If you are a home baker or someone aspiring to be, this kitchen essentials list will help save you time by having the 5 most used and must have kitchen items for home bakers in your own home. Once you start baking and enjoying the natural therapy it provides, you will likely want to just go buy everything and do everything all at once. But, the truth is you don’t have to. Take it from me, someone who in fact DID do that and bought way too many things I didn’t even end up using!
When I started developing my baking hobby where I began baking weekly, if not daily, I quickly learned that I did not have the right kitchen tools. This must have list includes 5 things that you should start off with as a home baker starting your baking journey. You can also check out my Amazon Storefront for other kitchen items!
If you are just looking at what you need for baking, start with these 5 things below. They will be the most used home bakery tools. I also recommend some additional nice to have items below.
1. Mixing Bowls
Mixing bowls of various sizes are so helpful because baking requires different ingredients being mixed together. One recipe can require several different combinations of ingredients being mixed together. This is why it is helpful to have different sizes for different recipe needs.
I’m using an Anchor Hocking glass mixing bowl here for my healthy maple syrup sweetened banana bread recipe.
Nesting mixing bowls are great for small spaces because they do not take up a lot of real estate. They are stackable mixing bowls that only take up as much space as the largest bowl in the set. Strong materials such as glass, stainless steel, and ceramic are important because you will need them to stand up to electric mixers, whisking, different temperatures, and exposure to different ingredients!
Best Mixing Bowls for Home Bakers:
- 10 Piece Glass Nesting Bowls (dishwasher/microwave safe)
- Glossy White Nesting Mixing Bowls (dishwasher/microwave/oven safe & sizes ranging from 4.5QT – 1.1OZ)
- Anchor Hocking 4QT Clear Glass Mixing Bowls (set of 2, dishwasher/microwave/oven safe)
- Budget friendly 10 Piece Glass Mixing Bowl Set (dishwasher safe)
- Pyrex Mixing Bowls with Lids (top rack dishwasher/oven/microwave safe, comes with lids, BPA safe)
- Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set (multicolored, 12 pieces, comes with lids, nesting ability)
2. Utensils like Spatulas and Whisks
Spatulas
You will use many different kinds of spatulas when baking including icing spatulas and silicone spatulas. I hoard them intentionally because you can never have enough! I use them for everything! Spatulas are a must have for home bakers or a home baking business.
Icing Spatulas are a must have tool for icing and decorating cakes. They can also be used for cupcakes, spreading batters into pans, and smoothing the tops of deserts! If you are decorating cakes, it helps to help have both straight and offset icing spatulas.
Silicone spatulas that have heat resistant capabilities are great to work with for recipes requiring hot and cold temperatures. Silicone also offers a smooth texture and flexibility making them SO EASY to clean. Silicone spatulas scrape the curve of bowls really nicely and make sure you get every ingredient out of the bowl! No waste zone over here!
Recommended Spatulas for Home Bakers:
- Silicone Spatula Set (5 varying spatulas, brush included also)
- Small Silicone Spatulas (I use these to mix colors into smaller bowls of buttercream. They are my favorite small silicone spatulas).
- Confetti Silicone Spatulas (sprinkle spatulas!)
- KitchenAid Spoon Spatula (so sturdy!)
- KitchenAid Scraper Spatula (scrapes a bowl so well – no ingredient left behind!)
- Icing Spatula Set
- Wilton 9″ Angled Spatula
- Straight Cake Icing Spatula Set
- Wilton Cake Decorating Spatula Set (3 pieces!)
Whisks
Whisks are a must have in the kitchen, especially with baking. When we scramble eggs, we sometimes just use a fork, or at least that’s how I was raised! Although there’s nothing wrong with that for some scrambled eggs, when we are whisking different mixtures in baking that need to be emulsified or have air whipped in, we need a whisk to really do the job properly!
I’m using an Anchor Hocking glass mixing bowl here and a whisk for my carrot cake blondies recipe.
I recommend having both metal whisks and silicone whisks, as well as varied sizes and multiple amounts. If you need several different mixtures whisked, no one wants to be cleaning their one and only whisk while making a recipe.
Best Whisks for Home Bakers:
- Amazon 3 Piece Whisk Set
- OXO 11″ Balloon Whisk
- KitchenAid 10.5″ Utility Whisk
- 3 Piece Silicone Whisk Set (heat resistant!)
3. Measuring Tools (Cups, Spoons, Scales)
If you are in the United States, then we are taught to measure by volume. However, you will quickly learn that this is not the most accurate method, especially for baking.
When you are making finicky dessert recipes, such as macarons, you are going to want a digital food scale. There are some desserts that absolutely require a scale such as French macarons. I’d never make macarons without one! The tiniest gram can make the difference in the success of the recipe.
In reality the only way you know you are getting the exact recipe as the recipe developer is through weighing the ingredients. But, some recipes have grace in variations and some don’t. Because of the need for different measuring techniques for different recipes, I highly recommend having all 3 things – measuring cups, measuring spoons, and a scale. Having a digital food scale also allows you to follow recipes from recipe developers in all different countries.
My French Macarons pictured below (recipe coming soon) is one of the recipes that require a scale.
I would recommend having several sets of measuring cups and spoons so that way you can measure different amounts of separate ingredients without having to wash the cups. For instance you don’t want to measure a cup of pumpkin puree and then use the same cup to measure flour. I have multiple sets and I remove the ring that they usually come on as that just gets in your way while you’re baking. I throw all of mine in a small bin in my cupboard.
4. Bakeware
Depending on what you will be baking will determine what type of bakeware you will need. I recommend having an entire bakeware pan set and then you can add in additional pieces as you learn more about what you want to bake.
For instance if you are going to make cakes, you will want varying sizes of cake pans and multiples of each size so that you can create layers. It helps to have at least 3 pans of the same size for circle cake layers so that you can bake all the layers at one time. If the cake batter sits in the bowl too long and you have to bake one layer at a time, the texture and outcome of each cake layer can be different. My favorite cake pans are Fat Daddios. I also love my square USA Pan for brownies and cheesecake bars.
You can get by with a regular muffin pan that makes 12 muffins or cupcakes, but if you plan to bake in larger batches, I’d recommend a 24 cavity muffin pan. I personally love mine!
Baking sheets, also known as cookie sheets are also a must have. You can have them in various sizes but one large one can do the trick.
Additional items that would be good to have on hand include silicone mats (must have for making macarons also), cooling racks, and parchment paper.
Recommended Bakeware for Home Bakers:
Bakeware Sets
- Caraway Nonstick Ceramic Bakeware Set (11 pieces)
- Calphalon Nonstick Bakeware Set (6 pieces)
- Calphalon Nonsick Bakeware Set (10 pieces)
- NutriChef Deluxe Bakeware Set (10 pieces)
Cake Pans
- Fat Daddios 9×3 Circle Cake Pans (2 pieces)
- Fat Daddios 6×2 Circle Cake Pans (2 pieces)
- USA Bakeware 9 inch Square Pan (great for brownies, cinnamon rolls, and cheesecake bars)
- Farberware Nonstick 9×13 Baking Pan (great for sheet cakes, cinnamon rolls, and cookie bars)
Cupcake Pans
Cookie Sheets
- Wilton Sheet Pans (2 pieces)
- USA Pan Half Sheet Pan
- Le Creuset Rectangular Sheet Pan (This is my most used sheet pan from baking sheet pan dinners, cookies, macarons, and more. I scored it at a Le Creuset outlet on sale!)
Additional Bakeware
- 9×5 Loaf Pan (great for pound cake and banana bread)
- Pyrex Baking Dishes (set of 2)
- Porcelain Baking Dishes (set of 4)
- Fat Daddios 7×3 Cheesecake/Cake Pan
- Fat Daddios 6×3 Cheesecake Pan
- Fat Daddios 6×3 Springform Pan
- Wilton 6-Cavity Donut Baking Pans (set of 2)
- Pyrex Glass 9.5 Inch Pie Plates (set of 2)
- Enameled Cast Iron Magnolia Dutch Oven (great for bread baking and dinners)
- Ramekins (great for crème brûlée, souffles, and mini lava cakes)
5. Electric Mixers
If you are going to be baking, you will want an electric mixer. I could go on all day about how much I love my mixers. We are in a serious committed relationship! (LOL)
Most modern baking recipes are going to call for one. Trust me when I say that an electric stand mixer is a game changer and worth the investment. It allows you to mix hands free and get through any type of mixture much quicker. You can also multitask when something is mixing instead of you holding and maneuvering the hand mixer.
BUT, I truly love both of my electric mixers, hand and stand (I have several of each actually). If you are going to bake often, at least several times a month then I would seriously consider investing in both. I reach for both of mine equally.
I absolutely love my Cordless KitchenAid Hand Mixer. I also have this Corded Hand Mixer if you don’t mind a cord. This one I used for years before upgrading to the cordless version when it came out. It is also good to have as a backup if you forget to charge your cordless mixer!
My favorite brand of mixers is KitchenAid. Not only do they have a ton of color options, but they are built to last the test of time. KitchenAid mixers have been tried and true in home kitchens for so many years. Their customer service is also amazing in my experience.
My growing mixer collection is below. I would love to have them in all different colors and anyone serious about baking probably feels the same way! I have pretty classic colors but it all started with little red.
The white one below is my MOST used out of them all and it stays out on my counter at all times. The 6 quart black mixer gets pulled out during the holidays mostly for Christmas cookies or whenever I’m baking a big birthday cake for my family celebrations. This dark green Magnolia mixer is my dream mixer though!
I promise this is an investment you will use over and over again as a home baker and for so many different recipes. You can use your mixer for more things outside of baking as well like shredding meat, mixing ice cream, making pasta, mixing liquids, and so much more! The KitchenAid mixer attachments options are also endless!
Which electric stand mixer is best for home bakers?
If you made the choice to invest in an electric stand mixer, good for you, you’re going to love it! I recommend the size I use the most, which is the 5 Quart KitchenAid Tilt Head Mixer. These mixers can last you several decades, if not more (NOT kidding, I found a working 50 year old KitchenAid at a thrift store before!).
My 5 Quart KitchenAid Tilt Head Mixer and my Cordless KitchenAid Hand Mixer are used for a majority of my recipes on this site. If you plan to make a home bakery business, then you may opt for the larger 6 quart mixer because it can make larger quantities which is good when you are baking in bulk! Because these are an investment, do your research first and make sure you get a color that you will not get tired of looking at on your counter!
Recommended Electric Mixers for Home Bakers:
If you buy a stand mixer brand new from KitchenAid, it will come with the proper fitting bowl and several attachments usually including a whisk, beater blade, and dough hook. The hand mixers will also usually come with additional attachments. I find it helpful to have extra attachments and bowls on hand as well to switch in and out.
- 5 Quart KitchenAid Tilt Head Mixer (Tilt head design, doesn’t take up too much space and is perfect for the home hobby baker. This is by far my most used mixer.)
- 6 Quart KitchenAid Professional Series (Lift bowl design, attachments are larger, and the mixer takes up more space but can make larger quantities and would be great for a home bakery business. I pull this mixer out when making super large amounts of bread or cookie dough like for my Christmas Cookie Boxes.)
- Cordless KitchenAid Hand Mixer
- Cordless Cuisinart Hand Mixer
- KitchenAid Hand Mixer (corded)
An additional kitchen appliance I would recommend for baking is a food processor. I have the smaller 3.5 Cup KitchenAid Processor and the 7 Cup Food Processor. I use them both pretty equally for different things. I would not consider this one of the must haves for home bakers but it is super helpful and once you start to learn all of the ways you can use it, you might find it helpful to have. I usually make pie crust dough, chickpea cookie dough, and cookie crusts in one. I also use the small one to help chop up nuts, shred carrots, and grind cookies into crumbs.
Be sure to check out my Amazon Storefront for even more recommended baking and kitchen items!
There you have it, 5 of my most recommended and essential baking tools to have in your kitchen. These items would also make amazing gifts for any home baker. It is always good to have multiples of each item as well so I wouldn’t worry about buying something they already have.
I hope you found this list of 5 must have kitchen tools for home bakers list helpful and would love to hear how you use these items the most in your own kitchens! Remember baking is supposed to be fun and takes time to learn. Be patient with yourself and enjoy the process!
Peace & cookies,
Meg