The Best Gifts for Every Type of Baker
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For most of my childhood, my answer to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was “a baker.” Though I eventually switched the answer to “writer,” baking has been the through line of all my Christmas wish lists. For better or worse, I never received anEasy Bake oven, but some of my fondest Christmas Day memories include troubleshooting my newspritz cookie press, headlining brunch with abubble-waffle pan, and trying my hand at molecular gastronomy with arainbow-cake kit. So if you’re struggling to come up with a gift for the baker in your life, take my advice: Surprise them with something that will improve their craft. (And, no, they really don’t need another spatula, no matter how cute it is.)
To make your search easier, I scoured our archives, plucked from my wish lists past and present, and scouted some of my favorite shops for actually useful gadgets, splurge-worthy upgrades, and non-cluttery delights, like personalized dishwashing gloves and ceramic recipe stands. I’ve sorted everything by price, so you’re guaranteed to find something within your budget, whether you’re shopping for the baker who hosts an annual cookie swap, maintains a spotless kitchen, or considers their sourdough starter their child.
Under $25
For the friend who insists on ordering the bread course
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It’s a truth universally acknowledged that bread is best enjoyed fresh out of the oven. Since that’s not always possible, this terra-cotta stone that you can heat up to 350 degrees to keep a basket of bread warm is the next best thing.
For the baker who already has a stand mixer
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BeaterBlade
The BeaterBlade will save them the trouble of pausing their stand mixer to scrape down the bowl. (Just make sure the blade is the right size for their mixing bowl.)
For the baker who organizes their cookbooks by cuisine
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Rebecca Firkser’s ode to galettes made our senior kitchen and dining writer Emma Wartzman’sguide to the best cookbooks to gift this year. “It’s a tight lens but one she manages to make feel wide by stuffing her one base dough (yes, there’s just one) with both the expected (like a bounty of peak-summer fruit) and, crucially, the less expected (like her Spicy Eggplant Parm Galette),” Wartzman writes.
For the friend who’s a self-proclaimed ingredient snob
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When it comes to this jellylike vanilla bean paste, a little goes a long way. I’ll be putting it in all my holiday cookies this year.
For the friend who has perfected their king cake
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Trinket-laden king cakes (a.k.a galettes des rois) may be most commonly associated with Mardi Gras, but they’re also integral to Three Kings Day on January 6. Save the baker in your life the postholiday scramble for a little figurine to put in the cake by surprising them with a vintage one shaped like shopping bags,Provençal staples,kitchen canisters, ortiny peacocks.
For the budding bread influencer
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Le Creuset Pinch Bowls
Le Creuset’s technicolor pinch bowls turn a process as mundane as mise en place into something worthy of a photo shoot.
For the brains behind brunch
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Here’s my exception to the “Don’t get them a spatula” rule. True to its name, the spatula is great for scooping warm cookies off a baking sheet, but it’s also perfect for flipping pancakes and preventing scrambled eggs from sticking to the side of your pan, thanks to its bendy silicone material. If I were to make a list of things I couldn’t live without, this would certainly be on it.
For the baker who bought the Bonne Maman advent calendar
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It’s hard to go wrong with an edible gift, since it’s inherently something they’ll need a restock of if they already have it. Los Angeles–based cookbook author and recipe developerNaz Deravianrecommends these jams, which are made by a Bay Area jam-maker. “She makes really interesting jams using Persian flavor profiles, but then puts her own twist on it,” Deravian says.
For the neighbor who put you on their holiday-cookie-tin list
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This hand-painted stamp will imprint a snowflake pattern on their sugar cookies.
For the baker whose utensil drawer needs an overhaul
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Material’s air whiskentered Strategist canon after our former writer Chloe Anello got rid of all her whisks once she tried it. Recently, Dan Pelosi, author of the cookbookLet’s Party, seconded her praise: “[It] whisks 500 times better than the other whisks.”
… and the crock, too
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There’s something about these simple blue stripes that makes me think this country-stylecrockwould work in just about any kitchen aesthetic.
For the baker who’s a bit too confident with a fork
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It’d be a shame for a slice of their fresh loaf to get stuck in the toaster.
For the baker with an ever-jammed tool drawer
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Mundane? Yes, but these magnetic measuring cups fromOXOtransformed my kitchen drawer from a hazardous mess into an (almost) sightly drawer.
For the baker with a stuffed bread box
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Each time I do a stretch and fold while strengthening my sourdough dough, I use this spiked silicone tool to get all the sticky excess off my fingers in seconds.
Under $50
For the keeper of the family recipes
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If they’re still lusting over the long-goneRachel Antonoff cookie jars, this darling recipe tin has the same vibe. Rifle Paper Co. even makes matching recipe cards.
For the baker who makes Nothing Bundt Cakes at home
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Sure, they can let the texture of theirBundt cakespeak for itself, but these beautifully constructed pans add the special touch of presentation. According to baker and cookbook authorVallery Lomas, “they distribute heat evenly so that you get an even bake throughout, no matter how intricate the pattern is.”
For the on-call birthday-cake-maker
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It’s thanks tothis cake carrierthat cookbook author and Strategist contributor Casey Elsass can transport his baked goods between boroughs. As he says, “I’ve used it to lock in a Bundt cake for travel, piled stacks of cookies to shepherd across the city, and I’m not embarrassed to admit I’ve packed up leftovers from a dinner party and used this as a gigantic to-go container.”
For the baker who’s swearing off plastic
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Since the plastic handle on a microplane zester doesn’t actually touch the food, it doesn’t usually make the short list ofplastic-free kitchen swaps. That’s all the more reason to surprise them with this wood-handled version that’s handsome enough to earn a spot in the utensil crock.
For the baker who protects their hands with a dish towel
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I’ve been testing oven mitts for a forthcoming guide, and these are my favorite. They check the mandatory boxes (as in nice-looking and heat-resistant up to 500 degrees), but the hidden magnet in the lining means I can stick them right on my fridge. Plus, the terry cloth lining doesn’t irritate my skin after extended handwashing.
For the baker who has room for an extra gadget
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After testing every single way to make popcorn,J. Kenji López-Altsays this is the best. In addition to minimizing the amount of kernels at the bottom of your bowl, he says, it “pops the fastest out of anything I’ve tested, whether that’s a microwave or an air popper or a skillet or a wok. Because it’s designed to agitate the popcorn and vent steam off at the same time, your popcorn ends up much crispier.”
For the baker with a dedicated proofing station
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No matter how many times I receive bowl covers as a gift, they’re always a welcome surprise, since I can use them for everything from covering proofing bread to saving leftovers. Fog Linen’s striped trio is a rather nice option I wouldn’t mind adding to my collection.
For the baker with a complete Lenox Spice Village
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Unlike the Lenox Spice Village, which is only available for preorder, the hand-painted butter dish will arrive before Saint Nick.
For the baker who often gets distracted
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Most intermediate bakers will have akitchen scalesince it’s a more accurate way to weigh ingredients than using a cup measure, but many affordable options automatically shut off after a couple of minutes. OXO’s five-pound scale, which allows for a 15-minute window of inactivity before it shuts off, will save them the trouble of measuring and remeasuring their ingredients.
For the baker who fancies themself a Francophile
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Crêpe pans are crafted with low, sloped slides that make it easier to flip breakfast treats like crêpes and pancakes. This one is made in France by De Buyer, a French company that has been producing cookware for almost 200 years.
For the baker who never substitutes olive oil for butter
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Puzzling takes the same attention to detail as decorating, say, a cake or a batch of sugar cookies. They can plug away at this puzzle while they wait for the cookies to come out of the oven.
For the baker who yells “Behind!”
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Ever since Wartzman wrote about how much she lovedGestura’s thoughtfully crafted tasting spoon, I’ve been keeping tabs on the brand’s latest launches. Most recently, the brand added this Japanese oak and heat-treated flex-steel bench scraper that’s nimble enough to shape a boule.
Under $100
For the baker who looks out for their gluten-free friend
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It’s been a few years since theGreat Jell-O Resurgence, but the appetite for fancy Jell-O brands like Gelée hasn’t disappeared. The brand’s holiday set includes mini cookie cutters and silicone molds for crafting blobs of guava, passion fruit, and (virgin) piña colada.
For the baker who oils their wooden counters
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If you got them aDutch ovenlast year, this magnetictrivetthat sticks to the bottom of any magnetic surface is an ideal present successor.
For the host who earnestly does not want you to clean up
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Nothing less than lace-trimmed rubber gloves for the baker who believes there’s “a place for everything and everything in its place.”
For the baker with achy feet
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Standing matsaren’t the sexiest gift in the world, but they’re a practical one for any baker who spends hours on their feet in the kitchen. These ones from House of Noa, which come in a variety of stripes, checkers, and other eye-catching patterns, are the prettiest I’ve come across.
For the baker with baby skin
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Allhand soapsseem to dry out my hands after a long session of baking, but I swear by this overnighthand-repair creamthat undoes the damage of whatever soap I’m putting to the test.
$100 and up
For the baker who never buys bread
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Ever since I received this bread box for Christmas last year, it’s proven worthy of keeping my sourdough loaves, challah braids, and bagels fresh.
For the parent of a sourdough baby
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This little sourdough home warms your starter to the ideal temperature — 75 to 82 degrees — so it can become active and bubbly. During the month I’ve been testing it, I’ve found it comes in handy on colder days, when my starter is more sluggish.
For the baker who collects specialty flour
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Here’s another plastic substitute for the baker whose pantry could use a deep clean. While these containers are made of glass, they feel substantial but not heavy, according to Wartzman, who named them the best largefood-storage containersfor your pantry.
For the baker who has too many cookbooks
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We’ve long been fans of the handcrafted ceramics from Sin, the Brooklyn-based home-goods store run by designer Virginia Sin. This winding book stand is a step up from the plastic one sitting on their counter.
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