Baking should be a labor of love, not work on the chain gang  It’s always helpful to keep your basic ingredients stocked at all times, and to be prepared for inspiration when it hits you. Having these ingredients always on hand at home can motivate you to bake more and will help make baking easier to adopt as an regular part of your weekly repertoire

1. Flour

• All-purpose flour

...and depending on what kind of baking you like to do.

• Whole wheat flour - often used to replace a portion of all-purpose flour in a recipe to boost the nutritional values.
• Bread flour -  ideal for baking denser yeast breads.
• Cake flour is-  produces cakes with a lighter texture.
• Pastry flour - ideal for tender pie crusts.
• Self-rising flour -  has baking powder and salt already mixed in.
• Alternative non-wheat flours - milled from other grains, nuts, and seeds.
• Cornmeal - cornbread, crunchy waffles, pancakes, etc.
• Cornstarch - finely ground corn flour used for thickening sauces and pie fillings.

Storage
Store flour in airtight, moisture-proof containers on a cool, dark shelf or in the fridge. Whole wheat flour spoils faster than all-purpose flour because it contains more of the wheat grain components. Store whole wheat flour in the fridge or freezer to extend shelf life. Alternative flours often contain more plant oils as well, so they should be stored in the fridge or freezer after opening, or follow manufacturers' recommendations for safe storage.

2. Leaveners

Leaveners cause chemical reactions that fill batters and dough with the tiny gas bubbles that make baked goods rise.

• Baking soda is a alkaline chemical leavener (sodium bicarbonate) that works when you combine it with acid and heat. Acidic ingredients that activate baking soda include fermented dairy products like buttermilk, sour cream, and yogurt; molasses, brown sugar, cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed), citrus juice, vinegar, or cream of tartar.
• Baking powder is baking soda ready-mixed with a powdered acid and cornstarch. When you see "double-acting" on the label, it means the baking powder forms carbon dioxide bubbles when it's mixed into the batter or dough, and again when its heated. When baking powder is the only leavener in your recipe, you don't have to add an additional acidic ingredient.
• Yeast is a biological leavener that works much more slowly than chemical leaveners because it takes time for yeast cells to naturally metabolize and create carbon dioxide. Basic bread bakers can store active dry yeast or instant yeast in their pantries for months.

... for the more adventurous

• Cake or compressed yeast, but very perishable. You can store it in your fridge for one to two weeks.
• Sourdough starters are live yeast colonies that give sourdough bread its distinctive flavor.

3. Sugar

• Syrup,
• Honey,
• Molasses,
• White Sugar - Granulated sugar is what they mean when recipes list sugar as an ingredient.
• Brown Sugar - refined sugar with molasses added
• Powdered Sugar - ground into ultra-fine particles and combined with starch so it doesn't cake up in its package

...for the specialty baker

• Superfine sugar - castor sugar, is granulated sugar ground into tiny crystals
• Sanding sugar, aka decorating or coarse sugar, is simply larger crystals of granulated sugar used to give baked goods a crystalline finish.
• Date suga
• Coconut sugar
• Maple sugar
• Cane syrup
• Agave syrup.

 

4. Salt
Basic

• Granulated table salt is what you'll use in everyday baking.

....yada, yada

• Sea salt - harvested from evaporated sea water. Crunchy, flaky sea salt is often sprinkled across sweet baked goods to "agrandize" the flavor profile.

5. Dairy

• Unsalted butter - the default choice for baking, unless your recipe specifies salted butter. If you're not going to use it all the time, you can easily freeze butter until you need it.
• Large eggs - help bind ingredients together. When recipe writers list eggs as an ingredient, it's almost always safe to assume they're talking about large-size eggs.
• Milk - gives batters their moisture.

...amp up the flavors, substitutes and add acids

• Buttermilk - reacts with leaveners to make fluffier, more tender pancakes and biscuits.
• Alternative milks - made from soy, rice, coconut, or nuts.
• Cream cheese

6. Oil and Shortening

• Oil - Vegetable oil in a neutral flavor, both for recipes and for oiling baking pans.
• Butter
• Shortening - a solid vegetable fat used by some cooks either to replace butter or in combination with butter to make tender baked goods like pie crusts.

7. Extracts and Flavorings

• Vanilla Bean - pure vanilla extract gives baked goods a warm, spicy aroma and flavor. It's available both as liquid and paste, and a little goes a very long way.
• Spice - cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, garlic powder

...Other profiles

• Almond extract
• lemon extract
• mint extract
• rum flavorin
• brandy flavori
• Whole vanilla bean for a more intense vanilla flavor in frostings and sugars.

8. Spices

• Ground cinnamon seems to top the list of the one ground spice every baker has on hand.
• Ground cloves
• Allspice
• Ginger to go along with the cinnamon.
• Nutmeg - you should always buy it whole and grate it yourself right before you use it.

9. Add-Ins

• Chocolate - keep bar chocolate, chocolate chips, unsweetened cocoa powder and Dutch-process cocoa powder on hand
• Dried fruits such as raisins and cranberries.
• Rolled oats
• Nuts - can be stored in the fridge or freezer to extend shelf life.
• Jams, jellies, and fruit preserves for cakes and cookies.
• Peanut or almond butter for cookies and pies.
• Food coloring
• Sprinkles

...maybe

• Crystalized ginger gives spicy baked goods an extra sweet and snappy tingle.
• Coconut, shredded or flaked