The 12 Best Baking Supplies of 2023

Best Bakeware Set

Calphalon Simply Nonstick Bakeware 6-Piece Set

4.7

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This classic set of six nonstick pieces is a great place to start or is perfect for refurbishing your collection of baking supplies. It has all the basics, including two 8-inch round cake pans for classic layer cakes, one medium loaf pan for sweet or savory breads, one 9 x 13-inch cake pan for quick breads or bars, one 12-cup muffin pan for cupcakes or muffins, and one 10 x 15-inch baking sheet for cookies, jellyroll cakes, or just about anything else.

Manufactured by the well-trusted Calphalon brand of Perrsyburg, Ohio, the heavy-gauge steel won't buckle in the oven, and the nonstick surface is designed to release up to two times better than Calphalon Classic Bakeware. This set is oven safe to 450 degrees and dishwasher safe. This makes a great gift for someone new to baking or for your own kitchen.

Price at time of publish: $44

Includes: [2] 8-inch Round Cake Pans, [1] 9 x 5-inch Loaf Pan, [1] 9 x 13-inch Cake Pan, [1] 12-Cup Muffin Pan, [1] 10 x 15-inch Baking Sheet

Best Cooling Rack

Checkered Chef Cooling Racks 2-Pack

4.7

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A cooling rack gives your baked goods a place to cool while allowing air to circulate below and around, preventing moisture from forming, which will cause sogginess. This grid is versatile because you can also pop it in the oven if you want to crisp a pizza or veggies, bake some bacon with easy drainage, or even prepare a roast. The cooling rack is oven safe up to 500 degrees which should tackle most of your home-cooking projects. It’s built of heavy-duty stainless steel and reinforced with a crossbar that runs the length of the rack, as well as three sets of feet where other racks tend to have two — so don’t hesitate to load it up! 

When you’re finished, the Checkered Chef cooling rack can be cleaned in the dishwasher, although any tough bits may need to be scrubbed a little by hand for the best results. While one cooling rack is essential, if you plan on doing a lot of baking, it might be worth it to pick up two of these racks.

Price at time of publish: $23

Includes: One 16.93 x 11.42-inch stainless steel cooling rack

Best Spatula Set

OXO Good Grips 3-Piece Silicone Spatula Set

5

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To get started, you’ll need at least one silicone spatula for folding batters, fluffing frostings, and filling pastry bags. But you’ll quickly find that having more than one spatula available, and in a few different styles will be a huge help. This 3-piece set from OXO Good Grips is our favorite set for baking, as well as almost any savory cooking you might need a silicone spatula for as well. The red “everyday” spatula is perfect for a wide variety of uses, and quickly became our tester’s favorite go-to spatula during home baking and cooking tests. The smaller, light blue spatula is similarly shaped but smaller, making it easier to reach into wide-mouth jars and cans and working with smaller batches of baked goods. Finally, the large white spoon-shaped spatula makes scooping up batters and frosting much easier, all while making sure the bowl is scraped clean. 

This is the newest version of OXO’s popular silicone mixing spatulas. The upgrade included covering the spatulas entirely in silicone for a seamless unibody design that’s more stable and easier to clean. Our tester found that the silicone made the handles just as heat-resistant as the heads of the spatulas, which was helpful when leaning them against the edge of hot pots and pans. It also made it easier to handle the spatulas if liquid or grease got onto the non-slip spatula handle. The long handles are easy to grip and help keep your hands out of danger when cooking especially hot foods, like bubbling caramel. And when you’re finished, the spatulas are easy to clean by hand, or dishwasher safe for a deeper clean.

Price at time of publish: $21

Includes: 10-inch blue spatula, 12.5-inch red spatula, 12-inch white spoon spatula

Best Zester

Microplane Premium Zester

5

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A Microplane zester is such an essential tool in professional kitchens, that cooks will refer to a zester as a “Microplane”, regardless of the brand. The Microplane brand is known for its sharp and long-lasting zesting blades that can tackle the fine outer layer of citrus peels with the same efficiency as hard pieces of whole nutmeg. It’s also great for finely zesting hard cheeses onto salads and pasta, grating fresh ginger, garlic, and even zesting fine chocolate flakes. The height of the zester blades are actually designed to slice through the outer layer of citrus without grazing the bitter white citrus pith below, so you’re going to get perfect citrus zest with every use.

The zesting blade is made from surgical-grade stainless steel, which is why it can stand up to harder ingredients and keeps its sharpness for longer. While a Microplane is incredibly easy to use, make sure to watch your fingertips and knuckles because it's sharp enough to zest you as well. The soft plastic handle makes it easier to keep a firm grip on the zester while you work. The Premium Classic Microplane zester is currently available in 25 handle colors, to coordinate with nearly any kitchen décor you may have, or to set your tools apart from others in a larger kitchen setting. Microplane zesters are dishwasher safe but are just as easy to wash and rinse by hand for less wear and tear over time.

Price at time of publish: $17

Includes: One 12-inch stainless steel zester with ergonomic plastic handle

Best Mixing Bowls

Nordic Ware 4-Piece Prep N Serve Mixing Bowl Set

4.6

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No kitchen is complete without a set of mixing bowls. Whether you're whipping up a batch of cookie dough, mixing a salad for dinner, or reheating leftovers, mixing bowls are some of the most versatile and occasionally underrated tools in the kitchen. This 4-piece bowl set from Nordic Ware is a great place to start building your mixing bowl collection. The set includes a 2-quart, 3.5-quart, 5-quart, and 7-quart bowl that can stand up to most cooking projects. During testing, these bowls performed well when using a hand mixer, without ingredients flying out of the bowls. Our tester also noted that the plastic bowls also tended to be less noisy when mixing with metal utensils than their metal counterparts.

We like that these bowls are safe to use in the microwave and the dishwasher for easy heating and cleanup and lightweight enough for just about anyone to handle with ease. The cool tones color palette with decorative bowl design makes the bowls fitting not just for mixing but for serving meals any night of the week and convenient for outdoor dining. Nordic Ware makes a wide selection of cookware and bakeware and is a trusted name in the world of kitchen products, so you know you're getting reliable goods.

Price at time of publish: $32

Includes: Four plastic mixing bowls, in 2-quart, 3.5-quart, 5-quart, and 7-quart sizes

Best Whisk

Winco 12-Inch Stainless Steel Piano Wire Whip

4.6

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When it comes to whisks, there are a lot of options out there. But if you just need one reliable whisk that can power through nearly anything you throw at it, go with what the professionals use. The Winco Stainless Steel Piano Wire Whip is about as heavy-duty as it gets, without being too heavy and still capable of handling whipping up delicate creams and sauces. 

During testing, we found that the Winco whisk was able to easy mix together thick pecan pie batter and emulsify vinaigrette efficiently. Our tester liked the shorter handle that allowed her to get closer to the food and use less energy to whisk everything together. Since both the wires and the handle are made from stainless steel, remember that the handle will get hot if it’s left resting on the side of a pot.

The Winco whisk comes in several sizes, including 10, 12, 14, and 16-inch. For regular home use, we’d recommend the 10 or 12-inch sizes, although you may find the 14 and 16-inch sizes helpful if you tend to cook much larger batches of food at one time. The whisk is dishwasher safe, although our tester noticed that the handle tends to lose its shine when run through the dishwasher.

Price at time of publish: $12

Best Egg Yolk Separator

Tovolo Silicone Yolk Out Egg Separator

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When a recipe calls for separated eggs, things can start to get a little messy. Juggling separate bowls, making sure no egg shells get into the egg whites, and taking special care not to break the yolk can all make the process distressing. While you get the hang of things, this handy silicone egg separator from Tovolo is a convenient little gadget that can make the work of separating yolks and whites a little easier.

It works like this. Crack your eggs into a bowl, then use the silicone egg separator to suction up the yolks, one by one. You can then deposit the yolks into another bowl, or toss them if you don’t need them. The separator is small enough to be used one-handed and weighs less than an ounce. When you’re finished, the whole thing is dishwasher safe and small enough to fit in any drawer for storing.

Price at time of publish: $14

Includes: One easy-squeeze silicone suction-style egg separator

Best Pastry Brushes

Tezzorio Set of 2 Pastry Brushes

4.5

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Pastry brushes are an essential baking and cooking tool. You can use one to spread egg washes or glazes over pastries, brush melted butter over bread, baste meat with a marinade, and much more. Though silicone pastry brushes are commonplace, there’s a lot to be said for the old-fashioned natural bristle brush. This set of brushes has natural boar hair bristles that hold and distribute liquids and sauces more smoothly and with greater precision than silicone bristles. 

 The set includes a 1-inch and 1.5-inch pastry brush, which come in handy for different project sizes — but it’s also convenient to have two brushes on hand when working on projects that require both a wet brush for glazes and a dry brush for dusting off flour and crumbs. These brushes should be promptly hand-washed in warm soapy water, and left to air dry hanging, flat, or bristles up. When you first start using the brushes, there may be a few loose bristles, but if larger chunks of bristles come loose after use, it’s time to replace the brush.

Price at time of publish: $16

Includes: One 1-inch natural brush, one 1.5-inch natural brush

Best Food Scale

Zwilling Enfinigy Digital Kitchen Scale

5

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Whether for serious baking or for calorie counting, a good scale must be adaptable and easy to use. This digital scale by Zwilling has a lot going for it: It's digital, can weigh up to 22 pounds, and has a tare function. All of these features combined make things like scaling ingredients directly into your pot or bowl much easier, even if you’re working with a heavy cast iron pot that can easily weigh 11 pounds or more. Plus, its minimalistic glass top design means your countertops won't look cluttered if you leave it sitting out, even in the smallest kitchen. It’s available in both black and white to seamlessly match your other kitchen appliances. 

 The scale measures in both ounces and grams, and is precise down to the single gram and .1-ounce measurement, depending on which function you’re using. The rechargeable battery is built-in and a charging cord is provided, so you’ll never have to scramble to replace batteries in the middle of a project again. As an added bonus, there's an accompanying app that you can download to search a database of recipes to fuel more inspiration in the kitchen.

Price at time of publish: $65

Size: 9.6 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches | Includes: Scale and micro-USB charging cord

Best Dry Measuring Cups & Spoons

Simply Gourmet Measuring Cups and Spoons Set

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This 12-piece stainless steel measuring set includes six dry measuring cups and six measuring spoons that can be used for either liquid or dry measurements. There are a few features that set these apart from the competition. The first is that there are some additional cups and spoons with measurements that aren’t often included with traditional sets. There’s a ¾-cup measuring cup, as well as ⅛th and ¾-teaspoon measuring spoons, which are all convenient to have. 

 Additionally, both the cups and spoons are made of stainless steel, with a seamless construction — which means the chances of the handles falling off is slim to none, unlike cups with handles welded on. The cups are designed with flat bases, so they won’t tip over when filled. Both standard and metric measurements are stamped on the handles of both the spoons and cups. All of the handles have holes for looping together and hanging, and conveniently nest into each other for compact storage. Everything is rust-resistant and dishwasher safe, although they’re also easy to wash by hand too. If you're looking for slightly more or less variety, Simply Gourmet also makes a 7-piece set of measuring cups only and a 15-piece set with an additional cup, spoon, and leveler.

Price at time of publish: $22

Includes: [6] measuring cups — ¼, ⅓, ½, ⅔, ¾, and 1-cup, and [6] measuring spoons — ⅛, ¼, ½, ¾, 1-teaspoon, and 1-Tablespoon

Best Liquid Measuring Cups

Pyrex Prepware 3-Piece Glass Measuring Set

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Classic Pyrex measuring cups and dishes are a part of American kitchen culture at this point. They’ve been around since the early 1900s, are made in the USA, are sturdy and useful, and are marked for U.S. and metric measurements. There are significant advantages to using Pyrex tempered glass over other materials: It’s heat-resistant, transparent, well-tested over years of use, doesn’t absorb odors, and doesn’t stain or warp.

This set comes with a 1-cup, 2-cup, and 4-cup measuring cup, so you'll be set for all your baking endeavors, big or small. These measuring cups are microwave-, fridge-, and freezer-friendly, in addition to being dishwasher safe. Plus, the handles are designed to allow the cups to be stackable for compact storage.

Price at time of publish: $25

Includes: 1-cup, 2-cup, and 4-cup liquid measuring cups