Amy Bakes Bread

Sharing the best recipes, one bake at a time

Amy’s Favorites: All My Favorite Baking Items

I am a big believer in using what you have until you know if you are going to use it enough to justify the cost. This is an ongoing list of some of my favorite products to use in the kitchen if you are looking for something great. These are affiliate links. If you buy something through the link, I will receive a small amount of compensation. With that said, I am only recommending things that I absolutely love, use and have purchased myself.

Click here for my most up-to-date recommendations on my Amazon Storefront

Baking Pans

  1. 1 lb bread pans (8.5 by 4.5) that I use multiple times a week. When I make sourdough sandwich bread and whole wheat bread I don’t even need to use parchment paper and the loaves come out beautifully.
  2. 9 by 5 loaf pan: This pan is a little larger than the 1 lb bread pan. I like using it for babka or certain banana bread recipes.
  3. Half Sheet Baking Sheets: I love these USA baking sheets. They make amazing cookies, have held up so well over the years and they are my all time favorites. I also love using them for sheet cakes, like this popular white texas sheet cake. You won’t regret purchasing them!
  4. Muffin Tins: We eat a lot of muffins and I love these muffin tins. I don’t need to use a liner unless I want to and the muffins bake up and release perfectly.
  5. Mini Muffin Tins: Perfect when you want a mini muffin size. I love making our favorite sourdough pumpkin muffins into minis.
  6. Parchment Paper: Technically not a pan, but I love this Costco Kirkland brand parchment paper so much. During the pandemic I had to try many different brands of parchment paper due to shortages and found this parchment paper was my favorite. It holds up well in high temperatures and is easy to use.

Cook Books

  1. The Perfect Loaf: Are you looking for a book to help you understand sourdough? This book is the one! It’s helped solidify answers to sourdough questions I had and helped me bake better sourdough bread. This is my top pick for a sourdough bread book.
  2. Tartine: This reads as more of a story than a cookbook, though my sourdough artisan bread recipe is based off of Tartine’s techniques. I owe my original love of sourdough to this cookbook and it taught me the basics. It also has beautiful pictures throughout the book.
  3. America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Cookbook: Another favorite we’ve had for many years. It is easy to follow and my kids always pick this one to bake out of.

Sourdough Tools

For a whole list of all my essential sourdough kitchen tools, check out the post below:

Mixers

1. Bosch Mixer: This is an investment. If you are planning to make bread often (as in, you rarely or never buy bread at the store), this machine is worth purchasing. I also use it for large batches of cookie dough–but not with cookie paddles (they are too liable to break). It does best with soft butter and large batches of dough. The motor on this mixer is a workhorse–definitely worth the investment if you bake a lot.

2. KitchenAid Mixer: I love a KitchenAid mixer, specifically for smaller batch of dough, making cookies and quickly whipping up cream. It looks bright and beautiful in a kitchen. The motor on the 6 qt. mixer is not quite as powerful, so you do have to be careful not to over-mix or stop mixing if the motor gets too hot.

  • Pasta Attachment: I love the pasta attachment for the KitchenAid. It makes quick work of homemade pasta.
  • Food Mill Attachment: You actually need the grinder and the food mill attachment to use it as a food mill. We love homemade applesauce and I also use it to process tomatoes in the summer.

Looking for Some Delicious Recipes to Make with a Mixer?

Pizza

I make a whole lot of homemade pizza for our weekly pizza nights. I love making this sourdough crust but also have recipes for other delicious pizza crust here and here. Sometimes we’ll change it up and make delicious Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

Ooni Pizza Oven: This pizza oven first perfectly on my porch and turns out the most delicious pizza. It’s a splurge but if you love Neapolitan style pizza, it’s worth saving up for. I love using this ooni-style pizza dough and this sourdough pizza dough with the ooni pizza oven.

Deep Dish Pizza Pan: I have a similar pan to this one that I use for deep-dish pizza but also for my favorite sourdough focaccia bread.

Pizza Stone: For pizza made at home without an outdoor pizza oven, I love using a pizza stone in my oven to get a crispy crust.

00 Flour: To take your pizza to the next level, try using type 00 flour. It creates a crispier and chewier crust. We really love it in our pizza dough. I can also find this flour at my local Kroger now, so check your local grocery store–you may find it at a better price.

My Favorite Pizza Recipes

Sourdough Focaccia Pizza

Detroit-style sourdough focaccia pizza is baked in a pan coated in olive oil, topped with homemade tomato sauce & loaded with 3 different types of cheese.

Keep reading

Hawaiian Mango Pizza

Over a year ago we took a family trip to Hawaii. We spent a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center and were unable to get tickets to their Luau dinner. Instead…

Keep reading

Kitchen Tools

Cookie Scoop: I’ve had this cookie scoop for years and love it. I also love this scoop for larger cookies.

Pastry Cutter: I always seem to need this when making pie crust or sometimes biscuits (if I don’t grate the butter).

Rolling Pin: I love a tapered rolling pin. I bought mine from a specialty baking store, but this one is similar.

Pastry Mat: I use these non-stick pastry mats all the time. They are wonderful for rolling out dough, pie crust and anytime you need a good non-stick surface to work on.

Liquid Measuring Cups: I use these for everything, but I especially love mixing up levain in the largest one. It’s easy to see the rise and is big enough to hold most levains.

Apple Peeler: This apple peeler is amazing for slicing, coring and peeling apples. I use it often for my favorite pie, apple crisp, apple cake and yummy hand pies.

Canning

I love canning certain foods (tomatoes, applesauce, jams) in the summer/fall months. I currently only can things using a water bath canning method. Here are some of my favorite canning products:

Canning Pot: I use a pot for large batches, but you can also use any large pot you have in your kitchen.

Ball Wide Mouth Jars: I love the wide-mouth jars. I buy them in all different sizes. I’m linking them here, but definitely check your local grocery store. I get them on sale often. Make sure to thouroughly santize the jars before using.

Ball Wide Mouth Lids: You can re-use your jars, but not the lids. I’m not always a stickler for name brand, but I’ve purchased off brand lids before and they do not always work…definitely stick with name brand for the lids. I always keep a couple packages of the wide mouth lids on hand for when I want to can something.

Canning Starter Kit: This starter kit has the basics of what you’ll need to get started with canning. The jar lifter, magnetic lid lifter and funnel are especially helpful.

Pomona’s Pectin: This is a great option for making homemade jam that is low in sugar. It is very easy to use and makes delicious jam. We love it!

Miscellaneous Products

Disposable Shower Caps: One of the best tip is to cover rising dough with a disposable shower cap. You can re-use the shower caps and it keeps the warmth in and the bread moist.

Thermometer: Temperature is very important to bread–especially sourdough bread. Sourdough loves a temperature in the 75-80 degree range. Taking the temperature of your bread dough and ingredients with a thermometer will help you know to add warmer or cooler water and give you time ranges for when dough is ready.

Vitamix Blender: I bought this from Costco years ago, but I love it. I don’t just use it for smoothies. It’s great to grind nuts, oats and other mix-ins I often add to my breads.

Looking for Something to Gift the Baker in your life?

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