Shelf Life of Common Baking Ingredients
Part of my Baking Basics series: An extensive list of commonly used baking ingredients in the pantry, fridge, and freezer and their shelf lives so that you know when it's time to replace them for the best baking results.
We all know expiration dates are a thing, but some people take them more seriously than others (remind me to tell you about my husband's history with expiration dates some time).
When it comes to baking ingredients, fresher is always better – especially when we're talking about leaveners, as they can make or break the results of your recipe.
It's hard to keep track of the shelf life of everything in your pantry, fridge, and freezer, so I wanted to provide you with charts about all my most commonly used ingredients as a point of reference.
A few tips for shelf life hygiene
- Keep in mind, this all assumes that the ingredients are stored properly, which generally speaking means airtight containers at room temperature or in a cool, dry, dark place. Learn how to properly store all your ingredients!
- If you're not sure how long you've had something, and/or there's no date on the package, it's time to toss it for a new one. “When in doubt, throw it out!”
- If you can't read the expiration date on a package because it's worn off… that's a good sign it's time to replace it.
- I've made it practice to replace my baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch before the holidays to make sure I'm giving my best to all the Christmas goodies.
How do I know if my baking powder is expired?
I call out baking powder because this is the most common troublemaker. Thankfully, there's an easy way to test if your baking powder is still active!
- In a small bowl, pour 1/2 cup hot water (not boiling) over 1 teaspoon of baking powder
If the mixture immediately starts fizzing and dissipates all of the baking powder, you're golden – it's still active.
If there's no bubbling, that means the baking powder doesn't have its magical powers anymore and needs to be replaced.
Check out the short video below to see what I mean!
Dry pantry staples
| Ingredient | Shelf Life |
| Baking powder | 1 year |
| Baking soda | 2 years |
| Candy melts | 18 months |
| Chocolate baking bars | 1 year |
| Chocolate chips | 1 year |
| Cocoa powder | 1 year |
| Cornstarch | 1 year |
| Cream of tartar | 2 years |
| Espresso powder | 3 months |
| Flours | 6 months |
| Marshmallows | 6 months |
| Marshmallow Fluff | 6 months |
| Salt, no additives | Forever! |
| Salt, sea or fleur de sel | Forever, but best to use by date on the package |
| Sprinkles | 3 years |
| Sugar, coconut | 2 years |
| Sugar, granulated | 2 years |
| Sugar, light or dark brown | 2 years (but technically, never goes bad and can be re-softened) |
| Sugar, powdered | 2 years |
| Yeast | Date on package |
Liquid pantry staples
| Ingredient | Shelf Life |
| Broths (chicken, beef, vegetable) | Unopened: 1 year Opened: 5 days |
| Coconut milk | Unopened: 2 years Opened: 7 days |
| Extracts (almond, mint, imitation vanilla, etc.) | 2 years |
| Honey | Forever! |
| Maple syrup, real | 1 year, unopened |
| Milk, shelf-stable | Date on package |
| Milk, sweetened condensed | 1 year |
| Molasses | 2 years |
| Oil, coconut | 2 years |
| Oil, vegetable or canola | 1 year |
| Oil, extra virgin olive | 6 months |
| Oil, non-stick spray | 1 year (or date on the package) |
| Vanilla, pure extract | Forever! |
Canned goods
| Product | Shelf Life |
| Applesauce | Unopened: 1 year Opened: 14 days (covered in the refrigerator) |
| Broths (beef, chicken, vegetable) | 2 years (or as noted on the package) |
| Fruit (peaches, pineapple, cherries, etc.) | 1 year |
| Pumpkin, puree | Unopened: 1 year Opened: 4 days (covered in the refrigerator) |
| Seafood (salmon, tuna, etc.) | 2 years (or as noted on the package) |
| Tomatoes (crushed, diced, stewed, sauce) | 1 year |
Condiments
| Product | Shelf Life |
| Dressings | 1 year (or as noted on the package) |
| Hot sauce | 5 years |
| Jams | 2 years |
| Jellies | 2 years |
| Mayonnaise | 3 months |
| Mustard, yellow or ground | 2 years |
| Peanut butter | 9 months (unopened), 3 months (once opened) |
| Sesame oil | 1 year |
| Soy sauce | 3 years |
| Vinegar, any kind | Forever! (but best if used within 2 years) |
| Worcestershire sauce | 1 year |
Dried goods
| Product | Shelf Life |
| Breadcrumbs | 6 months |
| Chia seeds | 3 years |
| Fruit (cranberries, figs, raisins, etc.) | 12 months |
| Nuts | 6 months |
| Oats | 12 months |
| Pasta, dried and boxed | 2 years |
| Rice, brown | 6 months |
| Rice, jasmine | 2 years |
| Rice, white | 2 years |
| Rice, wild | 6 months |
Commonly Used Spices
These are the spices I use most often and that you've seen in recipes on this site. Outside of this list (generally speaking):
- Whole spices will last 4 years
- Ground spices will last 3 years
- Dried herbs will last 2 years
| Spice | Shelf Life |
| Allspice | 2 years |
| Bay leaves | 1 year |
| Chili powder | 2 years |
| Cinnamon, ground | 2 years |
| Cinnamon, sticks | 3 years |
| Cumin | 2 years |
| Garlic powder | 2 years |
| Ginger, ground | 2 years |
| Mustard, ground yellow | 3 years |
| Nutmeg | 2 years |
| Onion powder | 2 years |
| Oregano, dried | 2 years |
| Parsley, dried | 2 years |
| Pepper, black | 2 years |
| Pepper, white | 2 years |
| Poppy seeds | 3 years |
| Thyme | 1 year |
| Vanilla, whole beans | 1 year |
Refrigerated
| Product | Shelf Life |
| Bacon | 2 weeks |
| Butter | 3 months |
| Buttermilk | 2 weeks |
| Cheese, hard | 6 months (unopened) |
| Cheese, soft | 1 week |
| Cream cheese | 2 months, or by the date on the package |
| Eggs | 1 month |
| Heavy cream | 2 weeks |
| Mascarpone cheese | 2 months, or by the date on the package |
| Milk, dairy | 1 week |
| Milk, non-dairy (refrigerated) | 10 days |
| Milk, non-dairy (not refrigerated) | 1 month |
| Sour cream | 3 weeks |
Frozen
| Product | Shelf Life |
| Bacon | 6 months |
| Cool Whip | 4 months |
| Corn | 1 year |
| Cranberries | 1 year |
| Ice cream | Date on package |
| Peas | 1 year |
| Phyllo dough | 3 months |
| Pie crust | 1 year |
FAQs
Every item is a little bit different. Check out my post about the proper way to store the most common baking ingredients for tons of detailed information!
They do, but not in the sense that you're going to see them growing mold. Different dry goods expire at different rates depending on many factors, including how they are stored (see above). Things like baking powder will lose their effectiveness over time.
Spices like cinnamon don't expire, perse, but they will lose their fragrance over time. Generally speaking, whole spices will last 4 years, ground spices will last 3 years, and dried herbs will last 2 years.
Salt, honey, vanilla extract, and vinegar will really never go bad.
Technically no, but you want to use sugar within 2 years for the best results.
This is another case of technically it won't go bad if stored properly for the entire duration that you have it. But if you notice clumps then that means it's been exposed to moisture and it's time to go.
I hope this information helps!
Do you have any questions about this topic that I didn't answer? Let me know in the comments below!
Oy vey! Don’t let my husband see this list or we will be pitching out everything in our pantry! He’s a stickler for expiration dates while I’m the one who on January 7 was still drinking milk dated December 25. I’m a new follower of Stress Baking and love it. Baking is so therapeutic.
Thank you for joining the Stress Baking community, thrilled to have you! And as for your pantry… well, it’s painful, but someone has to do it :)