KitchenAid 5 Ultra Power Speed Hand Mixer, KHM512, White

Why it's worth it

A five-speed KitchenAid hand mixer that starts gently instead of flinging flour, and stays light enough to hold through a double batch of cookies. It's the pick when you know they bake but can't guess what they'd choose themselves.

If you're stuck, give this one. KitchenAid carries enough goodwill in a kitchen that almost nobody is disappointed to open it, and a hand mixer is the sort of thing plenty of home bakers put off replacing until it dies mid-recipe. Even people who own a stand mixer reach for one of these for a single batch of frosting, because it's faster to grab and much faster to wash.

The lab results back up the reputation. Good Housekeeping's testers whipped heavy cream to stiff peaks in two minutes and ten seconds with this model and scored it 86 out of 100 for performance, the best result in its class. Consumer Reports gave it 88 out of 100 for ease of use, noting consistent results across batter types and less hand fatigue than the competition. At about 1.8 pounds, it's light enough that the fatigue point isn't theoretical.

From our review of 8 stocking stuffers for home cooks

What we like

• +If you're stuck, give this one
• +The lab results back up the reputation
• +The small design choices are the reason people keep it for years

What to know

• –It's a hand mixer, so know its limits
• –It's also one of the more expensive gifts on this list, which puts it in close-friend or family territory rather than…