2022 Gift Ideas for Everyone (and every baker!)
The holidays are upon us and it’s time to get shopping! Here are some of my favorite items to give and receive including gift ideas for beginner bakers, the more experienced, and the non-bakers.
Cooking & Baking In-Person Classes
I love to gift experiences! Experiences are perfect gifts for those who have everything- bakers and non-bakers! Search in your area for cooking and baking classes. Most larger cities have some sort of hands-on or demo classes like bread baking, sushi making, kids classes, or even pastry classes.
In 2022, I opened Bettie's here in Chicago! We offer date night classes, intensive classes, holiday, and beginner classes. Gift cards are the perfect gift for this experience!
Bigger Bolder Baking Everyday: Easy Recipes to Bake Through a Busy Week
This book has everything! Gemma Stafford of Bigger Bolder Baking brings you her highly-anticipated second cookbook which will help you bake with confidence any day of the week.
Featuring 125 new and fan favorite baking recipes, Gemma shows you how delicious desserts and impressive baked goods don't have to be reserved for special occasions. Now anyone can serve up Bigger Bolder treats every day of the week, any time of day!
Hand Mixer
Every baker needs either a hand mixer or stand mixer. A hand mixer is a fairly inexpensive investment and will get you by with most all baking uses where a mixer is called for. A stand mixer is very nice to have, especially if you are an avid baker, but it is not essential.
I’m all about making it work in the kitchen and have whipped many egg whites by hand, however there are just some baking applications where a mixer truly is needed. You will never be able to cream butter properly without a mixer.
Homemade Vanilla Extract
Store-bought vanilla extract can be expensive! That’s why I like to give out the really good homemade stuff as gifts.
Vanilla is one of the most important flavorings in baking. Flecks of real vanilla extract in your baked goods is such a beautiful sight to see.
Making homemade vanilla extract couldn’t be easier. You only need 2 ingredients!
Baker Bettie's Better Baking Book
I am so excited to share with you my new book, Baker Bettie’s Better Baking Book! I describe this book as the one that I wished I had when I was first learning to bake. I wanted a book that broke down baking science, mixing methods, and techniques in an approachable way. This book does exactly that!
Amazon #1 Bestseller in Professional Cooking, Pastry Baking, Cake Baking, Pies, Desserts, and Cookies
Digital Kitchen Scale
If you’ve ever watched any of my videos or taken a class with me then you know how much I advise using a kitchen scale to take weight measurements of your ingredients.
Measuring by weight is a much more accurate way of measuring and since baking is an exact science, it really is important. A kitchen scale is a relatively small investment and truly invaluable in a baker’s kitchen.
Savory Baking: Recipes for Breakfast, Dinner, and Everything in Between
Savory Baking is the next best thing to a private baking and pastry class from star food stylist and baking expert Erin Jeanne McDowell, given in her signature fun and reassuring style. Not only are each of her recipes intensely crave-able, they also offer inventive inspirations and variations for endless, out-of-the-box customizations and more flexibility.
Take her Buttermilk Biscuits, for instance, which comes together in a single bowl. You can cut them in different shapes—Erin prefers squares so there’s no scrap dough left. And she suggests adding cheese (or fresh herbs or bacon) for bolder flavor. Or substituting the buttermilk with sour cream or crème fraiche for a je ne sais quoi tang. Or adding her green chile gravy when serving. Or make a monkey bread made of biscuit dough! Or...
Baker Bettie's Better Baking School: E-courses
An unforgettable gift for the person who has everything- the gift of learning to bake!
At the Better Baking School, we have our most popular courses available for gifting including: how to make macarons, yeast breads, cake and cookie decorating, holiday breads, and more! E-courses can be accessed from anywhere!
E-courses include lifetime access.
Homemade Cookies
There’s nothing more personal and thoughtful than gifting a plate of homemade holiday cookies.
These Peppernuts (or Pfeffernusse Cookies) are a traditional German cookie made in Mennonite communities. They are tiny, crunchy cookies filled with all the wonderful warming spices.
The best part is that they can be made in giant batches for all of our friends and family.
Hedley & Bennett Apron
Hedley & Bennett aprons are the best of the best! They are such high-quality you won't need to own multiple. You can simply wipe off when you get them dirty and keep going.
This pink poppy design is giving me vintage wallpaper vibes. It's so cute!
Bench & Bowl Scraper
These are my favorite baking tools! I use them ALL the time.
I use the bench scraper (or bench knife) for transferring pastries and bread to baking sheets, cutting and dividing doughs, and scraping my counter surfaces clean.
I use the bowl scraper for scraping bowls clean and reaching those hard-to-reach spots at the bottom of the bowl making sure I don’t miss a drop of batter, frosting, or dough.
Homemade Fudge
Homemade fudge is a classic holiday treat for sharing!
These peppermint fudge squares are perfect for putting in a tin with a red ribbon and leaving on your neighbor’s doorstep.
This recipe is a quick and easy one and can be made in 10 minutes.
8 Comments on “2022 Gift Ideas for Everyone (and every baker!)”
Great suggestion about scale for measuring baking ingredients. Do you have a recommendation or resource for a micro weighing scale, for example, when you want a very small amount of yeast for a long rise pizza dough. I cannot find one. Thanks
I use a teaspoon to measure yeast but here is a micro scale if you prefer: https://amzn.to/3xRjHjg
I would know your suggestion for pie weights.
I like these! https://amzn.to/31p8sSG
Thanks for sharing, I like baking and would love to learn more every day.
You’re welcome! Happy Holidays!
I made some Classic Butter Biscuits to give as gifts. I made an extra batch for home and put them in the fridge overnight before baking them the next day. They were covered with a plastic lid in the fridge for about 24 hours. When I baked them they were not as fluffy and light as when I bake them right after making them.
Can you share why they didn’t turn out as well? Any tips on how best to give unbaked biscuits as gifts?
Thanks!
Biscuit dough doesn’t sit well in the refrigerator. The baking powder and soda can become ineffective the longer it sits. Instead, I suggest freezing raw biscuits and baking from frozen.