Scale! Changed my baking forever!

An inexpensive electric mixer (indispensable), good spatulas and measuring spoons and cups, cake and cupcake pans (supermarket ones are fine), some parchment paper AND the cake bible by rose levy beranbaum. Explains the science of baking, and has a million recipes. Great cookbook she will use for the rest of her life.

Take her to michaels and see what she likes.

Second a nice cookbook. They always have some fun ones in the cheap shelves at B&N.

A cake decorating kit and a gift certificate to Michaels for one of their classes.

What about a cake pop pan for fun? They are inexpensive and may be fun to make and decorate. I'm sure they'll be out soon but it would be fun for now.

Could also get an electric scale-- some day she may want to switch to cooking by weight.

I also really like the artisan bread in 5 mins a day book (which can be adjusted for things like sticky rolls, or brioche too), so maybe that plus a nice baking tile for the oven, if she's into bread.

OP here: thanks to all for these lovely ideas!

I especially love the idea of a magazine subscription. Does anyone have a favorite magazine that just covers baking or desserts? Sadly, so far she is not interested in cooking anything else.

Check out William Sonoma catalogs/online.
A certificate for a cake decorating or baking class.
selection of cookie cutters and icing tips.
AC Moore and Michael's have a baking section.
A kit for making fondant for cake toppers.
Cookbooks.

A personalized apron from Williams Sonoma.
Silpat (slicone) baking sheet.
Electric hand-mixer.
Stainless steel mixing bowl set.
Calphalon spatulas.
Annual subscription to Cooks Illustrated.

A cute apron!

Martha Stewart's cookie book is great.

At that age, I started baking bread - a really fascinating challenge to me at the time. So maybe a bread baking kit? C

There are some pretty baking tools etc by Martha Stewart at Macy's. They are not too expensive and come in nice colors. T J Maxx also has some nice things.

I got my hand mixer from Walmart for about $10. I don't have a stand mixer and find that the hand mixer is adequate for most tasks. You really don't need an expensive model, just one with a few speeds. I think mine has five.

PPs have pretty much covered a lot of great ideas for general baking tools. If I had to pick one, I would go with a hand mixer. Some more suggestions:
- Check out the King Arthur Flour catalog, they have all kinds of stuff guaranteed to appeal to bakers.
- Stop by your nearest Marshalls store, they have baking equipment like whisks, cups, spoons, pans, cookie sheets etc at very low prices. All good brands too, like Calphalon, Chicago Metallic etc. You could put together a little gift set with whatever budget you have in mind.
- How about a good dessert cookbook? I highly recommend David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert. His recipes are well-tested, simple and not fussy, and this book has a good mix of all kinds of desserts. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1607743655

Things that I routinely use when baking: a few bowls, especially one particular very large one, whisk, rubber spatula for stirring/scraping, lifting spatula, rolling pin, 2 half-sheet pans (NOT nonstick), parchment paper (negates any need for non-stick pans), 2 cooling racks, sifter, measuring cups, squared-off measuring spoons (reach into small containers better than round). I use a stand mixer, but if I didn't I would appreciate a hand mixer. I'm sure you can get a decently priced one that would carry her through the next ten years at Target or Amazon. If she likes the decorating side of baking a set of piping tips and pastry bags would be great!

If you don't already, check out www.KingArthur.com They make flour, but have to-die-for recipes for all kinds of baked goods. They also sell baking tools.

I'm not a huge baker, but I do think the following things make life a lot easier:

Huge metal bowl (or two of different sizes) to mix larger quantities of dry ingredients.

Good quality cookie sheets and baking pans. I use metal and use parchment paper to line them so that cookies don't burn, etc. King Arthur sells round parchment paper which is divine, because I can never cut it right to put in a circular baking pan.


A nice belgian waffle iron if you guys like waffles.

I use a hand mixer. Again because I'm not super-baker. But that in a large bowl works great for almost everything. Around $30-50.

I also like really good quality measuring spoons and cups. I think Pyrex liquid measuring cups are the best. It's good to have two sets of each because you can measure more without washing out between ingredients.

Good quality cooling racks are nice too.

And finally, the best tip I ever got for cooking anything was to cut and prep and measure everything first, before mixing. So I have a small set of glass bowls that I use to keep measured ingredients separate and ready to mix. I have this set of six from Pampered Chef. They come with lids and are great for many things.

http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=9792&catId=123&parentCatId=123&outletSubCat=

My daughter has really taken to baking. So far she's made mostly cookies, fudge, and a few pies (from scratch!). We don't keep many sweets in the house, but it is such a pleasure to have them homemade with good ingredients!

I'd like to get her some baking-related gifts and would appreciate ideas. (Nothing too elaborate or expensive). I am not a baker myself and have no clue.

Nice baking sheets? What is a good kind and should I get non-stick or not? I'd prefer not to use non-stick if it's made with the same chemicals as nonstick saucepans.

An electric hand mixer? So far she mixes everything by hand. And inexpensive brand recommendations? (No KitchenAid-level prices, please!)

Any other ideas?