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My grandma did a lot of baking – pies, cakes, cookies – you name it. Because of that, she seemed to always have all of the ingredients on hand that she needed for whatever recipe she wanted to make. When I first started baking more, I had to create my stock of ingredients, and now there are many essential ingredients I keep in my pantry, too. By keeping these items on hand, I already have most of what I need, which means I usually only need to pick up an item or two when I find a specific recipe I want to make. It also means that when I get a hankering for a sweet treat, I can whip something up with the ingredients I have because, let’s face it, I’m not getting out of my pjs to go to the store. Here’s what I keep stocked in my pantry and fridge:
1. All-Purpose Flour
Flour is one of the most essential baking staples because unless a recipe says “flourless” in the title, chances are you’ll need it. The flour in a recipe provides the structure for whatever you’re baking, which as you can imagine is pretty important. It’s also usable in more than just baking. For example, it can also be used to thicken soups and sauces. Whether you use flour often or not, it should be kept in a dry, air-tight container, not the bag it comes in. Using a container will help keep it from going stale and keep pests out. I use a large-sized glass mason canister to store my flour – it works great and looks nice on my counter.
2. White Granulated Sugar
If it’s a sweet treat you want, you’re going to need some sugar, and the primary sugar used in baking is granulated. From cakes to cookies to pies, they all call for sugar. Because I use it so often, I keep my sugar in the same type of container as my flour, just the medium sized one, and I keep them on my counter.
3. Butter
Butter is not just for Paula Dean and people on keto diets. Everyone should have butter on hand. For baking purposes, butter provides richness, tenderness, and moisture. When buying butter, you may ask, “Salted or unsalted?” I use unsalted so I can have more control over the amount of salt in my recipe, but others say salted is better for baking. To answer the question, though, use whatever you want. Try out each of them and see what you prefer.
4. Eggs
There are many other reasons to have eggs in your fridge, so you may already keep these stocked. In baking, eggs can serve many purposes – binding ingredients, adding moisture, acting as a leavening agent, and more- so most recipes are going to call for eggs. If you already keep eggs on hand for your breakfast in the morning, you’ll just have to spare a couple when your sweet tooth starts acting up.
5. Baking Powder and Baking Soda
I know these are two different ingredients, but I’m putting them together because they do the same job in a recipe. The main difference is that baking soda needs an acid in the recipe to react with while baking powder does not. Some recipes call for one over the other and some call for both. I just keep both on hand so that I’m ready for whichever one is needed.
6. Vanilla
Trying to think off the top of my head, I cannot remember any recipe that I’ve made that didn’t call for some amount of vanilla. Even chocolate recipes have vanilla. This is because it’s a flavor enhancer. Vanilla adds complexity and makes the other flavors taste richer without overpowering them. I buy pure vanilla extract (I get the big bottle at Costco), but you could also get vanilla bean paste or imitation vanilla. Use whatever you prefer.
7. Brown Sugar
Many recipes call for both white and brown sugar, so it’s good to keep both on hand. Brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added to it, so it brings another layer of flavor to baked goods. You can get either light or dark brown sugar, but I just keep light on hand. That has been sufficient for most recipes that use brown sugar. A tip for storing your brown sugar is to keep it in an airtight container with a terracotta brown sugar saver that will help it maintain moisture. Brown sugar is prone to drying out, so this help it stay fresh.
8. Powdered Sugar
For the part of a dessert that is actually baked, you’ll need granulated sugar, but if you’re like me and love a good frosting, icing, or glaze, you’re going to want powdered sugar, too. It’s a finer sugar that dissolves more quickly, so it allows for a smoother texture when beaten with butter or cream cheese. It’s not an absolute need in every recipe, but it is still something to keep on hand for when you do need it.
9. Cocoa Powder
If you are making anything that is chocolate based, you will need cocoa powder. If you aren’t planning to make anything chocolate, you may not need to get it right away, but it is nice to have on hand. Also, a quick note, while it sounds delicious to have a taste, don’t eat the power by itself. It’s not sweetened and is pure chocolate, which is bitter. Don’t ask me how I know.
10. Chocolate Chips
It could be argued that chocolate chips don’t really belong on this list, but I believe they are a staple ingredient to have on hand due to their versatility. Also, if you have everything on this list, you can make a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Besides cookies, though, chocolate chips can be used in so many things to add delicious pockets of chocolatey goodness.
A Few Extras
There are a couple of other ingredients that are staple, but I chose to leave them out of my list because they spoil if not used quickly enough. With these, it’s better to get them when you need them, rather than always have them. If you know you will use them up in other ways or in your baking, you can absolutely keep them on hand. I just know for myself that I don’t always use them up in time, and try to keep from wasting ingredients.
- Milk – This is a common grocery item that many people already buy, so you may just keep this in your fridge already. Baked goods that use batter, like cakes and quick breads, need a liquid, and usually, that liquid is milk. If you don’t already keep milk on hand, just pick some up when you need it.
- Cream Cheese – There are lots of recipes that use cream cheese, and those recipes are delicious (I’m looking at you cheesecake), but you may not be using blocks of cream cheese up regularly enough to keep it on hand. This is another one that while staple for many recipes, I feel is better to just pick up when you need it.
This list, including my extras, is not necessarily exhaustive of all of that you could keep on hand for baking, but it’s a good start. Are there any ingredients that you like to keep on hand that I didn’t mention? Comment below what I may be missing.
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