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!
Rebekah says
Hi, Tara. Thank you SO MUCH for this post! I thought the Easy-Bake oven came with food packs, and it does not. You saved Christmas! LOL
Our big problem was with icing the cakes. They totally crumble. Any tips? We let them cool for 5 minutes in the chamber. Do we need to let them sit longer?
Also, will your recipe work with any cake flavor? We were using Red Velvet Signature.
Thanks!
Tara Kuczykowski says
Oh my gosh — I would have thought it came with the packets, too. So glad you found this!! Yes, I would recommend letting them cool longer before trying to ice them, just as you would with a regular cake. We've tried it with all of the cake mixes mentioned in the post, as well as several other brands, and it should work with pretty much anything. We always preferred the Duncan Hines Signature mixes, though.
Dee says
Sifted Duncan Hines Signature French Vanilla Mix and put 1/4 cup into 10 bags. I didn't expect to have much left, but I have enough maybe 10 more bags. What did I do wrong?
Tara Kuczykowski says
Hi Dee! I've received a few other similar comments. I think Duncan Hines may have changed the amount of mix in the boxes since I originally posted this. The measurements still work — you just may end up with more bags, which makes it an even better deal!
Sarah says
I was looking for refill mixes for my child as a stocking stuffer they are $20 a box online now! So this is great! We can make it tonight!
Tara Kuczykowski says
Wow, that's crazy!! So happy you stumbled upon my "recipe".
Pam says
The easiest way to clean the trays is to line the bottom with parchment. I cut them out and just have the in a sandwich bag.
Tara Kuczykowski says
What a great idea — thanks for sharing, Pam!
Amanda says
I bought my girl a used easy bake oven and will be giving it to her for Christmas. After looking up the price of the mixes on amazon, my jaw was sore from hitting the floor. Thank you for creating this! I see that the box recipes need eggs and oil. Is it okay to make this with just water, as you suggest? What is the effect on taste and texture?
Tara Kuczykowski says
Hi Amanda! LOL — I totally had the same reaction, which is why we created this. As I mentioned in the post, you definitely do not need to add eggs and oil. It won't produce a gourmet cake, but it's definitely tasty enough and on par with the actual Easy Bake mixes. Especially if you slap a little frosting and sprinkles on it after baking!
Allison says
My daughters just got a hand me down oven from their cousin and I am so excited to have found your page since the mixes from easy bake are so pricey! Question: their oven came with two round pans but no rectangular pan. I'm assuming your measurements are for a rectangular pan. I'm thinking maybe the mix could be split between the two round pans equally? Have you ever tried that? Thanks!
Tara Kuczykowski says
Oh how fun for your girls! This is a great question, but unfortunately, I don't know the answer as we've never owned an Easy Bake Oven that has two round pans. I would suggest testing it before you portion the mix all out into bags. Try the "recipe" as written first. If you find that it's not quite enough batter, I'd recommend adding 2 tablespoons of the mix + 1 tablespoon of water when preparing the batter. If that works well, then you'd just make all of your bags with 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of cake mix and update the labels to 3 tablespoons of water. I'd love it if you could come back and update us with the outcome!
Stacy Dietrich says
Thank you for this post love I noticed when went to walmart the refill packs were over $6, love that I can use regular baking goods to bake in the oven.
I know this isn't part of the post but when I put one of the recipes in the oven it splattered inside I've been trying to you the spatula to scrape it out but not working very well, do you have any advice for cleaning the whole inside of the oven?
Tara Kuczykowski says
Unfortunately, they're not very accessible for cleaning. While we didn't have a large splatter, we did have a cake that rose too high and touched the inside of the top when we were first trying to figure out the best ratios for everything. I just left it alone, and eventually most of it burned off. It never affected baking anything in it.
Stacy Dietrich says
Can you use cooking oil to replace cooking spray my girls would get carried away with the spray.
Tara Kuczykowski says
Sure, you can use regular cooking oil to lightly oil the pan! Cooking spray just seemed easier to me — I had my girls set the pan down in the sink when spraying to avoid making a mess of the whole kitchen.
sierra says
Hey! I just got my easy bake oven out. It's been a while. Do you know if you can make cookies with just the small circle pans?
Thanks!
Tara Kuczykowski says
Yes, any pan will work so long as you leave a bit of room between each cookie.
Tina says
Have you tried with the brownie mix?
Tara Kuczykowski says
Hi Tina! I have not, but I will definitely give it a try. I'm thinking brownie mix would require at least a little bit of oil, so it will probably take some trial and error.
Tina says
@Tara Kuczykowski,
Thank you. We will give it a try. Have to wait till my daughter's new pans come on Friday as we lost the one that came with it, lol.
Crystal says
We are trying 'just add water' cake mix from Bulk Barn. Working not too bad at the moment - we didn't leave it in long enough tho! LOL.
Jean Wright says
Hi Tara,
I am typing up labels for Sugar Cookies for my granddaughter. I am wondering how many patties to make out of the batter, so that cook time would be 6 minutes? I am thinking 4 or 6?
Thanks for all you work on this!
Jeanne
Tara Kuczykowski says
Hi Jean! It should make 6 cookies.
Andrea says
Hi,
Did you use the cake mixes that only required water? Or the ones that also required oil and eggs? I am having a hard time finding the only water ones....
Thank you!
Tara Kuczykowski says
Hi Andrea! It shouldn't matter either way — just any boxed cake mix should work. Like I said in the post, oil and eggs aren't necessary. You won't end up with the most delicious cake you've ever had, but they're perfectly edible and no worse than the refill mixes that cost a ridiculous amount.
Sandra l Ellis says
@Andrea, they make powdered eggs., try that
Dannielle Spaulding says
I tried this with my daughter and our cake didn’t rise at all. Do you know of what to do differently? Thanks!
Tara Kuczykowski says
Hi Dannielle! My girls are both teenagers now, so it's been quite some time since I've tested this tutorial. I actually ordered a new Easy Bake Oven a few weeks ago so I could test some gluten free cake mixes out with it, as well as fine tune the cookies recipe that so many have requested. Could you tell me what brand of cake mix you used so I can give it a try? Back when we used to make these all the time, all of the cake mixes we tried worked. But some did work better than others, which is why I recommended the Duncan Hines Signature mixes as our favorite back then.
Dannielle Spaulding says
We used Duncan Hines signature mix triple chocolate and sifted it just like the recipe. We found there were time chocolate chips in the mix. However, once cooking it, it was as flat as when we put it in the pan. Lol. Tried a second time with 1/4 tsp mayo and it helped a little bit but not completely. It was also very gooey after cooking the second time for 22 mins. If you do get around to finding a solution I’d be happy to hear! Thank you.
Tara Kuczykowski says
Thanks so much for your quick response! I wonder if that's a new(er) flavor, because I don't remember trying it before. I'll add it to my list to try when my kids are back in school! I know there were strawberry chips that we sifted out of the strawberry mix, and they didn't change the consistency, but it might just be that the chocolate chips need to stay in that variety to provide the extra fat. Maybe I'll try sifting it to get rid of the lumps and then stirring them back in before portioning it out into bags...
Cindy says
Hi.
Do you have recipe for cookie for Easybake Oven?
Thanks!
Tara Kuczykowski says
Hi Cindy! I haven't actually written up a post for the cookies yet, but the recipe is in the comments. Basically you use one teaspoon of water mixed with 1/4 cup cookie mix. Form the dough into round patties and bake for 6 minutes.
Carla says
Soo we need to use boxed dry cookie mix, for cookies,Grammy and measure out 1/4 cups of it, just like the cake mixes, but only add one tablespoon water instead of 2 tablespoons, like we do for the cake mixes