The holiday season is a whirlwind of activity, especially for those who love to bake. We all know someone, or perhaps we are that someone, who dedicates December to creating culinary masterpieces with flour-dusted hands and a heart full of warmth. While we at lawyergift.net have gift guides for every type of cook and food lover, bakers hold a special place in our hearts. After all, where would the holidays be without the comforting aroma of freshly baked cookies and gingerbread?
To help you find the perfect present for the baking enthusiast in your life, we’ve meticulously reviewed our extensive collection of baking equipment reviews. This guide is packed with gift ideas for every kind of baker, from bread-making aficionados to cookie connoisseurs, passionate pie makers, and everyone in between. Whether you’re searching for essential tools or a splurge-worthy surprise, we’ve got you covered with the Best Gifts For Bakers.
Essential Baking Gifts
These are the foundational tools every baker, from novice to expert, will appreciate and use regularly. These gifts are practical, reliable, and will elevate any baking project.
OXO Stainless Steel Food Scale
For any baker serious about their craft, an accurate kitchen scale is not just a luxury, it’s a necessity. Precision is key in baking, and weight measurements are far more reliable than volume. We’ve consistently recommended this OXO model for its accuracy and user-friendly design. The pull-out display is particularly helpful for reading measurements with large bowls on top.
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Bench scrapers are incredibly versatile tools in baking, and this OXO bench scraper is a top choice. It’s perfect for everything from portioning dough and transferring chopped vegetables to cleaning sticky dough from countertops. This durable and affordable tool is a must-have for any baker’s kitchen.
Sur La Table Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
While many bakers already own measuring cups and spoons, upgrading to a high-quality set makes a significant difference. These stainless steel measuring cups from Sur La Table are incredibly accurate and built to last. Their sturdy construction and precise measurements will be greatly appreciated by any baking enthusiast aiming for consistent results.
Sur La Table Spice Measuring Spoons
Complementing the measuring cups, these spice measuring spoons from Sur La Table are designed for precision when measuring smaller quantities, especially spices. Their narrow shape is perfect for reaching into spice jars, and their accurate measurements are essential for balanced flavors in baking.
Vollrath Economy Mixing Bowl Set
A good set of mixing bowls is indispensable in any kitchen, especially for baking. This Vollrath Economy Mixing Bowl Set is similar to what you’d find in professional kitchens, known for their durability and versatility. We highly recommend them for their sturdiness and range of sizes, perfect for everything from whisking eggs to kneading dough.
Lumpy flour is a baker’s nightmare. A fine mesh sieve like this luxe option from Rösle ensures silky-smooth batters and lump-free dry ingredients. This high-quality strainer is perfect for sifting flour, powdered sugar, and other fine ingredients, making it an essential tool for achieving perfect baking results.
Nordic Ware 8 x 8 Square Cake Pan
Every baker needs a reliable, high-quality square baking pan, and this Nordic Ware 8×8 pan is our top pick. Its even heating and durable construction make it perfect for brownies, cakes, and more. This pan is a workhorse in the kitchen and a fantastic gift for any baker.
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New cookbooks are always a welcome gift for bakers, providing inspiration and new techniques to explore. The Baking Bible is an exceptional resource for mastering baking techniques. It’s a comprehensive guide that delves deep into the science of baking, making it perfect for both learning and refining skills.
BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts, written by our former pastry editor, is a delightful cookbook focused on classic American desserts. It offers foolproof recipes and fascinating insights into the history of beloved treats, making it a joy to bake from and read.
For everyday baking inspiration, A Good Day to Bake: Simple Baking Recipes for Every Mood is a perfect choice. This cookbook is filled with approachable and delicious recipes for various moods and occasions, encouraging bakers to find joy in the simple act of baking any day of the week.
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Serious Eats / Taylor Murray
Gifts for Bread Bakers
For the artisan bread baker, these gifts are designed to enhance their craft, from dough preparation to the perfect crust.
A Danish dough whisk is a game-changer for bread bakers. Its unique, three-dimensional looped design quickly and efficiently mixes doughs and batters. We’ve highlighted the usefulness of Danish dough whisks for achieving a perfectly mixed dough with minimal effort.
For beautiful, artisanal loaves, a proofing basket is essential. This Bulka Bread Proofing Basket helps dough maintain its shape during the final rise, resulting in a professional-looking loaf with a crisp crust.
Scoring bread dough before baking is crucial for controlling expansion and creating artistic designs. The Breadtopia Bread Lame is a super-sharp and precise tool for scoring dough, allowing bakers to achieve perfect crust bloom and prevent cracking.
Challenger Breadware Challenger Bread Pan
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View on Challengerbreadware.com
While a Dutch oven works for bread baking, the Challenger Bread Pan is a superior gift for serious bread bakers. This pan is specifically designed for baking bread, offering excellent heat retention and circulation for a perfectly crusty and evenly baked loaf. It can handle various loaf shapes, making it a versatile addition to any bread baker’s arsenal.
Williams Sonoma Nonstick Loaf Pan
For sandwich bread enthusiasts, the Williams Sonoma Goldtouch Pro Nonstick Loaf Pan is a dream. This loaf pan combines aesthetics and functionality, producing loaves with beautifully squared and sharp corners, perfect for sandwiches and toast.
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No bread baker’s toolkit is complete without a quality bread knife. The Tojiro Bread Slicer is the best we’ve tested for effortlessly slicing through even the crustiest loaves. Its sharp serrated blade ensures clean cuts without tearing the bread.
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Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian
Gifts for Cookie and Cake Bakers
For those who specialize in sweet treats, these gifts will enhance their cookie and cake creations, making every dessert even more delightful.
No cookie and cake baker should be without a classic Bundt pan, and Nordic Ware invented it! This brand’s Bundt pans are renowned for their quality and intricate designs, creating beautiful cakes every time.
For classic layer cakes, a reliable round cake pan is essential. This inexpensive cake pan from Nordic Ware outperformed competitors in our cake pan review. Its even heating and sturdy construction make it perfect for baking consistently perfect cake layers.
Williams Sonoma Nonstick Cake Pan
A springform pan is a must-have for cheesecakes and quiches. This leakproof springform pan from Williams Sonoma is exceptionally well-designed. It’s truly leak-proof and easy to use, even with oven mitts, ensuring perfect cheesecakes and delicate cakes every time.
For muffin and cupcake bakers, a high-quality muffin pan is key. The USA Pan Nonstick Muffin Pan is the best muffin pan we recommend. Its nonstick surface and even heat distribution ensure muffins and cupcakes bake uniformly and release effortlessly.
Nordic Ware 8 x 8 Square Cake Pan
As mentioned earlier, the Nordic Ware 8 x 8 pan is incredibly versatile. It works wonderfully for both from-scratch and boxed brownie batters, thanks to its heavy-gauge aluminum, rolled edges, and rounded corners, making it a fantastic gift for any baker who loves brownies or smaller cakes.
Nordic Ware Naturals Baker’s Half Sheet
Although technically not cookie sheets, half sheet pans like this Nordic Ware Naturals Baker’s Half Sheet are incredibly useful. Cookie bakers will be thrilled to have several of these pans, which are also great for roasting vegetables. Their large surface area and even heating make them indispensable for baking large batches of cookies.
Mrs. Anderson’s Baking and Cooling Rack
Every baker needs reliable cooling racks. Mrs. Anderson’s Baking and Cooling Rack are the best ones we recommend. These sturdy racks provide excellent airflow for cooling cookies, cakes, and other baked goods evenly and quickly.
Libbey Selene Glass Cake Stand
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For a truly impressive gift, consider a domed glass cake stand. This Libbey Selene Glass Cake Stand is both beautiful and functional, perfect for displaying cakes and keeping them fresh. It’s a gift that says, “You’re fancy and I appreciate you!”
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Serious Eats / Meghan Splawn
Gifts for Pie Bakers
These gifts are tailored for pie enthusiasts, helping them create perfect crusts and beautifully assembled pies.
For pie bakers who appreciate tradition and control, a tapered edge French-style pin like this J.K. Adams French Rolling Pin is ideal. It was the winner of our rolling pin review for its nimble handling and ability to roll out dough without cracking or tearing, perfect for delicate pie crusts.
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For precise pie crust thickness, this adjustable rolling pin from GIR with thickness guides is highly recommended. It takes the guesswork out of rolling dough to the perfect thickness, essential for consistent pie crusts.
Eboot Stainless Steel Ruler Kit
Baking the perfect pie is a science as much as an art. This Eboot Stainless Steel Ruler Kit is a practical gift for ensuring precise pie crust dimensions. Accurate measurements are crucial for perfectly fitting crusts and even baking.
Norpro Stainless Steel Pie Pan
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A reliable metal pie pan like this Norpro Stainless Steel Pie Pan was named the best in our pie pan review. Its efficient thermal conductivity ensures perfectly golden and flaky crusts. It’s an essential tool for any pie baker.
Williams Sonoma Signature Stainless Steel Pie Server
Serving pie beautifully is just as important as baking it perfectly. This pie server from Williams Sonoma has a serrated edge for clean and elegant slices. It’s a smart and stylish addition to any pie lover’s collection.
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For bakers who love to add a decorative touch, this clever roller from Sur La Table creates Pinterest-worthy lattice pie crusts in moments. It’s a fun and easy way to elevate the look of any pie.
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Serious Eats / Eric King
Stocking Stuffers for Bakers
These smaller, thoughtful gifts are perfect for stuffing stockings and providing bakers with essential and delightful baking aids.
A lightning-fast instant-read thermometer is crucial for bakers to ensure bread and cakes are perfectly baked. This ThermoPop 2 is a top-performing, budget-friendly option that provides quick and accurate temperature readings.
An oven thermometer is a surprisingly thoughtful and essential gift, as most ovens are not accurately calibrated. This Rubbermaid oven thermometer helps bakers ensure their oven temperature is accurate for consistent baking results.
GIR 11″ Ultimate Stainless Steel Whisk
This whisk from GIR is a must-have. We can’t recommend it enough! It’s incredibly comfortable to hold and makes whipped cream almost as fast as an electric mixer. After testing balloon whisks, we were so impressed, we bought several for ourselves.
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Piping tips and pastry bags are essential for cake and cookie decorating. This Wilton set is a great starter kit, and we have more piping bag and tip recommendations here. They allow bakers to add professional-looking flourishes to their creations.
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An offset spatula is another “what the pros know” small gift. The Ateco spatula is perfect for frosting cakes, spreading batter evenly, and other delicate tasks. Learn more about the versatility of offset spatulas here.
Food52 Five Two Silicone Oven Mitts
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Oven mitts might seem like a basic gift, but this set from Food52 is exceptional. Winner of our oven mitts review, they are surprisingly stylish and provide excellent heat protection, making them a thoughtful and practical stocking stuffer.
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Every baker will appreciate good quality vanilla. This Heilala Vanilla Bean Paste is a premium ingredient that elevates any baking recipe with its rich flavor and visible vanilla bean specks. We’ve recommended this brand for years.
GERBS Natural Cocoa Powder, 32 ounce bag
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Similarly, high-quality cocoa powder is a game-changer for chocolate baking. GERBS Natural Cocoa Powder has been a longtime Serious Eats favorite for its deep, rich chocolate flavor that surpasses supermarket brands.
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Serious Eats / Eric Brockob
Splurge Gifts for Bakers
For those extra special bakers in your life, these splurge-worthy gifts are sure to impress and significantly upgrade their baking experience.
KitchenAid 7 Quart Bowl Lift Stand Mixer
For a gift that says “I really care,” consider our favorite stand mixer, the KitchenAid 7 Quart Bowl Lift Stand Mixer. This mixer is as close to professional as you can get for home baking. The bowl-lift feature is incredibly efficient, making it perfect for large batches and heavy doughs.
KitchenAid 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer
For more casual bakers, this 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer from KitchenAid is another long-recommended and excellent option. It’s a versatile and reliable stand mixer that handles a wide range of baking tasks with ease, perfect for everyday baking needs.
If your favorite baker isn’t convinced about stand mixers, upgrade their hand mixer. This Breville Handy Mix Scraper is truly luxurious. It comes with three different beater attachments and a light that shines into the bowl, making mixing tasks easier and more enjoyable.
Brod & Taylor Compact Dough Sheeter
While not essential, a dough sheeter is a dream gift for bakers who love laminated pastries like croissants. This Brod & Taylor Compact Dough Sheeter makes rolling out dough for these delicate pastries significantly easier and more precise.
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For the sourdough obsessed baker, this Brod & Taylor Sourdough Home is a unique and thoughtful splurge. Earning our stamp of approval, it provides a temperature-controlled environment for maintaining sourdough starter, ensuring consistent and predictable results.
Finally, for the baker who values both style and function, the Hedley & Bennett Smock is the comfiest, best apron you can buy. Loved by many Serious Eats staffers, this apron is durable, comfortable, and stylish, making it a luxurious and practical gift.
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Serious Etas / Irvin Lin
Why We’re the Experts
- Rochelle Bilow is an editor at Serious Eats. Previously, she worked as an editor and the social media manager at Bon Appétit and Cooking Light.
- Rochelle is a culinary school graduate and worked in professional kitchens and bakeries before starting her writing career. She has been testing kitchen equipment for Serious Eats since 2022, bringing extensive expertise to our product recommendations.
- For this article, we meticulously reviewed our baking equipment testing, selecting standout products that we have tested and recommended for years. Our recommendations are based on rigorous testing and real-world baking experience, ensuring you gift the best to your favorite baker.
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