There are times when a baker is in the mood to bake something. It could be because unexpected company stopped by the house. Or someone has a taste for something special. Whatever the reason, it is easy to whip up something without making a visit to the grocery store if a baker has certain items in the pantry.
A baker's pantry needs items from 6 basic groups: bases, sweeteners, leavening agents, liquids, flavor additions, spices, and fats. Each basic group has several different options depending of the type of baking that will be done. For example, a baker that is making a lot of desserts would keep in their pantry stock the ingredients for most cake recipes.
Bases
* All purpose flour is used in most cake, cookie, and bread recipes.
* Self rising flour is used most biscuit recipes.
* Oatmeal can be used to make a variety of cookie, bread, muffin, granola recipes.
Sweeteners
* White Sugar is used in most cake recipes.
* Brown Sugar is used is most cookie and muffin recipes.
* Powdered Sugar is used in many frosting recipes. It can be used as a quick and easy topping for cakes.
* Honey is not used as often in recipes but goes well as a quick glaze for cakes. It is also essential for granola.
Leavening Agents
* Baking Powder is used in most cake recipes.
* Baking Soda is used in most cake, cookie, and bread recipes.
* Salt is used in all recipes. People may think that you can leave the or teaspoon of salt out of a recipe, but a baker knows that salt will bring all the other ingredients together for a delicious end product.
Liquids
* Canned (evaporated) milk or dry milk should be kept in the pantry for those emergency cases when a baker needs to make a cake but does not have any milk. Another benefit of having canned milk is that can be used in place of light cream.
* Condensed Milk is good for making flans and fudge. Condensed milk can be used to make dulce de leche (very popular in Spanish cooking with a consistency similar to caramel). That can be used as a topping for cakes or a filling for cookies.
* White Vinegar is good to keep on hand for converting regular milk into buttermilk.
Fats
* Vegetable Oil is good for cake and muffin recipes.
* Shortening is good for making biscuit and cake recipes.
Flavor Additions
* Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips are good for cake and cookie recipes. Melting semi-sweet chocolate chips with evaporated milk makes a simple ganache for a cake filling or topping.
* Pecans are good for coffee cake, muffin, and cookie recipes.
* Raisins soaking in rum, cinnamon, and vanilla are a delicious addition to bread, cookie, and muffin recipes. Since they are soaked, they will always be plump.
* Cocoa powder is used in many frostings for chocolate cakes. It can also be used to coat truffles or provide a simple dusting for cake tops. When mixed with vegetable oil, cocoa powder is converted into a substitute for melted chocolate.
* Vanilla Extract is ubiquitous when it comes to baking recipes. There are very few dessert recipes in general that do not include some measurement of vanilla extract.
* Cinnamon is good for spice cake, muffin, and cookie recipes. Many spicy recipes have more than just cinnamon. But if there is only one spice on hand, it is best to have cinnamon.
With this list of products, a baker can probably bake an infinite number of products.
The only perishable ingredient a baker would need is eggs. Having unsalted butter is necessary for many recipes also. These do not belong in the pantry and that is why I did not include them here. Even so, it would be easy for a baker to quickly create something with the aforementioned pantry staples.