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Nine recipes we love to make with our stand mixers

Stand mixers can make baking a breeze -- or at least a little more fun. Here are some of our favorite recipes.

Ashlee Clark Thompson Associate Editor
Ashlee spent time as a newspaper reporter, AmeriCorps VISTA and an employee at a healthcare company before she landed at CNET. She loves to eat, write and watch "Golden Girls" (preferably all three at the same time). The first two hobbies help her out as an appliance reviewer. The last one makes her an asset to trivia teams. Ashlee also created the blog, AshleeEats.com, where she writes about casual dining in Louisville, Kentucky.
Ashlee Clark Thompson
6 min read
Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Stand mixers such as the popular models from KitchenAid have graced our countertops for about 100 years. In that time, the machinery has expanded the dishes we can make at home and saved us some sore muscles from mixing. Here are recipes from editors at CNET and our sister site, Chowhound, that we love to make with our stand mixers. 

Watch this: The KitchenAid stand mixer makes its mark on home baking

Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies

#Basic, but the Tollhouse recipe on the back of the brand's chocolate chips is hands-down my favorite. Except when I add the chocolate chips, I also add a whole orange zest to make the cookies pop!

See the recipe here.

-- Alexandra Able, San Francisco

One-bowl, overnight cinnamon rolls

Cinnamon rolls are my favorite weekend food. Pair them with a cup of coffee, some bacon and a trashy magazine, and you have the perfect Sunday morning. I often use this one-bowl recipe for a big batch. You can make the dough, filling and icing in the same bowl without washing it in between. This cuts down on the amount of dirty dishes, which further enables my lazy weekend. 

See the recipe here.

-- Ashlee Clark Thompson, Louisville

Chocolate angel food cake

The family angel food cake recipe was a staple of summertime get-togethers when I was a kid. Whenever Mom or Grandma had the mixer out, you knew something incredible was coming.

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup sifted Softasilk cake flour
  • 1/4 cup Hershey's powdered cocoa
  • 7/8 cup granulated white sugar + 3/4 cup sugar (separated)
  • 1 1/2 cups egg whites (approximately 12 eggs)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Steps:

  1. Sit out, but do not grease, a 10-inch tube pan (4 inches deep). Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Measure and sift together the flour, cocoa and 7/8 cup of sugar between two bowls. Sift three times and set aside. 
  3. Measure the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, vanilla and almond extract into the bowl of the stand mixer. Using the wire whisk attachment, beat until frothy. Gradually add the 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, until all sugar has been added. Beat 10 seconds after each addition at medium speed. This creates a meringue. Continue beating at high speed until meringue is firm and holds stiff, straight peaks.
  4. Stop beating the mixture and gradually sift the flour, sugar and cocoa mixture over the meringue about 3 tablespoons at a time. Fold the flour mixture in gently with a spatula after each addition until the flour mixture disappears each time into the batter.
  5. Push the batter into the ungreased tube center pan with the spatula and even up the surface of the batter. Gently pull knife through batter in widening circles to break air bubbles. Avoid over-mixing batter in the pan.
  6. Bake 35-45 minutes in preheated oven. Bake until no imprint remains when you touch the top of the cake with your finger. When cake is done, remove from oven and hang upside down until cool. (An empty wine bottle works well!)
  7. When cool, cut around the sides and remove from the pan. We don't frost it, but can be glazed or frosted if you want. Tastes great with ice cream on the side!

-- Ry Crist, Louisville

Chocolate, banana and pecan cookies

These chocolate, banana and pecan cookies are perfect for when I'm not sure what flavor I'm craving most. The blend of chocolate, banana and pecans is tailor-made for indecisive eaters, as they combine sweet, nutty and tropical tastes. They satisfy no matter what your mood. If only Netflix had a similar equivalent, I'd never second-guess my viewing choices again.

See the recipe here.

-- Jess Gentile, New York

A visual history of KitchenAid stand mixers

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Peanut butter cookies with chocolate chip chunks

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Kent German/CNET

When choosing cookies, I rarely diverge from the classic chocolate chip. In fact, I consider a really good chocolate chip cookie to be the ideal dessert. But these cookies, with a rich, but not overpowering, peanut butter flavor mixed with chocolate chunks and a dusting of sugar on top, made me realize there is life beyond chocolate chip.

See the recipe here.

-- Kent German, San Francisco

Sherry cake

image-from-ios
Connie Guglielmo/CNET

When I was working from home, I would make this sherry cake (Bundt pan required) all the time because it made the whole house smell great. Also, you can slice the cake, freeze it and the pop pieces in a toaster later (toast, slather with butter) to enjoy. But the cake never lasted long enough for my family to get bored eating it. 

Ingredients:

  • 1 box yellow cake mix
  • 1 box instant vanilla pudding (about 3 oz. - can use 3.5 oz. box, too)
  • 3/4 cup oil
  • 3/4 cup sherry (You can use either dry or cream sherry. I like dry, but that's just me. Also, I usually buy the most inexpensive sherry, and it tastes just fine.)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp nutmeg  

 
Steps:

  1. Mix your dry cake mix and pudding in the bowl of an electric mixer.
  2. Add all the other ingredients.
  3. Mix on high speed for five minutes until it's light and fluffy.
  4. Oil your Bundt pan (I just use canola oil and spray the inside). I'm sure you can butter/flour your pan if you're feeling ambitious.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Test with a toothpick or thin skewer to see if it's done (the top will get dark, so don't worry about that. Just make sure it's cooked inside.) If wet, add another 5 to 8 minutes (that all depends on how hot your oven is).
  6. Take the cake out of the Bundt pan and let cool.
  7. Sprinkle with powdered sugar  (or douse -- I'll let your sugar conscience be your guide.)
  8. Enjoy.

-- Connie Guglielmo, San Francisco

Vanilla ice cream

You'll need a stand mixer and an ice cream maker for this recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp. of vanilla extract

Steps:

  1. Heat the milk, cream, vanilla and half of the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan gently over medium heat until hot, but do not let simmer or boil.
  2. In the mixer, cream the egg yolks and the other half of the sugar until combined and the yolks become pale.
  3. When the milk is heated, add a small ladle of it into the egg yolk mix while the mixer is running on low. Continue to add the milk a ladle at a time until you've mixed in around 1/2 to 3/4 of the milk mix into the eggs.
  4. Turn off the mixer and tip the egg and milk mix back into the saucepan. Continue to heat over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until thickened slightly. You'll know when it's done when it coats the back of the spoon and you can swipe your finger across it cleanly.
  5. Put the mix in a bowl and put in the refrigerator until cold, then mix in ice cream maker. Add in mix-in flavors like chocolate chips or cookie crumbles as desired.

-- Lexy Savvides, San Francisco

Vanilla cupcakes with peanut butter and jelly

I was a peanut-butter-and-jelly kid, so it's no surprise that I enjoy the nostalgic indulgence in dessert form. This vanilla cupcake with peanut butter and jelly recipe from Melissa's Bakery is my go-to treat when life -- quite frankly -- sucks and I need a quick pick-me-up to remind me of less trying times. Some days I channel my inner Ina Garten and also make the peanut butter myself! Only with the finest peanuts and salt, of course.

See the recipe here.

-- Joey Skladany, New York City

Whipped cream

I wanted—yearned for—a KitchenAid stand mixer for over a decade, and finally realized my dream of owning one about two years ago. To my great shame, I've literally only ever used it to whip cream! But it does that job beautifully, and it's so satisfying to not have to whisk until my arm feels like it's about to fall off. I have to pick Chowhound's basic whipped cream recipe for obvious reasons, and I use it most often in strawberry shortcakes, my absolute favorite summer dessert—but for more refined celebrations, our strawberry whipped cream cake is perfect. Next time, I might even make the batter in the mixer too.

See the recipe here.

-- Jen Wheeler, Portland