Organize Your Baking Cabinet

When you’re an avid baker, you want to make sure that all of your tools can be accessed at a moment’s notice — for a last-minute bake sale, a company holiday party, or just a Friday night at home with friends and family. Here are a few ideas to help you get your baking cabinet organized for the height of baking season: the holidays.

First, Account For What You Have

Before you begin organizing your baking cabinet, it’s a good idea to figure out what baking supplies you have. You may not have considered putting all of your baking stuff together in the same spot before, so it might be spread out between multiple cabinets, drawers, and other storage areas.

Gather up all your sheet pans, muffin pans, cookie cutters, rolling pins, and containers of sprinkles and figure out exactly how much cabinet/drawer space you’re going to need to dedicate to it all. Remember that pulling pieces out of each cabinet or drawer to create a dedicated baking cabinet may require you to reorganize your kitchen a bit.

Once you’ve gotten everything in a pile, be sure to throw anything out that’s expired, broken, or not working properly.

Invest in Some Clear Containers

There’s nothing worse than having to dig through bags and boxes of supplies only to find that you’re completely out of baking soda while you’re in the middle of baking cookies. Give yourself the gift of sight by investing in some clear containers for ingredients like sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, etc.

Not only will the clear containers look pretty and neat stacked up in your cabinet, but it’ll also be easier to see when you’re running out of something. Before you pour the ingredients into each one, be sure to label them so that you know which is which.

Hang Up Your Measuring Spoons/Cups

How many times have you had to eyeball a third of a cup of sugar near in a half-cup container because the correct one has mysteriously vanished? Never lose track of a measuring cup or spoon again by hanging them up using adhesive hooks inside a pantry door or cabinet.

Use Lazy Susans For Everything

All hail the Lazy Susan (who isn’t so lazy after all). Use your Lazy Susan to find spices, sprinkles, muffin pans, cake pans, and baking ingredients in no time at all. Set it up in the baking cabinet or on a nearby countertop. It’s a great space-saver and allows you to keep a lot of things out without making your kitchen look too cluttered.

Stack Pans Vertically Like Pot Lids

If you’re big into baking, you’ve probably accumulated quite a few sheets and pans over the years. If so, you know there’s nothing more annoying than having to dig through a big pile of them to get to the one you need. That’s why it’s best to have them organized in a way that makes them easier to sift through. Try using a pot lid organizer in your baking cabinet and stacking your pans vertically instead of on top of one another.

Keep Cookie Cutters in a Large Glass Jar

Whether you make cookies regularly or just like collecting the cutters, it’s easy to lose track of the little baking utensils! Keep them in one easy-to-find place using a big glass jar (or even two, if necessary). Stick a pretty label on the outside, and you’ll be ready for cookie-baking season.

Use Refrigerator Magnets for Spices

Spices can take up a lot of precious cabinet or drawer space, especially if you live in a small apartment. Take them out of the drawer and place them right on the fridge using magnetic spice containers. Just be sure to label each one carefully so that you’re not accidentally using cumin in your pumpkin loaf recipe!

Hang Up a Pegboard and Use It For Utensils

Pegboards have long been used in the garage to keep sports equipment and tools organized, but they’re now making their way into the kitchens and living spaces of small homes. Use a pegboard in your kitchen to hang up baking supplies like measuring cups, spoons, graters, beaters, pans, and pots. You could also hang a small shelf on your pegboard to hold spices, containers, and any other supplies you might need while baking.

Not a Lot of Storage Space? Use a Bar or Utility Cart

Living in a small apartment and don’t have the enough cabinet space for your baking supplies? Use a utility or bar cart to store them all in one place. You can also use glass jars or vases to store supplies like baking utensils, dry goods, and spices. If the cart has a small enough lip, use S-hooks to hang measuring cups, spoons, and aprons from it.