Building A Baking Pantry

A comprehensive list of baking essentials to keep in your pantry. With these ingredients at your fingertips you should be able to bake to your hearts content!

Welcome to my pantry!  Ok, maybe not really my pantry, but an in-depth look at what I keep on hand for baking!

Every once in a while I like to take a look at what I’ve got in my pantry and stock up.  Baking is so much more fun when you’re not constantly running out to the grocery store buying ingredients that you don’t have.  So I figured while I was re-stocking my pantry, I would help you stock yours!  I often get e-mails asking me for baking tips and questions about ingredients, so this is a good chance for me to answer some of the very basics of baking…and I’m not a baking expert, just a home baker who’s made a few recipes in my time.

Stocking up a Baking Pantry

So here’s my list for the basic baking ingredients I like to keep on hand.  These are for everyday simple recipes like cookies, cakes, quick breads and loaves, desserts, and breads.  With these ingredients at your fingertips you should be able to bake to your hearts content!

Building a Baking Pantry…stocking up on the essentials!

1. Flours:  All Purpose, Whole Wheat, Cake Flour, Oat Flour
2. Oats:  Quick Oats and Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
3. Oat Bran:  I like to add oat bran to pancakes, cookies, muffins, and breads.
4. Wheat Germ
5. Corn Meal
6. Baking Soda
7. Baking Powder
8. Cream of Tartar
9. Corn Starch
10. Salt
11. Sugars:  Brown Sugar, Granulated Sugar, Icing (Confectioner’s Sugar)
12. Honey
13. Molasses
14. Corn Syrup
15. Spices:  Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, Nutmeg, Ground Cloves, Allspice
16. Cocoa Powder
17. Vanilla Extract
18. Raisins
19. Dates (in brick form)
20. Other Dried Fruit:  Apricots, Cranberries
21. Chocolate Chips:  Milk Chocolate, Semi Sweet
22. Baking Chocolate Squares (Semi-Sweet)
23. Nuts:  Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts
24. Coconut:  Shredded Sweetened, Shredded Unsweetened
25. Marshmallows (for last minute rice crispie squares!)
26. Coconut Milk:  Coconut milk is a great milk alternative, and it adds great flavour to baking.
27. Almond Milk:  This is also a great milk alternative in baking.
28. Evaporated Milk
29. Sweetened Condensed Milk
30. Powdered Milk
31. Vegetable Oil
32. Applesauce
33. White Vinegar
34. Lard/Shortening
35. Peanut Butter
36. Extracts:  Almond, Mint
37. Canned Pumpkin
38. Canned Peaches
39. Canned Pie Fillings
40. Jello Packages
41. Dried Yeast

 Stocking the fridge for baking:

1. Eggs:  I always use large eggs.
2. Butter:  Salted or Unsalted.  I always prefer to use salted butter, but will cut down on the salt in my recipes to accommodate.
3. Cream Cheese
4. Sour Cream
5. Yogurt:  Plain or Greek
6. Milk
7. Yeast
8. Powdered Milk (in the freezer)
9. Puffed Pastry  (in the freezer)

PRINT IT!

Here is a checklist that you can print off and use to get your pantry stocked!  Just drag the checklist image below on to your desktop and print it off.

Now that your pantry is stocked you can get baking!  Make sure to check out my collection of Classic Baking Recipes.

What am I missing?  Do you have any other ingredients to add to this list?  Leave a note in the comments!

Happy Baking!