Essential Pantry Staples to Stock for a Fresh Start in the New Year

As a baker and recipe developer, it’s easy for me to assume that every kitchen is stocked with all of the ingredient staples to quickly create a batch of chocolate chip cookies, brownies or even a layered cake. I mean, all of our fridges are overflowing with butter and heavy cream, right? 

This simply isn’t the case. Instead, we are identifying items that are considered “key ingredients” in a well-stocked pantry, and which would be considered more specialized. 

The Organic Valley team recently asked me to write an article about pantry staples used in baking. The idea came about after they had a long office discussion about the common recipe-naming practice that excludes “shorthand” (or common) ingredients in the name. For example, a “five-ingredient” chocolate chip cookie recipe might actually include eight ingredients. The recipe developer likely assumed the reader already had butter, flour and sugar on hand, so those weren’t counted in the main ingredient list.

Whether or not we can all get on board with this recipe naming practice, it did pose the question: What ingredients do we, as recipe developers, assume that our readers have on hand without needing to run to the grocery store? Let’s dive into what 10 ingredients you should keep on hand at all times for common dessert recipes (must-haves), what other five ingredients you should have on hand if you like to bake with a little more variety (should-haves) and one other ingredient that is helpful in more specialized bakes (nice-to-have).

Must-Haves: 10 Common Pantry Staples Assumed in Baking Recipes

Most recipe writers assume that these staples are on-hand in every kitchen. These are ingredients that may be excluded in high-level recipe ingredient roundups. If you have these items in your pantry, you can make a plethora of common desserts!

1. All-purpose flour
2. Granulated sugar
3. Brown sugar
4. Baking soda
5. Baking powder
6. Salt
7. Butter (or ghee)
8. Eggs
9. Vanilla extract
10. Milk

Why Are These Ingredients Assumed?

Since almost all desserts contain some of the same key ingredients, some recipes exclude these staples in the name, which can be misleading or confusing to newer bakers with limited pantry supplies. If you keep your pantry stocked with the 10 ingredients above, you will be well-prepared to bake many desserts without confusion or a special trip to the grocery store. This Easy Sugar Cookie recipe by Preppy Kitchen, for example, can be made using only ingredients from the “must-have” list of pantry staples. Last minute, delicious cookies without the extra shopping errand? That’s my kind of dessert.

Should-Haves: 5 Sometimes-assumed Staples

These pantry ingredients should be in an experienced baker’s kitchen, with some recipes assuming that most people have these on-hand, too. Having these staples readily accessible in your pantry will broaden the complexity of desserts you can make, from chocolate chip cookies or cakes to a variety of sweet breads or pastries.

1. Powdered sugar
2. Chocolate chips or baking chocolate
3. Corn starch
4. Cocoa powder
5. Yeast

Nice-to-Have: 1 Staple I Always Keep in My Kitchen

One ingredient that I always have in my fridge that I have named the “nice-to-have” ingredient for everyday bakers is heavy cream. Heavy cream is versatile. It can be whipped into homemade cream for topping pies or cakes, added to frosting for extra lightness and fluff or turned into a rich chocolate ganache for cheesecakes or truffles.

Organic Valley® Heavy Whipping Cream is a staple in my kitchen, and it’s the key ingredient to making my favorite chocolate buttercream extra silky smooth. You can find it on my Layered Brownie Cake, which you can make using all the pantry staples listed above. Here is a recipe for how to make the best homemade whipped cream.

How Ingredients Impact Recipe Titles

Now that we have reviewed our baking pantry staples, we can better understand why recipe creators and bakers may exclude these common items when titling a minimal ingredient recipe. While this method could sound confusing to a novice baker, this pantry staple shorthand is used to make recipes feel more approachable. Baking a recipe like Blackberry Clafoutis, for example, may sound daunting at first, but if you have all the pantry staples that we have discussed above, you will only need to purchase two additional ingredients to bake this rustic French dessert.

What is a Zero-waste Pantry?

While we review our essential baking ingredients for our home kitchens, it’s also important to consider sustainability and how we can eliminate waste in our own personal everyday cooking and baking routines. Developing a zero-waste pantry is a great way to make a big impact on a small scale. A zero-waste pantry is a basic food storage system that focuses on eliminating packaging waste, lowering product spoilage and working to reduce your overall carbon footprint. 

Buying well-utilized ingredients in bulk and storing them in reusable containers is one simple way to lower your consumption of product packaging. 

You can often find bulk baking ingredients at natural food co-ops, warehouse clubs, restaurant supply stores or online retailers.

You can also keep ingredients such as all-purpose flour and sugar in reusable glass containers to both keep them fresher for longer and reduce packaging waste.

Simple Organization Tips

While zero-waste pantry efforts are impactful, so is keeping your kitchen system organized and clean. Using clear, reusable and well-labeled containers to store your baking ingredients is the first step to keeping your pantry staples fresher and more accessible. Items such as flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar and baking soda are sometimes sold in less-than-ideal packaging. The packages are not airtight, and it’s often awkward to scoop out of them. If you immediately transfer these ingredients to better storage containers, your products will last longer and be less messy.

Stock Up, Save Money and Simplify

The new year is the perfect time to refresh your pantry organization and ingredient supply, making your kitchen more efficient and recipe-ready. A well-stocked, organized pantry means you can whip up dozens of desserts without a last-minute grocery run. No more guessing which ingredients a recipe assumes you have — you’ll be ready to tackle any baking project with confidence.

With everything in place, baking becomes less stressful and a lot more fun!

Let’s Get Baking!