Living in Toronto, apartment sizes do not come large. My “kitchen” area is maybe 25 sq ft so it’s really important to only have the things I need on hand…otherwise, my polly pocket apartment immediately becomes cluttered. So, I’ve curated a short list of everything I could not live without. Take a look!
Alana’s list of baking MUST HAVES:
I very rarely use this for ice cream…and that’s because if I’m eating ice cream, I’m eating it out of the carton with a spoon and directing it to my mouth immediately.
I use my Ice Cream Scooper anytime I make cookies, scones (I don’t make my scones the traditional way), or anything that needs to be circular in shape. There’s currently a viral video of people making their cookies “the perfect circle” with a glass…and in this moment I feel like the dude that makes fun of people making easy things hard…use an ice cream scoop, roll your dough into a ball, flatten the ball…done. Circular cookies. Cookies that will then be eaten within minutes and will no longer look like a circle. AND this will keep all of your goodies consistent in size. LOVE THAT!
Ultimately, any stand mixer is a hero in the kitchen. It takes the stress out of baking because as humans, many of us do not have more than 2 arms. Before my stand mixer, I would use a handheld mixer, spoon, or my hand and then the greatest friends in the world gifted me the beauty & elegance that is a KitchenAid Stand Mixer (I would get one even if I didn’t bake). And yes, I cried.
What I love the most is that there are so many different attachments that the only thing it doesn’t do is clean up after itself. Admittedly, it took some getting used to…just like any relationship…we needed to build our bond before we could be our best. Now, I don’t know my life without it.
10/10 would recommend.
Yes, very good for piping icing. BUT, also amazing for filling muffin pans, dessert cups, or jars! Keeps things clean and gives you more control of how much batter or icing you’re using. I’m still working on my icing & piping skills but one thing I know for sure is that things would be much messier without them.
PS. You can purchase reusable piping bags too!
Parchment Paper
Parchment paper over everything. Keeps your pans clean, prevents burning, non-stick, everything.
Also great for packing your treats and keeping oils from leaking onto your boxes or bags.
Of course, there are silicone baking sheets for waste-free baking!
Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
It only took 100 years of me breaking the handles off of plastic measuring cups before I thought about the option of steel/metal ones! I’ve had measuring cups & spoons that were metal handles and plastic scoops but those broke too! Nothing could handle my Hulk-like baking strength. Until I found these. Also, they’re gold and pretty so come on!
Life-changing.
Silicone Spatula
You may have noticed a theme here…silicone or metal everything and cleanliness. Silicone Spatulas manage to get all of the dough/icing/batter off of the bowl it was made in. This helps to make sure nothing goes to waste and keeps everything tidy.
These might seem obvious but I want to emphasize the importance of having different sizes of sheet pans. Depending on what you’re making the size will impact your goods. I rarely use the small one but it’s always good to have for when I have a little bit of dough left and make a small batch. For cookies like biscotti (that have to be baked in a log-shape and then cut into cookies) the large sheet is my go-to!
I feel like this meeting could have been an email….I’m about to pretty much say exactly the same thing I said about having multiple sizes of sheet pans. The purpose of having Cake Pans in multiple sizes is so that you can make Cake….in multiple sizes. Like why am I even writing this?
I bought two sets of these so that I can bake both layers of the cake at the same time. Since they aren’t too deep, they are perfect size for stacking.
There you have it! You’ve looked through my drawers and this is what you found!
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.