Baking soda: this helps cakes and cookies rise. The reaction comes from the interaction with acid in your ingredients to help create carbon dioxide and expand the growth of existing cells in your batters.
Baking powder: this ingredient is essential for a variety of reasons but one importance is the lightness it helps to create in cakes, cookies, and scones. It has a dual-acting purpose that release carbon dioxide in dough’s or batters and then expand the cells to lighten up your baked good.
Chocolate bars/chips: baking or not, a variety of dark, milk, and white are always on hand. I tend to go through these more often because I will snack on them until the snack accidentally becomes dinner. I told you, I am a chocoholic! Have a variety of bars and chips. The bars make it easy for measuring purposes in ounces.
Cocoa powder: basically, this natural cocoa powder is left a fat-free powder after the fat is extracted from the cocoa bean. This ingredient can quickly turn a baked good into a dry, tough I need water to get this bite down type of good, but brings out a rich cocoa flavor solid chocolates cannot.
Dutch-processed: My favorite kind to use. Dutch is a neutral cocoa powder. It is on the pricey side but for a good reason. It will deepen and intensify the chocolate taste of a dessert. My all-time fave in my torte recipe. Make it and you will understand! Rule of thumb- if a recipe does not specify call for natural or neutral, you can use either or but if the recipe calls for baking soda we use natural, for baking powder we use Dutch all depending on your taste. Never substitute Dutch for unsweetened natural but you can substitute unsweetened natural for Dutch. Cool?
Coconut milk: great substitute for dairy-free dessert lovers. The role is to provide moisture. Just like using skim milk it has water and milk provided.
Coconut oil: if you run out of butter here is your rescue ingredient! This work of wonder will leave your baked goods with a melty bite and a non-grease appearance. Best to use for sugar cookies or scones that can dry out quickly, but also over power the taste if used too much.
Cornstarch: this is a thickening agent and usually use this for my pies. A small box will last forever.
Cream of tartar: off sets the sweetness and a way to adjust the acid level in your dough with its’ neutral flavor. Plays a role of substitute when mixed with vinegar when we use all the eggs up for breakfast!
Extracts: my favorite way to add flavor or a hint of flavor to a baked good. I can customize my glazes with numerous flavors or even make peppermint bark without the peppermint candies. Customization for your taste.
Flour: the right types of flour are required for the right type of dessert. Otherwise D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R can occur if making a specific recipe. I always say all-purpose is for all purpose, however to up-level your baking whole-wheat, bread flour, and cake flour have specific purposes!
Instant espresso: in a nutshell, espresso is to chocolate as salt is to a steak. It increases the flavor of your chocolate. It is super duper rare I go without it in any chocolate dessert and can add a mocha flavor. Secret is out….
Honey: I use this when I am feeling a substitution for my own baking to reduce the amount of white sugar. It is great for homemade granolas and glazes.
Maple syrup: dual purpose in the kitchen. Both for cooking and baking! Nothing like a good glaze for sweet potatoes or brussel sprouts, but amazing flavor with powdered sugar for a maple touch to your pumpkin muffins!
Molasses: Pairs perfectly with ginger spice. Gingerbread with lemon glaze, ginger snaps, anyone? This is my holiday hug for ginger cheer.
Salt: pantry essential and helps bring out flavors. Pink salt lives in my pantry year a round. A pinch is all you need in most of my recipes.
Nuts and dried fruit: they add texture, protein, and healthy omegas to any dish. Always toast your nuts before adding to any recipe. Dried fruit essentials for me are raisins, cranberries, cherries, figs.
Rolled oats: Natures gift. Homemade granola, grind to make oat flour, easy oatmeal cookies. Provide texture, nutty, earthy flavor.
Oils: I use olive oil a bunch versus vegetable or canola. Sunflower seed oil I like if I am baking gluten-free. It works well my flours, but these are dual purpose for cooking and baking. Always great to have a bottle on hand. Oils keeps cakes moist and roasts vegetables perfectly.
Spices: strategic pairing can take a boring blueberry muffin to the BEST blueberry muffin with a little coriander and a tab bit of cinnamon. Spices are used to heighten flavor and act with other ingredients to create a party in your baked good. Cloves are amazing for banana breads/cookies/muffins/waffles, and cardamom enhances fruitiness in aroma in a baked pear tart.
Sugars: depends on the dessert. Granulated is great for all baked desserts but if you want the added crunch, raw or turbinado is the way to go. I keep on had pure cane sugar. It dissolved all the way in my desserts like granulated white sugar and add extra crunch to my peanut butter blossom cookies without the bulkiness of raw sugar. Brown sugar helps bring out the caramel, molasses notes. I use mainly dark brown sugar because of the depth of flavor and stickiness it creates in my baked good. Light and brown are use in most of my recipes. Powdered is the most used sugar in my pantry. I glaze almost everything and an easy quick way to add flavor to the top of a dessert.
Vinegar:can clean and create light and airy desserts. Also, a substitute when paired with cream of tartar if you run out of eggs! It happens….
Unsalted butter: it is not the same as table butter! This is used for everything! Cookies, pies, pastries, which helps create a flakey bite and won’t spread like the oily table butters. I have tested these many times. Trust me. A box always is necessary in the back of your refrigerator.