The holiday season can be a dream season for the prepper. The sales are usually pretty good during this time which makes it an excellent time to stockpile. This becomes especially true for baking supplies. 

One of the keys to stockpiling for your food storage is to use the sales to your advantage. During the holiday season, you can count on a few things being on sale:

• canned vegetables
• instant mashed potatoes
• stuffing mixes
• gravy
• baking supplies

We will be focusing on baking supplies. Some people do not consider these worthwhile to stockpile because they do not last as long as some other food storage options. However, I consider food storage in a three-prong approach:

1. Quick, easy foods that do not need to be cooked or minimally cooked
2. Long term food storage like freeze-dried foods, rice, and beans
3. Cook from scratch foods that will get you through a month of no money

Cooking from scratch is pretty simple but takes some planning when you are stockpiling food. You need to think about what you and your family eat regularly and make a plan. Bread, breakfast foods, and snacks would all need to be made from scratch in our house. We also like to bake cookies, cakes, brownies, and specialty bread for special occasions and family gatherings. 

You also should consider substitutes for food you normally eat and would not be able to buy. For example, if you run out of cereal, you can make granola instead. Granola can be easy to make, but you would need ingredients to make it. You might have cake mixes or pancake mixes on hand, but they can go bad or might be used up quickly. You would then need to make sure you have items on hand to make them from scratch.

A word of caution: if you are storing premade mixes, check the ingredients. If they have fats like shortening, you need to use them up before the expiration date. The fats can go rancid and cause your food to taste awful and make you ill. I do not usually stock premade mixes because of this reason. However, having a stock of these can make life easier to start with.

In no particular order of importance, these are baking supply ingredients that you can purchase on sale during the holiday season:

• flour (all-purpose mostly, but wheat and gluten-free usually on sale too)
• sugar
• baking chips (white chocolate, milk chocolate, etc.)
• baking soda
• baking powder
• powdered sugar
• brown sugar
• salt
• vanilla extract (and other extracts)
• peanut butter
• canned pumpkin
• cooking oils and sprays
• butter
• sweetened condensed milk
• evaporated milk
• graham cracker pie crusts
• coconut flakes
• baking cocoa
• nuts
• almond bark
• cupcake liners
• sprinkles
• oats
• pie filling
• spices 
• shortening and lard
• frosting
• premade cake and brownie mixes
• maple syrup
• honey
  
• dried fruits
• yeast

Some of these things are more shelf-stable than others. Of course, the butter will need a fridge or freezer to stay delicious. Some of these items will need to be used by the expiration date, like the premade mixes and graham cracker crusts. However, most of these items will be shelf-stable for long periods of time with proper storage. 

If you have mylar bags and oxygen absorbers or a vacuum sealer, you can make many baking supplies last long. With most items in your food storage, exposure to light and air can really reduce the length of time your food storage will stay good. If you seal your food from those elements, you can make your food last for years. Proper rotation also makes your food storage better. First in, first out should always be practiced in your food storage and that becomes particularly more important with baking supplies that could change taste or texture from sitting too long. 

Again, you have to have a list tailored to your needs. You might not enjoy all these foods, will never use them, or have intolerances/allergies to them. Your food storage is there to serve you and you should be stocking the foods you will use and need the most. If you hate coconut, don’t buy it. If you think sprinkles are stupid, don’t buy them. Buy what you will use.

Thanks for reading,
Erica

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