Making baked goods from scratch is nice and all, but saving money while you do it? That's the icing on the (cup)cake. (Getty Images)(alvarez via Getty Images)
The weather outside might be frightful, but spending a chilly day whipping up cozy homemade treats is nothing short of delightful. That said, if you've ever gone to the store for chocolate chip cookie ingredients and did a double-take upon looking at your receipt, you know that baking isn't always the most frugal activity. Between essentials like flour, eggs, butter and sugar, not to mention any mix-ins, the costs add up.
Now, I might not have any control over the price of cocoa powder, but as a former professional baker, I've found some tricks for cutting expenses in other ways over the years. Want to avoid having to throw out dry, dense baked goods? A food scale ensures you're not adding too much flour. And if you've ever scoffed at the thought of shelling out for ceramic pie weights, you might already have a suitable swap in your pantry as we speak.
Keep scrolling to see how else you can make this fun winter pastime more budget-friendly — you'll be saving dough in more ways than one.
I try to minimize waste in the kitchen as much as possible, which is why this reusable silicone baking mat comes in clutch. Not only does it help keep my parchment paper costs to a minimum, but it protects my sheet trays from caked-on residue.
The nonstick material couldn't be easier to clean, and I find that I can still achieve a nice golden brown on the bottoms of my cookies when I use it. Plus, I don't have to pry the cookies off once they're out of the oven — they can easily be lifted with a spatula. As for dough that needs to be rolled out, you can do it on one of these rather than your counter to make cleanup less of a headache.
The Silpat brand is more expensive than generic liners, but it's the most durable I've tried — you won't have to replace it for a long time. (Actress Jennifer Garner, an enthusiastic baker, is also a fan.) Stock up while it's down to its best price in months.
I always bake my pies on these No. 1 bestselling trays, for several reasons. First, because I can preheat the tray in the oven before I pop my pie in, which gives the crust a quick zap of heat right away. Plus, pies can be drippy, so the tray is there to catch any filling that oozes out. Much easier to clean the tray than the bottom of my oven!
This is the hand mixer I use at home, and it's still going strong about a decade after I bought it. It comes with beater and whisk attachments, it has a long cord and it isn't too heavy, so I don't mind standing over a bowl with it while it goes to town.
No, it doesn't have a ton of bells and whistles, but its six speeds are more than adequate (I rarely have to set it over medium) and it comes with a storage case for the attachments. It's powerful enough to tackle even the thickest dough, and I often use it to mix cake batter or whip cream. At under $30, it's one of the most affordable hand mixers I've come across, and it has yet to let me down.
Check out my full Hamilton Beach hand mixer review for more.
I understand the appeal of a ceramic pie dish (so lovely to serve from!) or a glass pie dish (it lets you see how your crust looks). But I choose an affordable, no-frills metal pie pan like this one every time. Why? For starters, aluminum conducts heat more quickly than glass or ceramic, which I find contributes to a flakier crust. And on the flip side, it cools more quickly, meaning your pie is less likely to overbake once it's out of the oven.
Because I freeze my pie crusts before baking (you want that butter to be cold!), I never worry that my metal pie pan will shatter in the oven. Glass, and sometimes ceramic, can break in response to sudden changes in temperature, and that's something I'd rather avoid.
For the most precise measurements, weighing is always best, as scooping ingredients like flour into a measuring cup can yield wildly different amounts every time. This No. 1 bestselling scale can accurately weigh up to 11 pounds and its sleek design makes it easy to stow away when not in use.
Whether you enjoy decorating cakes or making filled doughnuts, you'll need bags to pipe with. But they don't need to be pricey "official" piping bags — just cut off one of the bottom corners of a freezer bag, insert your piping tip of choice, add your filling to the bag and you've got a makeshift piping bag that works just as well as the real thing.
For comparison, this 100-pack of pastry bags is more than twice the price of this 120-count box.
Don't worry, I'm not suggesting you replace your chocolate chips with beans. They're not an ingredient here but rather a baking tool. If you're making, say, a pie or tart that calls for blind-baking the crust, many recipes will instruct you to place parchment or foil over the crust and fill with weights to help the crust keep its shape while it's in the oven.
Now, you could buy fancy ceramic pie weights (which, in my opinion, never seem to come with enough in the pack to even fill a whole pie), or you could use some good ol' dried beans, which are much more affordable. You won't be able to cook with them after they've gone in the oven, but you can store them in a container and keep reusing them as pie weights.
If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.)
