batch after batch of cookies, you’ll need a tired cooling rack that can hold a lot of cookies but not take up a lot of space.

3. Silpat – This baking tool will take the place of parchment paper, so if you’re going to be baking a lot, I’d suggest investing in one of these. It also makes for a great gift for the baker in your life!

4. Parchment Paper – Using parchment paper will help you immensely when you’re in the thick of baking! It makes cleanup a snap!

5. Oven Mitts – Really ask yourself when was the last time you bought new oven mitts? It’s not something that’s ever on our mind, but I’m betting you could use some new ones! I love using silicone oven mitts, and these come in tons of fun colors!

6. Kitchen Mixer – This stand mixer is a workhorse and will get the job done right.

7. Flex Edge Scraper – This is an attachment that goes on your kitchen mixer and it’s for all that frosting you’ll be making! It’s also a great tool for thin cookie dough and compound butters.

8. Hand Mixer – This mixer has 9 different speeds and has a case for all its attachments!

9. Mixing Bowls – These bowls will last you years to come!

10. Food Coloring – Gel food coloring is the only way to go when coloring your frosting and baked goodies. This is a complete set and the colors can be mixed to create your own unique shades.

11. Kitchen Scale – When baking cupcakes and cakes, it really is best to weigh your ingredients! It’ll yield the best results! I love that the display can pull-out so you can read the weight when a large bowl is on the scale.

12. Mini Food Processor – If you need to chop anything finely, this is the way to go!

Cake and Cupcake Baking Tools

roundup of baking essentials for cakes and cupcakes

Spring Form Pan – Whether you’re making a baked cheesecake, a no-bake cheesecake, or any cake, you’ll most definitely want a spring form pan!
Offset Spatula – These aren’t just for frosting cakes! They’re and essential baking tool because you can actually use them to flip pancakes, eggs, sandwiches, or even burgers. During holiday baking it can frost cakes and cookies, help release muffins from their tins, spread cake batter evenly, shimmying under rolled-out sugar cookie dough to transfer cut-outs to a baking sheet, spreading jam or frosting between layers of cakes, and so much more.
Cupcake Pans – Wilton for the win!
1M Frosting Tip – I use this for all my frosting piping! You’ll also need frosting bags.
Cake Pans – I like to have a variety on hand, so here’s what I have 8”, 9”, a bundt pan, a cake roll pan, and a 9×13 pan.

Cookie Sheets – USA Pan Bakeware is a favorite brand of mine. They’ll last you for years to come.
Cookie Scoops – The more sizes, the merrier! These will ensure your cookies are all the same size!
Cookie Cutters – There are so many different shapes out there, but I always have a round shape on hand.
Whisk – For mixing those dry ingredients together!
Cookie Spatula – The baking tool you didn’t know you needed! This spatula is thin and flexible… perfect for lifting those cookies off the tray without breaking them!

Pie Baking Tools

Dough blender – Absolutely essential for creating a dough that’s just right! Easily cuts the butter right into the flour!
Pie Pan – Nothing fancy here, but this will bake the perfect pies every time!
Non-Slip Mat – This baking tool helps measure the perfect size for your pie dough and gives a non-stick surface to work on.
Pastry Cutter – Create stunning lattices with this cutter!
Silicone Pie Crust Shield – Protect your crust from getting burned with this shield.
Pie Weights – When you’re blind baking a crust, you’ll want to weigh it down, and these do the trick!
Silicone Spatula – Great for scraping filling onto the pie crust. Silicone cleans up so easily, too.