Holiday Baking Essentials

The most wonderful time of the year is here: Fall baking season. Pumpkin bread, apple pie, muffins, banana loaves, sweet potato pies, and all sorts of holiday treats to come. These are some of my favorite holiday baking essentials to get you through all the holidays from fall to New Years.

Gadgets and Gizmos

• Pie dish – What is fall without a pie? Pumpkin, Apple, and Sweet Potato are our go-to pies to make from September to December. If you don’t have one, you need to keep one of these in your cabinet. I love my Emile Henry pie dish.
• Pumpkin bread pan – When PSL season begins, pumpkin bread season is right around the corner. But the only way to make pumpkin bread is with a decorative bread pan. The Nordic Ware pan I got many years ago continues to be my favorite.
• Loaf pan – And then there are loaf pans. It’s a basic pan to fill with your favorite creations like Banana bread, pumpkin bread, even meatloaf! It’s versitile and something you’ll have a need for all year round.
• KitchenAid – We can’t talk about baking essentials without talking about a KitchenAid. I can mix, beat, and knead dough with this thing, even multitask on other parts of the recipe when someting is mixing. It’s my go-to kitchen essential throughout the year.
• Glass bowl – This is something that’s more decorative than useful. If you have a KitchenAid, you may not like the metal bowl, this is a great alternative. And if you’re into photos in the kitchen, a glass bowl will show your pretty cookie dough.
• Kitchen Aid Flex Edge Beater – I didn’t know this is something I needed, until I bought it. Like the KitchenAid beater, this does the same job except it scrapes the bowl while mixing. It’s great for batter, pie filling, and even cookie dough!
• Cheesecloth – Whether you’re straining pumpkin for purée or crafting a mummy pumpkin, having cheesecloth on hand will make your holidays a little easier. I usually see this sell out by October, so I always keep an extra package on hand.
• Dough Blender – If you make pie dough from scratch, you my already have one of these. If you don’t or are looking to make pie dough from scartch, this will help you out!
• Cookie scoops – These are not just for the holidays. I use my large cookie scoop to fill cupcake cups with batter, scoop meatballs, and yes, scoop cookie dough.
• Long drink stirrer – A great tool to use if you have a large jug. These are great for serving mixed drinks at parties, like this boozy apple cider sangria.
• Muffin cups – Another thing I can’t find easily at the end of the year are muffin cups. These are not your normal size cupcake liners, these are larger.
• Dough roller – I find this tool helpful when rolling out cinnamon rolls.
• Icing Spatula – Another tool I use for cinnamon rolls. This is to help frost cakes and smooth icing over something warm.
• Cookie Stampers – These are the best to create decorations with pie and cookie dough.
• Donut cutter – What I love about these is you get to mix and match sizes! The best tool to make donuts!

Spices and other things

Stock up on these spices and other notable ingredients to keep your baking non-stop through the holidays!

• Cloves
• Nutmeg
• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Vanilla
• Pumpkin spice
• Pumpkin purée
• Butter
• Pie dough – store bought, duh!
• Sprinkles
• Oats
• Molasses – for gingerbread cookies!

Bonus Item

Dawn Power Wash – this stuff is the real deal. Once you’ve made your mess, you have to clean up, right? Spray this on all the things and let it power away food crap. Keep a few refills on hand to get you through Thanksgiving.

I could go on and on about all my favorite baking essentials, but the post would be too long. Do you have any favorite kitchen gadgets?