Easy Bake Oven

[Esther]

Did any of your daughters have an Easy Bake Oven. My granddaughter received one for Christmas and her mom says that the cake turned out like a brick. Do you guys know anything about these things or what they do or don't do? Can you bake regular batter in them or do you have to purchase the kits? Her "OTHER" grandma bought it for her and I bet spent big bucks on it. I think I'll teach her some beginning real stuff while I'm there this week.

[Julles]

The Cooking Channel recently had a show on retro toys.  You know, the ones you and I and half the people here on AP grew up with.   

They talked about the Easy Bake Ovens, and also some other brands that did the same thing.  They went and tested them out, a then had people on the streets of NYC sample and give their opinions.  If I remember correctly, it was another brand, like Raggy Ann or maybe Chatty Cathy (I didn't even know either of those even made a kid's bake oven) that turned out better brownies.  But then, it's all a matter of taste.

Back in those days, the ovens cook by passing food by a regular 60 watt light bulb.  So they can't really bake much other than simple (and quite thin) cake batters or cookie dough.  One man said his daughter baked him a cake every morning, and he faithfully took it to work in his lunch box.  When he got to work, he pitched it into the trash, 'cause the cakes were always hard as a brick.   

Perhaps 40 years of technology have improved the baking methods.  Let us know how your GD's creations turn out. 

PS:  I bet she'd LOVE to spend time with you in your kitchen, instead of alone in her room with a machine. 

[Teresa]

Esther, my daughters had/have one.  Yes, you can bake other stuff in it, just be sure you know how much to put.  Don't follow the time given on the package for the stuff that comes prepackaged - use a toothpick to test it just like you would in a real oven and it will come out ok.  My girls liked the stuff like the mac & cheese and the other stuff and eventually started to use the real oven to make the same things.  They did enjoy the little oven tho - made them feel like they were the boss.

[Joyce]

I had one when I was a kid. 

[Esther]

I just Googled Easy Bake Recipes and came up with a whole slew of stuff. I typed up a few on pink cardstock and will start a collection of recipes for her. Maybe I'll put a regular recipe of a similar item on the back. I know they won't be buying the Easy Bake Mixes.They're too expensive for her to make bricks out of. LOL. For that matter, I could make up some tiny mixes for her and put it in baggies.  For Christmas, I purchased some packages of Wilton mini pans. They are real metal pans. One is maybe 4" across round. One is small muffins, and the last is a maybe the size of half of a bread tin. They came in packages of 2 and three so I broke upen the packs and split them with another granddaughter.
Eliana's mom has a small toaster oven so we can use that without running the big oven.

I wonder if her light bulb wattage is too big. Kevin said hers needed a 100 watt and that's what I got. I'll have to check it out.

[karen J]

I suspect that the "Child Safety" regulations have ruined the current batch of kid toys. My Easy Bake oven from the 70's used a light bulb, and if you stuck your fingers in there you'd get burned by the light bulb (parental supervision was required in those days). The newer one I got for my kids was awful. REALLY awful. The parental controls were removed in favor of "automatic" safety controls. A poor product resulted, a burned brick comes to mind.
Back then, I could make beautiful little cakes for my Dad. Nowadays, there are so many safety things going on that if you stick your fingers in there they get stuck, and burned, How is that different than the old days? In the past, you could remove your fingers before they got burnt, nowadays your fingers are trapped until they are burned. Whats the difference? All on the premise that the kid can (and does) operate the machine without supervision. Adult supervision is always necessary, and an older machine is the only way to provide edible results. Hope that makes sense. The older machines are better, provided you supply the supervision.

We had a similar situation with Creepy Crawlers. The new machines are AWFUL, but the old machines were dangerous (but productive).. The solution was to use the old machine WITH PARENTAL SUPERVISION. Problem solved!

An even better way (but time consuming) is to teach the child to bake for real. Not that they should be eating that carbage, but it's nice to know how to do it

[Joyce]

Karen, I had 'Incredible Edibles' too. Remember that?

I wonder what was in that stuff.

[karen J]

Karen, I had 'Incredible Edibles' too. Remember that?

I wonder what was in that stuff.

Wow I remember those! High Fructose Corn Syrup?

[Joyce]

And all that poisonous food coloring that has now been outlawed. 

[Julles]

Eazy Bake Oven, Creepy Crawlers, Incredible Edibles - I can't believe they are still making those toys!!  What blast from the past!

[Pa Nancy]

I had the Creepy Crawlers, and Incredible Edilbles(they were awful) Creeple People, and some kind of jewelry making machine. Got a good burn or two. Mom would say well don't touch it.    Now a days there would be law suits. Those kind of people have just killed the fun toys. I never had the Easy bake oven.

[Desertponder]

My mom wouldn't let me have an Easy Bake Oven.

But........I also had the Creepy People, Incredible Edibles, etc. Man, did those things get HOT! I burned myself numerous times.
I was cranking out Creepy People and selling them at school to the other kids until mom got a phone call.
There was also one of those sets that made all kinds of flowers. I don't remember what it was called.
I still have one of the Creepy People I made.
I've thought back on those toys and how they would never be accepted these days.

[Esther]

I did collect 64 recipes both individual ones and kit ones that could be made up and divided into baggies. I printed them out on card stock and put the pages in sheet protectors and then in a binder. Then I went and left them at my house. We are staying at Kevin and Dawn's house now. Last night Eliana wanted to make up her last package mix of sugar cookies so I helped her. WHAT A STUPID SETUP!!! It made 6 bite size cookies. All that work preparing them and then all the cleanup!!!

I assume that if I gave her some batter from just a regular recipe, it would bake it, right??