Learn how to make your own Easy Bake Oven mixes from boxed cake mix... Yields 33 refills for under $4, making them just $0.12 each!
Easy Bake Oven - To Buy Or Not To Buy?
My oldest daughter turned 10 a few months ago - that precarious age where she's on the brink of leaving childish things behind but isn't quite ready to give it ALL up.
Her Christmas wish list was an interesting take on this, filled with clothing, a Beats Pill, a Vera Bradley purse, earrings, etc... but one item stood out:
An Easy Bake Oven.
I have to say I was torn... Would she actually use it? Or was it just a total waste of money? I added an Easy Bake Ultimate Oven to my Amazon cart but debated purchasing for days.
You see, we had one of these toys several years ago - but after it became the source of endless sibling arguments, it was promptly donated. Five kids all vying to bake ONE teeny cake that was little more than a bite for each? Yeah, not a good combination!
But being the lone toy in a sea of preteen dreams, I finally decided: "What could it hurt?"
And what do you know?! She has used it near daily since opening it Christmas morning.
She loves to make special cakes for everyone in the family. And I love to watch quietly from afar, as she carefully stacks layers of various cake flavors, frosting each to perfection, and finally topping them off with her favorite rainbow sprinkles.
I'm so glad that I caved, because I would have missed out on so much joy.
The down side to it? Those gosh darn Easy Bake Oven mixes are ridiculously expensive! I mean, we're talking $8 for a refill pack that makes just 2 cakes.
"YOU are a life saver!!!!"
Thank you so much for figuring out these recipes! I really couldn't believe how expensive these tiny boxes of mix were.
Make Your Own Easy Bake Oven Mixes
It took some research and a lot of trial and error, but my daughter and I hit upon just the right formula for using store-bought cake mixes to make our own Easy Bake Oven refills.
We tested several brands in the process. While the method I'm going to share worked reasonably well for all the brands we tried, we both agreed that the Duncan Hines Signature cake mixes consistently produced the best results.
Given that a box of this cake mix retails for around $1.38 at Walmart and we were able to get about 11 Easy Bake Oven mixes per box, you can easily see how the savings add up. That breaks down to just $0.12 per mix versus $4 for a single Easy Bake Oven refill!!!
I picked up three boxes of Duncan Hines Signature cake mix, one each of French Vanilla, Dark Chocolate Fudge, and Strawberry Supreme, which is enough to make 33 Easy Bake Oven mixes in under 15 minutes.
In addition, I recommend picking up a can of baking spray to prepare the pan, a couple of tubs of white frosting, and some rainbow sprinkles.
I also found this adorable mini turner and matching spatula that are the perfect size for smaller hands, so I grabbed them, as well. Unfortunately, they're no longer available online, but I just stumbled upon this adorable 5-piece set of silicone mini utensils that I love even more!
Setting Expectations For Easy Bake Oven Recipes
Before I share how to make your own refill mixes, I want to be VERY CLEAR about what you should expect from them...
Gourmet cakes? NO. A budget-friendly mix that will allow your child to bake a perfectly edible and tasty (enough) cake all on his or her own? YES!!!
Eggs and oil are not necessary to attain this goal. A little smear of frosting can up the tastiness factor, but I've eaten many, MANY plain cakes with ZERO complaints. :)
Also, it's important to keep in mind that this is a child's toy, not a calibrated oven. The baking time may need to be adjusted slightly to achieve desired results.
With this goal in mind, my girls can enjoy using their Easy Bake Oven whenever they want without emptying my wallet. They've been thrilled with these Easy Bake Oven mixes and have enjoyed hours of baking fun!
And THIS is my intent in sharing these Easy Bake Oven recipes with you.
How To Make Easy Bake Oven Mixes
Making your own Easy Bake Oven mixes is super simple when you follow these instructions. I recommend these Ziploc snack bags, because they're the perfect size to hold each mix.
Label each with these adorable Easy Bake Oven Mix labels I've designed. These are formatted to print on standard Avery 5160 peel-and-stick address labels. Of course, in a pinch, you could just print them on regular paper and tape them on.
A Few Tips For Best Results
These simple tips will help you get the very best results with your homemade Easy Bakes mixes:
- Measure the mixes precisely using the method described in the "recipe". If you pack the mix too densely into the measuring cup, your cake will rise too high and stick to the inside top of your Easy Bake Oven.
- Cooking spray is a MUST to help the cake release easily from the pan. As I mentioned, I like this baking spray for its effectiveness and flavor. Be sure to check out this quick tip for applying cooking spray with less mess!
- DO NOT pre-mix the cake batter while waiting for the Easy Bake Oven to preheat. This can also cause it to rise too high and stick to the inside of the oven. Mix it up after preparing your pan and place it in the oven right away.
- Add sprinkles! For a fun change of pace, sprinkle the prepared batter with sprinkles once it's spread in the cake pan. This creates a "funfetti" style cake without muddling the bright colors!
So there you have it - 33 Easy Bake Oven refill mixes for under $4!
These would be an awesome gift idea for any little girl who loves to bake with her Easy Bake Oven. Just package up the mixes with a can of baking spray, frosting, and sprinkles. Toss in some super cute mini utensils, and you've got hours and hours of baking fun for well under $20 (not including the oven, of course).
Printable Recipe ↓
How To Make Easy Bake Oven Mixes
Key Equipment
Ingredients
For making the Easy Bake Oven refill mixes:
For preparing the mixes:
- 1 refill mix bag
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- PAM baking spray, or similar
Instructions
To make the Easy Bake Oven mixes:
- Sift each cake mix into a large bowl. There will be small bits of dried strawberries in the Strawberry supreme cake mix - these can be discarded.
- Measure each mix into precise ¼ cup portions by spooning the mix into a ¼ cup measuring cup, and then leveling it off with a knife. Place each portion in a Ziploc snack bag and label. You should end up with at least 11 refills per box of cake mix, but more than this is possible with the recent updates to the mixes.
To bake each refill mix:
- Heat your Easy Bake Oven for 20 minutes. Lightly spray the Easy Bake cake pan with baking spray. Check out this easy no mess baking spray tip!
- When the oven is done heating, mix the contents of one refill bag with 2 tablespoons of water. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
- Bake the cake in the Easy Bake Ultimate Oven for approximately 17 minutes.
- Cool for 5 minutes before removing the cake from the pan. Frost and decorate with colorful sprinkles, as desired.
Recipe Notes
Featured Products
Is your child ready to graduate to baking with a real oven? These brownie mix cookies, made with boxed brownie mix, are perfect for kids to start out with! With just 3 ingredients, it's an ideal recipe for beginner bakers (as well as busy moms)...
More Recipes Made With Boxed Cake Mixes
If you like these Easy Bake Oven refills, you might also enjoy these other EASY boxed cake mix recipes:
- Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake Recipe (made w/ yellow cake mix!)
- Layered Boston Cream Pie Recipe (made w/ angel food cake mix!)
- Birthday Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies (made w/ yellow cake mix!)
- Cupcakes In Ice Cream Cones (skip Olympic torch instructions and frost!)
Did you make this recipe?
I'd love to see how your Easy Bake Oven refills turn out... Tag me @Unsophisticook on Instagram or use the hashtag #Unsophisticook so I can check it out. Enjoy!
Sami says
First off, you are my hero. My daughter got an EBO for Christmas and I am working on making her a set. Am I correct in reading that Duncan Hines SIGNATURE mix is the only or best one to use? I also am going to be making a seperate set for my son because I know he loves to cook but he is gluten-free. Any advice?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Yay, so glad I can help out, Sami! The Duncan Hines Signature mix is not the only mix you can use. I just think it worked the best, with the most consistent and tastiest results, of all of them. But the recipe has worked well enough with all of the mixes we've tried.
That said, I've never tried a gluten-free mix. I'd recommend doing a trial run with the amount of sifted mix and water as written, and then you can adjust it from there as necessary. Use less water if your cake rises too much, or add a little more if it's too flat. If you have a chance, please come back and share your results so other gluten-free readers can benefit.
Jody says
Can you use any flavor of cake mix and do the same thing? Or are these the only flavors you can use with these measurements? We just got an oven for our little man for Christmas and love this idea.
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Hi Jody! The flavor a I mentioned in the post are the only ones we tested, but I suspect other favors would work as well. I still think the Duncan Hines Signature mixes would the best of all the ones we've tried, and the sifting is key. Have fun baking!
Tiger Lee says
Thanks for this. My 10 YO niece wants it for xmas and my first thought is Expensive Mixes! Have you tried using silicone mini baking cups on the tray? If not, have you tried another way to make cupcakes, that doesn't use the add'l purchase cupcake pan?
https://smile.amazon.com/MIREN-Reusable-Non-stick-Silicone-Chocolate/dp/B015KFBZLW/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1448483881&sr=8-15&keywords=silicone+mini+muffin+pan
ReecyPiecey says
Will this work for the Lalaloopsy Baking Oven?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Good question! I'm actually not familiar with the Lalaloopsy Baking Oven, but I did a little research on Amazon. It sounds like they're very similar in heating and cooking times, but the pan is slightly smaller than the Easy Bake Oven. If you find that my measurements make too much batter for your pan, I would reduce the cake mix measurement to 3 tablespoons and add just 1.5 tablespoons of water to it.
If you try it, can you please come back and share what worked best? Thanks!
Ashley says
What a GREAT post! I have several boxes of the Duncan Hines Butter Cake mix. Do you believe I could use one of those boxes instead?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Hi Ashley! I've tried other brands, and they all seem to work reasonably well. But the Duncan Hines Signature mixes produced the most consistent results in my tests.
L.Zink says
I've read to use a mayo (egg/oil) with water combo to add to the cake mixes., and curious how that would work. My granddaughter is receiving an Easybake for her birthday this weekend, so I will be busy making up mixes. I love the simplicity of how you explained the process. Thank You!!
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Hmm, I've not tried that combo, but I'm not sure it's really necessary. The cakes taste great as is... Hope she loves her gift!
Karen K says
Great idea! And you can re-use the Ziploc bags a few times with the same cake flavour, to save $ and be environmentally conscious...
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Absolutely! Saves on the labels, too, if you use them.
Jessica B says
This is awesome! My niece got an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas and I think I'll make a bunch of these for her birthday next month. I had an Easy Bake when I was a kid back in the 80's, and it was SO different from the ones they sell today!
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
They are very different — even the one we had a few years ago still used a light bulb. These cook a good bit faster, and these semi-homemade mixes taste soooo much better than the kits. Hope she loves them as much as my girls!
DD says
How is it that these cakes come out so well without eggs & oil? :-)
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
I know, right? My daughter actually prefers them to the Easy Bake mixes, so it's a win-win! :D
Holly Schumann says
Would this work with the cupcake pans too? Same proportions just divided up into the
Cupcake pan that came with the cupcake set instead of on the sheet?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Good question, Holly! Unfortunately, we don't have the cupcake pan currently. I suspect the mix should work just fine, but I'm not sure if it will make more batter than you need for the cupcake pan. I'll have to track one down and try it, but if you test it out in the meantime, I'd love to hear your results!
Lynn Thiessen says
Light bulbs are nearing end of their useful life and we are all transitioning to the new longer lasting, more expensive, versions. Not sure how easy bake will transition because they need the heat the bulbs generate. Frankly, I never liked how the ovens worked anyway. Trashed the one we had and used our toaster oven with direct supervision. These recipes are wonderful. Consider using muffin tins and watch your time/heat. Those so inclined could post their findings.
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Actually, the newer ovens use a true heating element rather than a light bulb, so they do work better than the old light bulb models. A toaster oven is a wonderful starting place for teaching them to bake full size cakes, though!
christie elkins. says
Thank you SO much for this post! My seven year old and I were literally just talking about how she was out of mixes (and I was thinking about the price tag, ha!) This is a much simpler and cost effective way to keep the Easy Bake love alive! :)
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Oh, I know — I couldn't believe how much they were. I kept checking the box thinking there surely must be another pan included with them at that price!
Debbie N says
My granddaughter received the Easy Bake for Christmas and I am so glad to know this! Thank you for sharing! Not only are the refills expensive, they are hard to find where I live.
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
So happy to share, Debbie!
nancy says
Hi,
Do i really have to take the Dunkan Hines Signature mix or i can take the betty crocker one? I don't know if there's a difference or not?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Nancy, I tried a Betty Crocker mix, and I found it left large white chunks in the sifter after sifting. My guess is they're baking soda or powder, but either way, I found the mix to have a lot more rise and would often rise too high while baking. It does work, I just got the best results overall with the Duncan Hines mixes.
Samina says
What a great idea! My son's birthday is next month & he's been asking for an Easy Bake Oven. It'll make a great preset & this will be a lovely way to not break the bank once he gets it.