Easy-Bake Oven???

Growing up, I never had an Easy-Bake Oven. I always helped bake with my mom and grandma  but I did want one. All my friends had them and they looked so fun.

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to use one with my guy’s daughters. And let me tell you, I suggest using the word “easy” loosely. Overall it’s an easy process to make the food, but the oven itself is another story. And it’s really time-consuming for the minimal amount of food you get at the end of the process.

We let each girl pick out one treat to make and although one of the girls picked out a chocolate cake ball treat, the package actually had red velvet mix in it. We improvised and went with it and she was happy it was red with pink frosting! Bonus win!!!

The girls did all the mixing, stirring, and pouring, and even started sneaking bites of the treats before cooking. My guy and I managed the oven because even though it’s made for children, it still gets rather hot and adult supervision/assistance is a must!

We learned right away on the first cake that we (as adults) should have read a bit more about the oven. The first cake went in and 16 minutes later, came out raw. We accidentally slid it too far over in the oven and had it in the “cooling area.” So back in the oven it went for another 10 minutes until cooked through. Then before the cake could be crumbled into balls, you have to let it cool completely. During this time, we started the second treat.

His other daughter picked brownie sandwiches, which involved mixing up brownie dough and frosting. We had to add a lot more water than the directions stated in order for the dough to form. Then there was flouring the child’s hands, rolling the dough in a large ball, then cutting it and forming 12 flat balls with the dough and placing them on the pans. Each ball was about an inch around – such tiny treats!

And here is where we learned another thing about the Easy-Bake Oven. It truly can burn the food. I had issues getting the “muffin” tin to come out of the oven straight and I ended up getting one of the brownies stuck on something inside the oven. It came out with a scrape in it and the next thing I saw was a little smoke coming out of the oven from the food left inside. There is a collection drawer in the bottom, so this must happen from time to time and that’s the only access you get to clean it out. The entire oven is sealed with screws, so you are truly at the mercy of the entrance and exit of the oven to see what you are doing. But this makes it very safe for the children to not burn themselves.

Once everything was cooled down, we let the girls add their own frosting and sprinkles to the treats and fingers were the chosen spreading tool. They both did a great job with their treats and we all shared the final product.

I will say that it is a lot of work for the minimal amount of food that you get from the oven. But the girls really loved it and seeing their smiles made it all worth it.

I definitely would like to bake with them in the future, but I’m thinking we make a batch or two of full size cookies that they can help with. You get a lot more treats from a full size recipe with just as many dirty dishes!