25 best Mother's Day gifts for the chef or baker in your life
Cookware, appliances, pantry staples and more gift ideas moms will love adding to their collections.
My mom bought herself the Always Pan after listening to me rave about mine for months. Following her first time using it, she promptly texted me, “You’re not exaggerating. I love this thing.” Our Place recently debuted the Always Pan 2.0, an upgraded version of the original model that’s oven-safe up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. The new 10.5-inch pan also has a longer lasting nonstick coating compared to its predecessor, according to the brand. It offers 10-in-1 functionality: You can use it to roast, strain, serve, sauté, sear, bake, braise, steam, fry and broil. An oven-safe lid, wooden spatula and steamer basket are included with the pan, which comes in eight colors, including Steam (my mom’s pick) and Sage (my pick).
Select writer (and mom) Barbara Booth recommends Caraway’s cookware set for its nonstick interior, which she says makes cleaning the included pots and pans easier. The set comes with a 10.5-inch fry pan, a 3-quart sauce pan, a 4.5-quart sauté pan with a lid and a 6.5-quart Dutch oven with a lid. Caraway’s cookware is safe to use on all stovetops and oven-safe up to 550 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the brand. The set also comes with a pan and lid storage system. You can purchase it in over 10 colors like navy, black and rose quartz, along with copper, silver or gold hardware.
The Aerogarden Sprout ensures your mother figure always has fresh herbs to cook with. You can grow three plants at one time, and the indoor garden comes with three seed pods: basil, parsley and dill. The garden comes with LED grow lights and a button to control them. It also alerts you when to give your plants the included nutrients. The Aerogarden Sprout is available in black, white and gray.
This air fryer from Drew Barrymore’s Beautiful cookware line is one of our picks if you’re looking for an affordable option. It has a digital touchscreen display and cooks food quickly and evenly, according to the brand. The air fryer comes with a nonstick crisping tray that’s dishwasher-safe and you can adjust the temperature of the air fryer between 90 degrees and 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The air fryer is available in Black Sesame, Cornflower Blue, Oyster Grey, Sage Green and White Icing colors.
Anova’s Precision Cooker is Wi-Fi- and Bluetooth-enabled. It pairs with a companion app that allows your mother figure to follow step-by-step recipes and adjust the device’s settings from their phone. The app also helps you monitor food while cooking via the sous vide method, so you can step away from it and return when needed. The Anova Precision Cooker is built with an adjustable and detachable clamp, as well as a removable stainless steel skirt that covers the heating element when in use. In addition to using the app, you can manually adjust the time and temperature controls on the device’s screen.
Help your mother keep track of their recipes using this recipe tin from Rifle Paper Co. It comes with 24 recipe cards and 12 recipe dividers. The inside of the box has a gold metallic interior and comes in Strawberry Fields, Citrus Floral, Garden Party Blue and Juliet Rose styles.
Dutch ovens are a useful addition to any kitchen, and your mother figure can use them to cook dishes like roasted meat and soups. Made In’s cast iron Dutch Oven is oven-safe up to 580 degrees Fahrenheit and compatible with all stovetops, according to the brand. It’s designed with a silver knob and comes with a lid that has pea-sized dimples to trap steam and help self-baste stews. The Dutch oven is available in Made In Red, Harbour Blue and Antique White.
One of the best cooking gifts I’ve ever received is a subscription to New York Times Cooking, which is a treasure trove of recipes. The site — and its companion app — includes many instructional videos that teach you cooking skills like chopping, how to stock a pantry, how to use an Instant Pot and more. You can also save recipes to revisit later and make a grocery list while you’re browsing through a recipe’s ingredients list. If your mother figure is always on the hunt for new dishes to make, they’ll likely find the New York Times Cooking subscription inspiring.
GIR is one of my favorite brands to purchase kitchen tools from, and its 3-Piece Baking Set is a great gift for mother figures looking to expand their collection. The set comes with the brand’s 12-inch by 17-inch silicone baking mat, spatula and mini spatula. All three pieces are dishwasher-safe and the baking mat is heat-resistant up to 550 degrees Fahrenheit. You can purchase the set in GIR’s Barcelona, Sprinkles or Vincent styles.
Supernatural — one of our favorite women-owned brands — offers colorful sprinkles that your mother figure can top cakes and cupcakes with. I use these sprinkles while baking and always get compliments on the brand’s one-of-a-kind mixes that go beyond your typical nonpareils or jimmies. This set comes with two 3-ounce bottles of sprinkles. The Rainbow Pop! sprinkles include a mix of rainbow dots, dashes and bubbles, and the Starfetti sprinkles come with a mix of rainbow stars, dots and confetti. Sprinkles are free from artificial dyes and instead get their color from plant-based ingredients. They’re also gluten-free.
Put a smile on your mother figure’s face with these oven mitts, which are decorated with a happy face design on one side. The oven mitts come in a pair, one pink and one yellow. Their silicone exterior is heat-resistant up to 446 degrees Fahrenheit, and the cotton fiber interior feels soft against skin, according to the brand.
If your mother figure enjoys baking but isn’t ready to commit to a stand mixer yet, a hand mixer like this one is a great introductory option. It has nine speeds, including three slow speeds. The mixer comes with beaters, a chef’s whisk, dough hook attachments and a spatula, all of which you can store in the included clear case that snaps to the handheld appliance. Cuisinart’s mixer is available in Brushed Chrome, Black, Cream, Cool Grey and White.
Le Creuset’s Bread Oven is made from cast iron and has a domed lid to trap and circulate steam, as well as a low-profile base to make removing loaves easier. It’s oven-safe up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and can be used on all stovetops, according to the brand. Le Creuset sent me a Bread Oven to try when it launched last year, and I found that it helped my bread stay fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. You can purchase the Bread Oven in colors like Flame, Sea Salt, Meringue and more.
Every chef needs a great apron that stands up to splashes and splatters in the kitchen. This one from Hedley & Bennett — one of our favorite Latino-owned businesses — is made from a cotton and linen blend material and comes with crossback straps. It’s designed with pockets for you to store kitchen tools, plus a utility loop for tongs or a towel. You can also customize the smock apron with a word, phrase or your mother figure’s initials for an additional fee. The apron is available in five colors, including Blueberry Blue and Yuzu Yellow. You can also choose from multiple prints like Palm Beach Rose, Country Song Floral and Herb Garden.
I rely on my KitchenAid stand mixer almost every time I bake. And since you can add attachments like a pasta maker or spiralizer to the built-in power hub, it’s also useful for cooking. KitchenAid’s 3.5-quart stand mixer is a smaller model, which is a great size for casual home chefs since it doesn't take up a lot of counter space, in my experience. The stand mixer has a tilt-head design and offers 10 mixing speeds. It comes with a dishwasher-safe stainless steel bowl, beater, dough hook and wire whip. You can purchase the mixer in colors like Empire Red, Contour Silver, Ice and more.
You and your mother figure can make a dozen bagels together using this kit from FarmSteady. It comes with the ingredients you need to bake poppy, sesame, plain and everything bagels, in addition to instructions that walk you through the process step by step.
I swear by Alison Roman’s first two cookbooks — “Nothing Fancy” and “Dining In” — but as a baker, I was especially excited about her newest release, which centers around desserts. You’ll find recipes for cookies, cake, quick breads, pies and ice cream, all of which are approachable for chefs of all levels. Roman’s writing is also equal parts educational and witty, so the cookbook is an all-around good read.
I first learned about Sarah Kieffer’s recipes when her pan-banging cookie baking technique went viral. After making her chocolate chip cookies over a dozen times, I was ready to explore other varieties. I bought the “100 Cookies” cookbook, which, like its name suggests, is filled with 100 recipes for unique cookies, brownies, bars and more. Kieffer’s cookbook is great for bakers of any level looking to expand their repertoire and explore new desserts.
After plating a meal, your mother figure may think their dish needs a little something extra — for me, that comes in the form of this sea salt. I sprinkle the crunchy flakes on salads, cocktails, brownies, smoothies and more because it brings out the flavor in virtually every food. I like to add my flakey salt to a salt keeper, which you can also gift along with the tub.
I believe every home chef should have Graza olive oil in their kitchen, which is why I buy it as a birthday, holiday, housewarming and just “thinking of you” gift for everyone I know. Beyond the delicious taste of the olive oil, it comes in a squeeze bottle, which makes drizzling it on food or into cookware easy and mess-free. The brand’s Drizzle variety comes in a 500 milliliter bottle and is a finishing oil, which means it's meant to be eaten straight out of the bottle on salads, toasts, dips and more. The Sizzle variety comes in a 750 milliliter bottle and is made for cooking — I toss vegetables in it before roasting them and coat my skillets with it before sauteing food.
Brightland is a Select staff-favorite brand and many of our editors say it's one of their go-to destinations for buying gifts. The brand sells two of its vinegars as a set – mother figures can use them for salad dressings, serve them with charcuterie boards and more. Brightland’s Rapture balsamic vinegar is double fermented with California zinfandel grapes and blackberries, and the Parasol champagne vinegar is fermented with California chardonnay grapes and oranges.
Updates editor Mili Godio recommends Truff hot sauce if your mother figure likes adding spice to their dishes. This two-pack comes with the brand’s Hot and Hotter varieties, both of which are infused with black truffle. The hot sauces also contain ingredients like ripe red chili peppers, agave nectar and spices, and they’re gluten-free and vegan.
Introduce your mother figure to Zach & Zoe’s rich, sweet and smooth honey, which is a staple in my pantry. I stir it into tea, spread it on toast and drizzle it in yogurt. One of our favorite Black-owned businesses, Zach & Zoe sells its buckwheat honey in a 16-ounce glass jar.
Vahdam India recently launched its first line of spices, and when the brand sent me a few to try, I could smell the incredible aromas coming from them before I even opened the box all the way. All of Vahdam’s spices are flavorful and you can distinctly taste them when they’re added to dishes. This gift box comes with nine spices: cinnamon, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin powder, himalayan pink salt, turmeric powder, black pepper powder, whole cloves and ginger powder.
Zoe Malin is an associate updates editor who has written numerous gift guides for Select since 2020. She also covers kitchen tools and ingredients like air fryers, honey and more. To recommend the best cooking and baking gifts for Mother’s Day, Malin included products she loves, collected Select staff picks and included other highly rated options she researched.
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