11 Baking Essentials For Your Fall Pantry
This site uses affiliate links which may result in a small commission at no cost to you. Thanks for supporting Midwest & Wonder!
Do you feel a “crispness” in the air? Excitement for the changing of leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, and everything fall? Are you ready to bake lots of cozy fall treats? Then this post was written for you.
Stock your pantry with these 11 fall baking essentials that you’ll see featured in most fall baking recipes. It’s nice to have these baking essentials on hand for when you’re in the mood to bake a fall treat. As you can see from the image above, I get my baking essentials from different stores. I like to try and test brands so I can feel confident when I recommend them to you! Overall, I like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Target.
Whether you are a seasoned baker or you’re just getting started, this list will help you the next time you head to the grocery store. It can be annoying when you’re mid bake and realize that you forgot the pumpkin puree! (trust me I’ve been there.)
This post is all about fall baking essentials.
Fall Baking Essentials
Don’t forget your everyday baking essentials like all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cornstarch.
1. pumpkin Puree
The base for pies, muffins, and cookies. Pumpkin puree is a must have for fall baking recipes. Fresh pumpkin holds a lot of water, so it can’t always be a substitute for canned pumpkin. Be careful when picking this up because some cans look similar to pumpkin pie filling, which can have added sugars and other ingredients. Look for pumpkin puree or organic pumpkin. I swear by Trader Joe’s organic pumpkin or Libby’s pumpkin puree.
2. Cinnamon Sticks
Use cinnamon sticks to add to a simmer pot (makes the home smell like fall and feel cozy), hot drinks, or as a cozy home fragrance. I’ve tried all different kinds of cinnamon sticks over the years, these organic cinnamon sticks from Target are featured in the image above. I also like to buy these ones from Whole Foods.
3. Brown sugar
Brown sugar contains molasses which gives it it’s darker color. Molasses also adds a richer caramelized flavor and more chew (think chewy chocolate chip cookies which use brown sugar). Brown sugar isn’t just for sweetness but also adds moisture into baking recipes. When a recipe calls for light or dark brown sugar, I usually use light brown sugar. This is my preference because dark brown sugar contains more molasses and for most recipes light brown sugar is the perfect in-between of granulated and dark brown sugar.
4. Maple Syrup
Maple syrup adds a sweet caramel flavor to your recipes. It also adds moisture and works as a natural sweetener. Due to it’s rich and warm flavor, you’ll often see maple being highlighted as a fall flavor. I use it in my salted maple cold form recipe and it’s delicious. The most recent maple syrup I tried is from Trader Joe’s, but I also really like the organic dark maple syrup from Whole Foods.
5. Chopped Pecans or walnuts
Chopped nuts are a top tier addition to a baking recipe. They add a nutty depth of flavor and crunchy texture that can take your baking recipes to the next level. Look out for chopped pecans or walnuts at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.
6. Ground Nutmeg
Ground nutmeg can be such a complex and versatile spice. In baking recipes, it adds a nuttiness, warmth, and almost earthy flavor. It’s powerful which is why most recipes call for only small amounts. This means a jar will last you even beyond the fall baking season. I’d recommend buying a small jar because it will last you awhile!
7. Ground Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a fall baking must-have to add warmth and spice to your baked goods. My favorite ground cinnamon is from Whole Foods due to it being the lowest lead content (research it!).
8. Ground Cloves
A little goes a long way! Clove adds a very distinct fall aroma to your baked goods. It’s powerful, almost pungent so make sure to only add what a recipe calls for! This is another spice (like ground nutmeg) where you don’t need a huge jar because it will last you awhile.
9. Pumpkin Pie Spice
Every pumpkin recipe seems to call for pumpkin pie spice, which ironically doesn’t contain any pumpkin. In a pinch, you can make your own at home by mixing ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground allspice, and black pepper. Sometimes you just want to be quick and use a pumpkin pie spice that you can buy. Either way, this iconic fall flavor adds that signature taste to your fall goods.
10. Ground Allspice
The name allspice can be confusing, but it’s not a blend of spices. It’s actually made from an allspice berry and has a complex warmth that tastes like other spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Ground allspice is another great spice to have on hand in your fall pantry because it works well to balance fruit based recipes, pies, and other baked goods that are using ground spices.
11. Vanilla Extract
Although vanilla extract is a pantry staple year round, it’s warmth adds lots of flavor to fall recipes that use other warm ingredients. You could describe it’s warmth as more mellow and sweet compared to spices that are aromatic and pungent. I buy a large bottle at Costco which is a much better deal because I bake…a lot….For smaller qualities try this brand.
Bonus Items For Your Freezer/Fridge
Here is a short list of baking essentials that need to be frozen or kept in the refrigerator.
1. Frozen Unsalted Butter
Butter can be expensive nowadays, and with the amount of baking that I do during the fall (let’s be honest, year-round), it just makes sense to buy butter in bulk. I purchase frozen butter from Costco that comes in 4 boxes (or 8 cups). I move a box to my fridge so that when I bake, I always have butter that will reach room temperature faster.
2. Heavy Whipping Cream
Heavy whipping cream actually has a pretty long shelf life which makes it a great item to have on hand. Use it for making whipped cream frostings, American buttercream, in cold foam, and other baking recipes.
3. Liquid egg whites
If you’re going to be decorating lots of sugar cookies with royal icing, making swiss meringue frosting (or my faux swiss meringue frosting – soft and dreamy), then liquid egg whites will save you time! It’ll also save you from wondering what you’ll have to do with all these egg yolks. Liquid egg whites are usually pasteurized which means they’ve gone through a heating process to make the raw egg safe to consume. Look for a carton in the refrigerator section in the grocery store. Check out my easy royal icing recipe which uses liquid egg whites!
4. Buttermilk
While you can easily make buttermilk at home with 2 ingredients (check out my how to make buttermilk post with different cup measurements), it is also even easier to buy a carton of buttermilk. I use buttermilk in my pumpkin bread recipe which gives it a delicious moist texture.
I hope you have tons of fun trying cozy fall bakes! This post was all about fall baking essentials for your pantry to help you be prepared for when you’re in the mood to bake fall desserts!
