5 Must-Have Small Kitchen Appliances for Healthy Baking

 

 
A while ago, my parents decided to renovate their kitchen, and after speaking with a contractor and his team, they settled on a dark wooden theme with a very open floor plan. Once he consulted his team’s schedule, the contractor set a start date in early June and predicted they’d finish by late August.  

Since I planned to spend a few months at home during that fall after my previous lease ended and while I searched for a new apartment, I grew excited by the thought of baking in their updated kitchen. Shiny new appliances, sleek black granite countertops, lots of extra cabinet space… All of a sudden, leaving my parents’ house and touring apartments started to lose its appeal!

And then…

The work on his previous client’s home took three times as long as he anticipated, which meant his team finally arrived at my parents’ house during the last week of August! When I showed up a week later with all of my cardboard moving boxes, I found a completely barren shell of a kitchen—the cabinets and floors completely removed, the walls and ceiling torn out with just the wooden studs showing, and dust everywhere—and the refrigerator sitting in the middle of the garage.

Yikes.

During the next couple of months, we set up a makeshift “kitchen” in the laundry room with a few small appliances, and I learned exactly which appliances would allow me to continue baking my favorite recipes, even with that extremely limited space.

Even now, years later, with a regular-sized fully equipped kitchen, I still use almost all of those appliances on a daily basis. These 5 must-have small kitchen appliances are completely worth every penny, and I can’t imagine baking without them!
 
 

 
Kitchen Scale.
If you buy anything from this list, make sure it’s a kitchen scale! This is the one that I own. It’s battery-operated and costs around $20, and it offers options for grams, kilograms, ounces, and pounds. I use it to make every single recipe I publish here on Amy’s Healthy Baking—yes, every single one!—because (a) it’s super easy to use and (b) measuring by weight is much more accurate than relying on measuring cups, so that kitchen scale ensures my treats turn out with the perfect taste and texture each and every time.

Even better, using a kitchen scale to measure ingredients results in far fewer measuring cups and spoons to wash! Less time washing dishes (and more time enjoying baked goodies) is always a huge bonus for me.
 
 
Recipes You’ll Use a Kitchen Scale to Make…
Like I said, I use my kitchen scale for every recipe I post here, so that list of recipes is incredibly long! But here are a few of my all-time favorite baked goodies…
♥   the ultimate healthy chocolate mini muffins
♥   pumpkin pie chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
♥   greek yogurt chocolate chip pound cake
♥   the ultimate healthy blueberry muffins
♥   healthy classic cinnamon rolls
♥   fudgy dark chocolate frosted brownies
♥   whole wheat strawberry blueberry banana bread
♥   morning glory bran muffins
♥   the ultimate healthy apple crumble
♥   carrot cake oatmeal cookies
♥   mini dark chocolate banana cupcakes
♥   skinny raspberry cheesecake bars

 
 

 
Convection-Style Toaster Oven.
This is what saved my {baking} life during that kitchen renovation! I baked anything and everything in my convection-style toaster oven during those months: cookies, brownies, muffins, scones, cupcakes, cheesecakes, granola bars, quiches, cakes, pies, quick breads, cinnamon rolls… The sky is the limit—it bakes just like a regular oven!

Although the convection-style toaster oven that I currently use has been discontinued, this is the newer model of that same toaster oven, and it costs around $70. It comes with an adjustable oven rack (just like a regular oven!) and a metal tray that I use for making cookies, scones, granola, and those sorts of treats that require a cookie sheet to bake. It also fits 9”-square and 9”-round baking pans, and my favorite 6-cup muffin tins easily fit inside for baking muffins and cupcakes.

Psst… It’s also perfect for baking during the summer when you don’t want to heat up the house by turning on the oven! Or during Thanksgiving and the holidays when you have a million different sweet and savory dishes to bake and not enough oven space for all of them!
 
 
Recipes You’ll Use a Convection-Style Toaster Oven to Make…
♥   healthy triple chocolate scones
♥   skinny protein-packed puppy chow (aka muddy buddies)
♥   the ultimate healthy lemon poppy seed muffins
♥   skinny chocolate chip pretzel cheesecake bars
♥   apple pie granola bar bites
♥   fudgy dark chocolate cheesecake swirled brownies
♥   skinny kale & butternut squash quiche
♥   the ultimate healthy oatmeal raisin cookies
♥   simple cinnamon apple cake
♥   healthy caramel seven layer bars
♥   chewy raspberry apple granola bars
♥   chocolate chip banana mini muffins

 
 

 
Ninja Mega Kitchen System.
If I could use one word to describe this, it’d be… OBSESSED. 100%, hands-down, absolutely, positively obsessed. After my kitchen scale, it has been the best investment I’ve ever made. I use it on a daily basis!

Every morning, I mix up a version of my favorite protein smoothie in those single-serving smoothie mugs, and I consistently use both the blender and food processor to whip up homemade nut butters. (So much cheaper and healthier than store-bought!) Its high-powered motor and sharp blades quickly chop whatever ingredients I toss inside, and it’s even dishwasher safe. (Huge bonus!)

I bought mine here (again, it’s the Mega Kitchen System package, which includes a full-sized blender, three individual smoothie “blenders,” and two different sizes of food processors), and it costs around $210 for the full package. It does about as great of a job as Blendtec and Vitamix blenders, which start at $300 and $500 (respectively), so it feels like an amazing deal!
 
 
Recipes You’ll Use a Ninja Blender to Make…
♥   easy blender almond butter
♥   easy blender peanut butter
♥   easy blender cashew butter
♥   cinnamon roll almond butter
♥   almond joy almond butter
♥   vanilla espresso almond butter
♥   strawberry banana protein smoothie
♥   chocolate protein milkshake
♥   cookies ’n cream protein milkshake
♥   flourless brownie bites
♥   chocolate chip almond butter oatmeal cookies (the homemade almond butter!)
♥   chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal cookies (the homemade peanut butter!)
♥   peanut butter cheesecake thumbprint cookies (the homemade peanut butter!)

 
 

 
Microwave.
Have you noticed how many of my recipes call for melted butter or coconut oil? That’s because (a) I’m forgetful and often fail to set out the butter to soften hours ahead of when I need to use it, (b) I’m impatient and don’t want to wait for the butter to soften, (c) it’s much, much easier to simply pop the butter or coconut oil into the microwave to melt, and (d) it gives your baked goods an amazing texture! I just measure the butter or coconut oil into a microwave-safe bowl using my handy kitchen scale, set the microwave for 30-45 seconds, and—ding!—it’s done. Easy peasy!

Then about a year ago, I rediscovered the joy of microwave mug cakes, aka single-serving desserts that are ready less than 10 minutes after I pull out the ingredients to measure… And fully satisfy my sweet tooth without any tempting leftovers. All thanks to the magic of the microwave!

This is the microwave that I currently use. I highly recommend getting a microwave that has a rotating turntable to cook food evenly and that’s 1000 watts; it seems to be the average wattage that most microwave-friendly recipes are calculated for. (It also really helps to buy a microwave where it’s easy to change the power level, if possible!)

Note: I know some people may be concerned about radiation from microwaves. As a chemist-turned-baking-blogger, I’m very familiar with different types of energy and radiation, and I promise there’s nothing to worry about! Without getting too deep into the science of it, the microwave is simply sending out safe energy waves that make the molecules in your food vibrate, which causes them to heat up, and therefore cooks your food.
 
 
Recipes You’ll Use a Microwave to Make…
♥   skinny single-serving chocolate mug cake
♥   skinny single-serving vanilla mug cake
♥   skinny single-serving chocolate chip mug cake
♥   skinny single-serving peanut butter mug cake
♥   skinny single-serving snickerdoodle mug cake
♥   skinny single-serving pumpkin chocolate chip mug cake
♥   skinny single-serving fudgy brownie
♥   skinny single-serving raspberry chocolate chip mug cake
♥   skinny single-serving granola
♥   skinny single-serving spice cupcake
♥   skinny single-serving blueberry muffin

 
 

 
Hand Mixer.
Although I don’t use this on a daily basis like the previous four appliances, it still comes in very handy. Have you ever tried to beat cream cheese with a whisk until it turns smooth enough to make a cheesecake? Or make frosting with that same whisking method? Trust me… It feels as if you’ve gotten in enough of an arm workout to last an entire month!

Instead, popping the beaters into a hand-held mixer and letting that do the work to whip up cheesecakes and frosting for me is much more appealing. (And if my bicep starts to get tired, I just rest my elbow on the counter to give my arm a “break!”) This is the hand mixer that I own, and it costs around $40. Super affordable! I really only use the traditional beaters, but the whisk and dough hook add-ons are great to have as well.

While stand mixers are certainly easier to use (and require even less effort from your arm muscles!), they’re more expensive and take up additional counter space. If you’re able to, then I do recommend purchasing one, and this is the stand mixer that I own.
 
 
Recipes You’ll Use a Mixer to Make…
♥   skinny strawberry cheesecake bars
♥   skinny pumpkin cheesecake bars
♥   skinny chocolate chip cheesecake bars
♥   skinny lemon gingersnap cheesecake bars
♥   dark chocolate raspberry cupcakes
♥   the ultimate healthy carrot cake
♥   pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting
♥   gingerbread cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
♥   dark chocolate strawberry cheesecake truffles
♥   cookies ’n cream chocolate cupcakes
♥   skinny no-bake strawberry cheesecakes
♥   maple cupcakes with pumpkin pie frosting

 

Q: What are your favorite kitchen appliances?