12 Baking Tools Every Home Baker Needs

Home —
May 22, 2019
Home —
May 22, 2019

12 Baking Tools Every Home Baker Needs

  • Prep time: 1 hr
  • Cook time: 30 min
  • Total time: 1 hr 30 min

We rounded up our favorite baking tools for home bakers. From mixers to sifters, check out the baking gadgets you can’t live without.

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12 Baking Tools Every Home Baker Needs

We take our baking tools very seriously around here. Clearly so does Tilly. And with so many options out there, it can be hard to figure out what exactly a home baker needs to master every baked good. Questions we get asked ALL the time are: what tools do you recommend? What size KitchenAid should I get? Where are those measuring cups from?

So we rounded up our favorite baking gear we can’t live without.

1. KitchenAid

You know this is always going to be number one and I’ll tell you why: it saves so much time. Every time I have to whisk something by hand I’m like how the heck did people bake before KitchenAids?! It lasts forever, is super customizable (hello whisk, paddle, and dough attachments and don’t even get me started on all the other fancy attachments KitchenAid comes out with the on the reg). I love the 5 quart size–not too big, not too small, and perfect for the home baker.

If there is one thing you invest in, this is it.

2. Sifter

I’ve been using my great grandmother’s sifter for years and this one is virtually identical. Whether it’s making sure there are no almond chunks in your macarons, sifting the dry ingredients for a perfectly soft vanilla cake, or dusting scones with some powdered sugar, a sifter is a necessity. I love the crank handle on this one and how easy it is to use for both large and small quantities!

3. Rolling Pin

I think it goes without saying that every baker needs a rolling pin. For a short period of time in my college days I didn’t have one, and I have to say, a wine bottle gets the job done, but it’s certainly not as enjoyable. You’ll be obsessed with this sleek french rolling pin. It’s perfect for cut out sugar cookies, pie crusts, breaking up graham cracker crumbs, or pizza dough!

4. Juicer

No, you don’t need one of those 200 dollar fancy juicers to make cold pressed juice (though I have one of those and I do like it :), but one like this makes fresh citrus juice for drinks or blood orange loaf cakes, a whole lot easier. This one is my favorite because it’s dishwasher safe, durable (we’ve had it for years), and prevents any seeds from getting into your juice!

Plus I just love that it’s yellow 🙂

5. Zester

I LOVE ZEST. If you’re not using zest yet in your baked goods, time to step up your game. Fresh zest is so much better than any lemon extract and is a breeze to make when you have a good zester or microplane in your life. This one is dishwasher safe (love) and has a super grippy handle so you don’t end up taking out any chunks of your fingers.

6. Measuring Cups

It would be pretty hard to bake anything without these. And if I had a nickel for every time someone asked where those gorgeous and functional gold and wood measuring cups were from I’d have at least like…2 dollars. So in case you were wondering, they’re from Crate and Barrel and they rock. But they are also super old and they don’t sell them anymore. Luckily these ones from Amazon are a fraction of the cost and just as lovely.

7. Cake Turntable

If you think frosting layer cakes is hard, I feel you. But here’s your solution. Frost your cake on this rotating cake stand, easily spin it around to get those smooth edges or funky frosting techniques and then transfer it over to your pretty cake stand or serving platter. This one rocks because it comes with a huge offset spatula to make frosting even easier. SCORE.

8. Cooling Racks

I can guarantee, that most of our recipes have the step “and allow to cool.” And you know what you need for that? A cooling rack. DUH. I love these cooling racks because they grid isn’t too large that a mini cookie will fall apart, but isn’t so small that you won’t get airflow. Plus it comes in four different convenient sizes, so you can get one for a huge batch or a sheet cake, and one for a mini loaf cake.

9. Whisk

Sometimes the KitchenAid will be too big (or the bowl will be dirty and you’re too lazy to clean it…I know I am not the only one who feels this) and you’ll have to whisk something by hand. Whether you’re making brownies or whipping up a dipping sauce, a good hand whisk can make the process so much easier. We love the wooden handle on this one and the size is perfect.

10. Offset Spatula

You're only as good as your tools. We rounded up our favorite baking essentials for the home baker.

This spatula feels so fancy with the chic wooden handle. More importantly, it’s functional. It’s perfect for releasing macarons from parchment paper, frosting a smaller cake, or spreading icing on a cinnamon roll cake (yum).

11. Parchment Paper

Baking

I might take back what I said about the KitchenAid being the number one thing, because I truly do not think I could live without parchment paper. Seriously. Parchment paper is the best prop for food photography, it is the perfect way to line a pan or cookie sheet, it is sunshine on a rainy day…it is EVERYTHING to me.

I love that these sheets come precut to the perfect size and I truly don’t know how I could function without them.  Let’s just say there would be a lot more crying in our household. Plus $15 for 200 sheets? That’s less than 8 cents a sheet. You won’t regret it.

12. Piping Bags

Now I am no fancy, profesh cookie decorator. I can make frosting roses, but I’d said one out of ten would be acceptable enough to put on cake. So believe me when I tell you that piping bags are so much more than a decorating tool. They make the perfect baked donuts, churros, macarons and ensure even layers of frosting between cakes. These ones are a great size and are durable enough that they won’t rip if you squeeze too hard!

Anything else we’re missing here? Let us know in the comments below!

Happy baking love bugs!

XX

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  1. I love my KitchenAid, took me years to get one but it is so worth it. It’s help me make bread dough, pizza dough, roti/naan dough, dozens of cakes/cupcakes/cookies, mash, fresh pasta, frosting, the list could go on. I would say one thing that has helped a ton in my baking is a digital scale. I prefer recipes that are measured by grams/mls/oz, because it cuts the time in half, instead of using 5 different cups and bowls to hold ingredients, I just weigh each ingredient in one bowl, I set the scale to 0 after each ingredient is weighed. Life changing for me. And less clean up. Then again a dishwasher helps so much also.

  2. This photo with Tilly is too cute. I already own all but one of these, so I’m doing pretty well!

  3. This is AWESOME!!! I love that you use your great grandma’s sifter … I did too until it broke and I was so sad until my sweet, sweet daughter found me the exact one you mention here and I LOVE it!! And parchment paper… a total MUST!!!

  4. Hi, Sarah. I totally agree with you on each item you selected. I still need to purchase a few items. Thanks. Happy baking!!!!