Christmas cookies, peppermint bark, pecan pie, and a pan of soft dinner rolls: the holiday baking season leans on a short list of tools. Here's that list, each tied to the holiday copycat recipes on this site that call for it. Good for gifting a baker, or for filling the gaps in your own kitchen before December.
As an Amazon Associate, Copycat Spices earns from qualifying purchases. Product links below go to Amazon. We research and fact-check our recipes rather than test-cook them, and we haven't tested this gear: each pick is here because the linked recipes call for it.
Cut-outs, bark, fudge, and the cookie-tin classics.
Trees, stars, and rounds for cut-out cookies and snack cakes. Christmas Tree Cakes need a tree-shaped cutter.
The half-sheet pan is the base for cookies, sheet cakes, and every kind of holiday bark.
See it on Amazon →Precut sheets that lay flat in a half-sheet pan, so cookies release cleanly and bark lifts out in one slab.
Spreads melted chocolate, frosting, and glazes in a smooth, even layer.
Fudge, toffee, and caramel depend on hitting a specific sugar temperature, and a clip-on thermometer takes out the guesswork.
See it on Amazon →Pipes thin cookie batter into neat ovals and frosting into clean swirls.
See it on Amazon →Portions dough into equal balls so every cookie on the tray bakes at the same rate.
See it on Amazon →Pecan, pumpkin, and apple for Thanksgiving through Christmas.
A glass pie dish lets you check whether the bottom crust has browned before you pull the pie.
See it on Amazon →Covers the crust edge partway through the bake so it doesn't burn while the filling sets.
See it on Amazon →Rolls pie crust, cut-out cookie dough, and roll dough to an even thickness.
Lets air reach the bottom of pies, cakes, and bars as they cool so they don't steam and go soggy.
See it on Amazon →The soft, buttery rolls and sweet breads that go on every holiday table.
Kneads soft, enriched roll doughs that are sticky and tiring to knead by hand.
The standard pan for pull-apart rolls, cinnamon rolls, and bars. A metal one browns the bottoms more evenly than glass.
Brushes melted butter and egg wash onto rolls and crescents for a glossy, golden top.
Weighing flour and dividing dough by the gram is how bakeries get every roll the same size.
The fluted ring pan that gives monkey bread its pull-apart shape.
Showpiece cheesecakes for the dessert table.
Its sides unlatch, so a cheesecake can come out of the pan without being flipped.
See it on Amazon →
