Receta 109 of My Essential Ingredients: How to Stock Your Baking Pantry

by Michelle Norris

109 of My Essential Ingredients: How to Stock Your Baking Pantry

[Post updated on 8/20/2014 to include spices, per reader feedback.]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share feedback on Monday’s post about what you’d like to see on the site; it was immensely helpful and I appreciate it very much! One of the things that many of you mentioned is that you’d like to see some information about my favorite ingredients, kitchen tools and equipment. While I have some specific recommendations on my Tools of the Trade page, I haven’t done an in-depth look at everything I use on an (almost) daily basis. I loved the idea and figured I would start with ingredients; I will do a future post on the equipment and tools that I use in my kitchen, so stay tuned! Now, on to the ingredients…

The picture above is my pantry, which is one of my most favorite things about our house. It’s enormous, and I love that the middle shelf can accommodate all of my large appliances (and a microwave – yes, there are outlets in there!). As you can see, I take advantage of every last bit of space and then some. Most of my dry baking staples are located on the bottom shelf in airtight containers. Prior to moving last year, I used Lock & Lock containers for storage of things like flours and sugars; however, given the depth and height of the shelves, I found that these square food storage containers afforded me the ability to pack more containers of the same volume into the same space, so that’s what I use now. I also have a label maker, because I’m a total nerd when it comes to organization and office supplies!

Below is a list of all of the things that I keep stocked in my pantry and refrigerator, along with brand recommendations, if applicable. Unless I run out of something mid-recipe, I rarely have to make emergency trips to the grocery store. I’m pretty well stocked for any recipe that comes my way, unless it includes a specialty ingredient. Once I see that I’m low on something, I add it to the list for my next grocery run (my grandma ingrained this habit into my brain!).

UPDATE: Many of you asked for information about the spices that I keep stocked, so I have included a section on that below, as well. Here is a photo of my spice cabinet, which is to the left of my cooktop.

Again, with the uniform containers, alphabetical order and label maker I use Libbey 4½;-ounce spice jars for almost all of the spices, with the exception of things like salts, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon sticks – for those I use the 12½;-ounce storage jars. I’ve added a section below for spices, and I’ve kept the list to things I use specifically for baking.

If you have any questions about the ingredients below, feel free to ask in the comments below!

Flours

I buy all of the flours below from King Arthur Flour; my local grocery store carries most of them, but I’ve provided shopping links for your reference.

• 1. All-Purpose Flour (I order this in a 25-pound bag)
• 2. Bread Flour
• 3. Cake Flour
• 4. High-Gluten Flour
• 5. Rye Flour
• 6. Whole Wheat Flour
• 7. White Whole Wheat Flour
• Sugars
• I buy my granulated sugar and powdered sugar in bulk at Costco or Sam’s Club and order the superfine sugar from King Arthur Flour (link below); the others are purchased at my local grocery store.
• 8. Granulated (white) Sugar
• 9. Light Brown Sugar
• 10. Dark Brown Sugar
• 11. Powdered Sugar
• 12. Superfine Sugar
• Chocolate
• All of my bulk chocolate is Valrhona brand, and I order it from Chocosphere.
• 13. Unsweetened Chocolate
• 14. Dark Chocolate
• 15. Semisweet Chocolate
• 16. Milk Chocolate
• 17. White Chocolate
• Cocoa Powder
• I use Hershey’s brand unsweetened cocoa powder from the grocery store; I buy Valrhona Dutch-process cocoa powder from Chocosphere.
• 18. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 19. Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder
• Chips
• I use a variety of brands for my chips, all of which I buy at the grocery store, with the exception of the cinnamon chips. See notes below.
• 20. Dark Chocolate Chips (Ghiradelli)
• 21. Semisweet Chocolate Chips (Ghiradelli)
• 22. Miniature Chocolate Chips (Ghiradelli)
• 23. Milk Chocolate Chips (Ghiradelli)
• 24. White Chocolate Chips (Ghiradelli)
• 25. Peanut Butter Chips (Reese’s)
• 26. Butterscotch Chips (Nestle)
• 27. Cinnamon Chips (King Arthur Flour)
• Vanilla and Extracts
• These are all purchased at the grocery store, except where noted below.
• 28. Whole Vanilla Beans (Beanilla)
• 29. Pure Vanilla Extract (homemade or King Arthur Flour) and Vanilla Bean Paste (King Arthur Flour)
• 30. Almond Extract
• 31. Anise Extract
• 32. Anise Oil (King Arthur Flour)
• 33. Coconut Extract
• 34. Lemon Extract
• 35. Mint Extract
• 36. Peppermint Extract
• 37. Food Coloring
• Spices
• 38. Allspice (ground + whole berries)
• 39. Anise Seed
• 40. Baking Powder
• 41. Baking Soda
• 42. Caraway Seeds
• 43. Cardamom (ground + green and black pods)
• 44. Cinnamon (ground + sticks)
• 45. Cloves (ground and whole)
• 46. Cream of Tartar
• 47. Espresso Powder
• 48. Everything Bagel topping
• 49. Ginger (ground)
• 50. Nutmeg (ground and whole)
• 51. Poppy Seeds
• 52. Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 53. Sage (dried)
• 54. Sesame Seeds
• 55. Salts – Table Salt, Kosher Salt, Sea Salt and Fleur de Sel
• Dried Fruit
• All purchased either at the grocery store or in bulk at Costco or Sam’s Club.
• 56. Dates
• 57. Dried Apricots
• 58. Dried Cranberries
• 59. Dried Figs
• 60. Dried Mango
• 61. Raisins
• Nuts
• All purchased from Nuts.com.
• 62. Almonds
• 63. Cashews
• 64. Peanuts (dry roasted, honey roasted and roasted Virginia)
• 65. Pecans
• 66. Pistachios
• 67. Walnuts
• Miscellaneous Baking Ingredients
• If not purchased at the grocery store, a link is included.
• 68. Breadcrumbs (plain, Italian and panko)
• 69. Candies, such as peanut butter cups, M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces, Hershey’s Kisses, candy canes, etc.
• 70. Cornmeal
• 71. Cornstarch
• 72. Corn Syrup (light and dark)
• 73. Crystallized Ginger
• 74. Diastatic Malt Powder (I use this in my bagels.)
• 75. Evaporated Milk
• 76. Graham Crackers
• 77. Honey
• 78. Lyle’s Golden Syrup
• 79. Malted Milk Powder
• 80. Maple Syrup (always use pure maple syrup for baking, not imitation such as Log Cabin, Aunt Jemima, etc.)
• 81. Marshmallows
• 82. Molasses
• 83. Non-Stick Cooking Spray (i.e. Pam)
• 84. Oats (old-fashioned and quick cooking)
• 85. Peanut Butter (I don’t recommend using natural or homemade peanut butters for most baking recipes, as they are too oily. My brand of choice for baking is Skippy.)
• 86. Pumpkin (canned)
• 87. Shredded Coconut (sweetened and unsweetened)
• 88. Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 89. Tahini
• Refrigerated Ingredients
• I purchase all of these at the grocery store, and buy organic where possible.
• 90. Butter (salted and unsalted)
• 91. Buttermilk
• 92. Cream Cheese (Philadelphia brand, always)
• 93. Eggs
• 94. Sour Cream
• 95. Whole Milk
• 96. Yeast (Red Star Active Dry Yeast and Red Star Rapid Rise Yeast)
• Oils
• These are all purchased at the grocery store. I don’t do much baking with olive oil or sesame oil, but I do use them often in my cooking.
• 97. Coconut Oil (refined and unrefined)
• 98. Olive Oil
• 99. Sesame Oil
• 100. Vegetable Oil
• Vinegars
• Again, these are all purchased at the grocery store. I primarily use white vinegar for baking, but figured I would include everything in my stash.
• 101. Balsamic Vinegar
• 102. Golden Balsamic Vinegar
• 103. Champagne Vinegar
• 104. Cider Vinegar
• 105. Malt Vinegar
• 106. Red Wine Vinegar
• 107. Rice Vinegar
• 108. Salad Vinegar
• 109. White Vinegar

This is a pretty comprehensive list of everything I keep stocked for recipes, with the exception of things that are purely for everyday eating, such as rice, cereal, pasta, bread, etc. I included brands and sources where applicable, but again, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask below.

I hope this has provided inspiration for adding some fun ingredients to your pantry!