When the weather cools down, and it’s finally fall, that can only mean one thing: Baking season has begun! (Well, okay, there are pretty leaves and lots of soup, too, but you know you really want to bake.) But when was the last time you actually organized your pantry?
Now is the time to get in there and assess what you’ve got, what you need to throw out, and what you need the most for a successful baking season. Because what if you go to bake your first apple dessert of the season and realized your out of cinnamon or your apple pie spice has gone bad? Or worse, what if there’s another canned pumpkin shortage and sugar pumpkins aren’t ready for picking yet?
If stocking up for the season feels a little overwhelming, don’t stress. There’s a handy dandy pritable for that! There’s also this reference, in case you’re wondering just how to stock your pantry for fall baking. Take a look at your favorite fall recipes, then feel free to subtract or add according to your needs. This is a good basic guide to get you started.
Download the shopping list here.
Dry Ingredients
Along with the essentials listed here, definitely consider alternative flours and sugars you may need. Think: cake flour, bread flour, and almond flour. As for sugars, remember there is light vs. dark brown sugar so you might need both. And consider maple sugar if you’ve never tried it! It adds an instant boost of flavor and can be used in a 1:1 swap with white sugar.
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Powdered sugar
- Cocoa powder
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Cream of tartar
- Yeast
- Rolled oats
- Graham crackers
Canned and Jarred Ingredients
Don’t be afraid to really stock up on evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk, since they are shelf-stable and used in a lot of fall recipes. Plus, they are easily confused, so it’s best to have both on hand, just in case! You may also want to consider buying canned pumpkin pie filling if you use it.
- Evaporated milk
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Pumpkin puree
- Corn syrup
- Maple syrup
- Honey
- Molasses
- Vegetable oil
- Shortening
- Peanut butter
Extracts and Spices
This is most certainly not an extensive list of flavorings! These are the most common, but here are a few more you may want to add based on your baking needs: maple extract, rum extract, lemon extract, cardamom, and mace. And remember, you can make both your own pumpkin pie and apple pie spices if you don’t want to buy them separately.
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
- Espresso powder
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Cloves
- Allspice
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Apple pie spice
Baking Mix-Ins
Chocolate alone could be its own category, as could flavored chips in general. So definitely know what you like using. Consider semi-sweet, white, and mini chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and toffee or caramel bits.
And when it comes to nuts and dried fruits, that really is personal preference. You may swap in/out macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, and pistachios. Also consider dried cherries, dates, figs, apples, and candied ginger if those feel more seasonal to you.
- Chocolate chips
- Baking chocolate bars
- Pecans
- Walnuts
- Almonds
- Raisins
- Dried cranberries
- Shredded coconut
Once your pantry is fully stocked, you can focus on bringing in perishable products as needed. Butter, eggs, cream cheese, milk, etc., can be purchased within a few days of when you want to bake, so they don’t go bad. Your shopping list will be way more focused when you know your pantry is stocked!
