Holiday Baking Tips & Tools for a Successful Season of Treats

One of the best parts about the holidays? Baked goods. Finding the time to make all the baked goods though? That’s when it gets tricky.

Everyone knows that the holidays come at you like a speeding glitter-covered train and this year, you want to be prepared. With Thanksgiving and the Winter holidays looming around the corner, we want to help you find the right methods to keep you organized while also enjoying every minute of it!

Here are our holiday baking tips to keep your holiday season stress-free…at least when it comes to making sweet treats.

 

FIND THE RECIPES YOU LOVE

 

Everyone has a very specific idea of what constitutes a holiday treat. For some, it’s a spicy glazed gingerbread cookie and for others it’s the sweet and creamy sugar cookie. In between we have every kind of pie from apple to pumpkin and pecan, along with fudges and tartlets and puff pastries and snacks. That’s a lot of recipes for a lot of different people!

One of our favorite resources for finding great recipes is Pinterest. If you’ve never used Pinterest before, it may be one of the easiest social platforms to use on the market. Create your own Holiday Recipe board and start saving ones you might like to make over the holidays!

If you like to go old school instead and have a collection of family recipes, keep them on cards in a classic Recipe Box where you can easily reference them.

Here are some of our favorite recipes!

Now that you know what recipes you want to make, start a grocery list and then compare it to what you have in your pantry and figure out what you’ll need to buy.

Getting organized is one of the most important holiday baking tips we can give to stay on top of things.

 

TAKE STOCK OF YOUR KITCHEN

Speaking of getting organized, what’s in your cupboards? And your pantry? Have any of your spices expired? How old exactly is that tub of vegetable shortening hiding in the back?

One of the best things you can do is to get your cupboards and pantry organized now before the holiday season starts. First, go through your pantry, spice racks, and cupboards and throw away anything past its expiration date. Spices are generally good for 2-3 years, but lose their potency over time. So if you want your baked goods to have some top notch flavor, make sure that your spice isn’t past its prime use date. Re-stock anything that you tossed out. If you want to stay eco-friendly, pick up some glass spice jars and refill them from the bulk section of your local grocery store or natural market!

Next, take stock of your pantry essentials. Flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, butter, etc. Nothing ruins a holiday baking experience like running out of a staple like sugar or eggs right in the middle of a recipe. Making sure your pantry is stocked will keep stress levels way down. If you’re running low on something, pick up a back-up when you go to buy the rest of your holiday baking grocery list.

And clean as you go! No one ever thinks to clean their cupboards often, so starting the holidays off with a sparkling clean kitchen may be just the motivation you need when it comes to baking some delicious goodies.

HAVE THE RIGHT TOOLS

Like our parents always said, if you don’t have the right tools, the job doesn’t get done. And as much as we like to think that we could totally roll out a pie crust by just pressing it down with our hands, we know that we shouldn’t.

The kind of baking tools you need will depend on your recipe. There are staples that all kitchens should have, like a great measuring cup and spoon set. But then there’s some specialty items, like pie weights or a pastry blender, that you may not even think to get. Sure, you can make do in a pinch when it comes to some of these things, but opening the drawer and seeing exactly that gadget you need is such a satisfying feeling. So for our fourth pointer in this holiday baking tips guide, here are our recommended baking products that will give you the edge during this joyful baking season.

Endurance® Bench Scraper
Endurance® 10-Foot Pie Chain
White Marble Pastry Slab
Endurance® French Rolling Pin
Endurance® Round Ripple Biscuit Cutters
Silicone Basting Brush
Endurance® 5-Cup Triple Mesh Sifter
Ela’s Favorite Silicone Spatula
Endurance® Spice Spoon Set
Endurance® Measuring Cup Set
Mini Sifters

 

HOST A COOKIE EXCHANGE!

 

Hosting a cookie exchange can be a fun way to eat a big variety of goodies while cutting down on baking time. Sure, you love every single holiday cookie out there, but who has time to make like 20 different varieties of cookies? Even the most ambitious of home bakers would have a hard time with that. So, what do you do?

This is our tastiest of the holiday baking tips. Throw a small party where everyone brings their favorite cookies! Everyone makes enough to share with the group, but the beauty is you’re only making one kind so there’s slightly less chaos. We also love a holiday that has a gorgeous assortment of treats.

Here is our favorite holiday cookie recipe!

Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies 

RELAX AND ENJOY WITH A SPECIAL HOLIDAY COCKTAIL

Turn on your favorite Holiday album, put on that apron that makes you feel cute, and grab your favorite holiday cocktail. Whether it’s the best eggnog ever, a spiked hot cocoa, or a special gin fizz nothing gets you in the holiday spirit more than creating a small moment of celebration for yourself. WE hope that our holiday baking tips make your life this holiday much simpler so you can enjoy the finer things in life. Like a cocktail. Just not too many while you’re baking because, uh, you know fire hazards and whatnot. Party responsibly!