Generally speaking I make fun of people who use mixes to bake cookies. I mean, come on, how hard is it to soften some butter, break a few eggs, and measure a little flour? Not very. But I can see the appeal, especially for those of you with kids, carpools, soccer practice and ballet class to get to. I’m sure the last thing on your mind is putting on an apron and churning out a few dozen baked goods.
However, I think we can agree that cookies from a mix or a tube usually taste nothing at all like the hot-from-the-oven creations our parents and grandparents dutifully whipped up for us. The texture is wrong, they have a strange chemical-like aftertaste, and the cookies tend to look disappointing on the plate. So, needless to say, when I was offered the chance to try out The Lazy Baker’s cookie mixes I almost declined, but then I thought, “what the heck” and had them send a Double Chocolate Chip over.
Frankly, the results were shocking. CK and I absolutely loved the cookies! In between alternating sips of cold milk we couldn’t stop gushing about how fabulous the rich chocolate treats tasted. The chewy texture was exactly in line with how I bake my own cookies and we were simply floored by how homemade they actually appeared. During the next few days we ate every last crumb and had the same exuberant reaction to each decadently rich bite time and time again. This was definitely a mix I could get behind. In fact I’m positive that you could pass off a batch of these as your special “top secret recipe” to some food snob friends and they’d never know the difference.
So now that I’ve fallen for The Lazy Baker mixes I’ve had to eat my words and take back my cookie mix prejudice. Hopefully I’ve peaked your curiosity about this product as well. To that end I’d like to offer one reader the chance to try a Lazy Baker mix in their own home. To enter the contest please leave a comment on this post mentioning the cookie mix flavor you’d most like to try. Check out The Lazy Baker website for a complete listing of flavors and varieties. A winner will be selected via the nifty random number generator this Friday, August 28th at 5:00 PM EST and then I’ll promptly arrange to have the mix shipped to your home. Best of luck!
PS: Feeling social? The Lazy Baker can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
I think you just might have compelled me to try this too!
The Oatmeal cherry rasin spice sounds delish. Dang, now I want a cookie!
Their Double Chocolate Chip or the Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread sound great! Interested to see how their gingerbread is when it comes out. Making that dough can be such a pain!
Mmmm cookies! I’d love to try the Chocolate Chip!
Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread sounds awesome!
i’m a huge sucker for old fashioned chocolate chip cookies.
Mmmmmm, hello lover.. brown sugar pecan shortbread sounds fantastic.
Definitely the oatmeal cherry raisin spice.
Chocolate chip!
Just how much of a ‘mix’ is it? What needs to be added? Is it some kind of ‘just add water’ kit or are you basically just given the dry goods in a box and adding eggs/butter yourself?
You add eggs, butter, and a little vanilla to the mix.
If I made Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread cookies… my wife just might faint.
mmm, the brown sugar pecan sounds awesome! But sometimes you just cant go past the good old chocolate chip – I might have to make some tonight…
They all sound delish – and I need all the help I can get in the kitchen!
Brown sugar pecan shortbread… all the way!
Um, I would like to try all of them but I’ll start with the Oatmeal Cherry Raisin Spice.
Ooh, those pecan shortbread cookies look yummy. I never get to bake with nuts since most of my family is allergic, so I’d love a chance to indulge myself.
Oatmeal Cherry Raisin Spice sounds delicious!
Those look soooo good
Though I’m not a lazy baker, I’d like to be one for the day. These cookies look homemade and yummy. My husband would automatically go for the chocolate over anything else, so that’s my choice. The oatmeal cherry and shortbread lood delicious too!
ooh i hope i win since i AM a lazy baker.
brown sugar pecan sounds DIVINE.
Oooh, definitely Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread–sounds yummy! K x
I love love love chocolate chip cookies… but can you even win if you’re living on the other side of the great pond?
uh… yum.
I have absolutely no shame in admitting I’ll eat mixes. they’re very helpful for cravings when you know.. you’re in the middle of decorating 7 dozen cookies and aren’t allowed to eat any of them!
sign me up!
So everything sounds good, especially the Oatmeal Raisin Cherry, but you still have to add butter, eggs and vanilla on your own? That’s hardly less work than scratch where you just also measuring the flour, sugar and baking soda yourself. These must be some amazing cookies.
Hi Regina,
It’s a “mix” not “magic” so yes you do have to add some ingredients
I certainly don’t condone using a mix all the time but if one so desires they should use a quality mix such as this that maintains homemade taste and texture.
Best,
Erin
I usually have no problem using a mix for a cake, but I agree on the cookies, they never really taste quite the same. But when it’s a Friday night and all I want is to eat some cookie dough, well then I’ll just buy a tube and call it a day.
Sounds like something I need to add to my cupboard! The Oatmeal Cherry Raisin Chocolate chip sounds like a good one to have on hand for the holidays.
Now here’s an endorsement you don’t see on many food blogs! But it’s entirely possible that cookie mixes have come a long way.
I think my grandmother only ever made me cookies once, and my mom never baked 9(though she’s a fabulous cook). Making cookies from scratch is my way of making up for lost time!
I could NOT agree more, most of the cookie mixes you find in the stores are so sad tasting. So I cannot WAIT to try these!! (I just ordered the chocolate chip and the oatmeal). But I’d also love to try the Pecan Shortbread. That sounded super tasty!!
Thanks for sharing!!
Oh yay! So glad to hear that you decided to try these on your own. I certainly hope they live up to my recommendation. I look forward to hearing what you think.
OH I would so love the double chocolate chip (and I’d probably throw in some peanuts, too).
I’m impressed those turned out so well. I too am a bit of a from scratch snob and admittedly have often turned up my nose at cake mixes and cookie mixes (even though they were the very thing I grew up on, but that is beside the point). I imagine though if they were made from high quality ingredients and stirred with love that they could come pretty close to the real thing.
Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread mix sounds amazing!!
Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread all the way (but only because I have access to a great chocolate chip cookie mix from my company)! Heck, I might throw some chocolate chips in the shortbread mix just for kicks.
Hey, I’ll try a mix for free.
Chocolate chip ftw!
Very interesting! I think I’d like to try the Brown Sugar Shortbread.
The Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread look like winners.
I’m a sucker for a classic. Chocolate chip please!
the double chocolate chip looks DIVINE. i seriously feel the need to go home and perfect my chocolate chip cookie recipe now.
i grew up on the break and bake cookies so i don’t see myself as a snob. BUT i am still learning the baking ropes so i don’t think i have the knowledge to be a cookie mix snob…. yet
These look delicious!! All of their flavors sound like they would taste magical. The oatmeal cherry raisin spice and brown sugar pecan shortbread would be my first choices of flavor, I think!
double chocolate sounds sooo good
Hmmm… Lazy Baker? That’s me! Good ol’ chocolate chip is probably the flavor I’d most like to try. Thanks for holding this contest!
What a fun giveaway – I’d like to try the brown sugar pecan shortbread!
It would have to be the chocolate chip for me. Thanks for sharing!
Oatmeal cherry raisin spice. Each and every word is delectable.
I love the texture of oatmeal in cookies, but I don’t stock plain oatmeal for breakfast – having it handy in a mix would be wonderful!
I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed.
Leaving my comment … sounds yummy!
the double chocolate chip looks amazing.
Oatmeal Cherry Raisin, Pecan Shortbread, Double Chocolate, everything a cookie lover could ask for and the ease of Lazy Baking??!! Sign me up!
That double-chocolate-chip looks so tempting that I would have to say…
PICK ME!!! PICK ME!!!!
Haha! Great blog.
brown sugar pecan shortbread! mmm
I’d have to go with the good old chocolate chip. Thanks for sharing!
Hmmm… I guess I’ll say chocolate chip.
Those cranberry/pistachio ones in the ‘coming soon’ section are cute!
Double Chocolate Chip I think would be my favorite
Wish they made like a lemon poppy seed one…..that’d be awesome
those cookies look sooooo delicious!! OMG!!! chocolate!!
Oh, those double chocolate chip guys look pretty darn good to me…
Great review! I too scorn mixes but the Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread sounds intriguing!
I’d like to try the one you used – double chocolate chip. The more chocolate, the better!
Oooh, I’d really love to try the Gingerbread mix, but since it’s not available yet… chocolate chip loooks yummy!
Double chocolate chip or chocolate chip please!
brown sugar pecan shortbread…4 of my favorite things…
Chocolate Chip! Thank you!
Double chocolate chip cookies have always been my favorite. My mom used to get me one each week from the grocery store bakery and mmmm, they were good! I’d love to try the mix!
I would love to try the regular chocolate chip mix.
Now if they could just wash my dishes while they were at it…
Although I am partial to shortbread cookies, the Oatmeal Cherry Raisin Spice sounds fantastic! That would be my first choice.
I’ve always been a “make it from scratch” type ever since my mom began to teach me to cook at 5 years old- and now I’m 50 years past that- but even “do it your own damned self” types like me have surprise guests call or have hard weeks at work, so I’d definitely try a mix that a seasoned foodie recommends!
The brown sugar pecan shortbread would be my first choice since I make shortbread fairly often and would love to compare theirs to mine, but the double chocolate chip mix is appealing since my sweetie can’t eat chocolate for a medical reason and I miss it!
looks freakin’ delicious!
Personally I think that the Betty Crocker mix for peanut butter cookies tastes amazing, but it’s been a few years since I had time to make some from scratch.
The double chocolate chip one looks delicious!
Mmmm I’d like to try the Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread!
The double chocolate chip sounds amazing!
While the Oatmeal Cherry Raisin Spice sounds intriguing and the cookie purist in me is screaming chocolate chip I’d probably have to say the double chocolate chip.
What can I say? The more chocolate the better.
I’m salivating at the mere mention of those double chocolate chip cookies. Holy moly.
The Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread looks good. I would wait for their availability! But the Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread looks just as good too!
Plus it would be a good excuse to buy mini muffin tins!
I would love to try the Oatmeal Cherry Raisin Spice. Sounds awesome!
Mmmmm…. the chocolate chip cookies look and sound delicious… I would bake them double the size they’re meant to be baked.
They all look good to me! But if I had to pick one, I’d go with the double chocolate chip.
Oatmeal Cherry Raisin Spice–it almost sounds healthy!
Oh my goodness, what a great idea!!! I truly NEED the Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread.
Thanks for the tip!
Umm, Brown sugar pecan shortbread? Yes, please!
mmmm cookies…..
ps, its piqued your interest, not peaked.
What a coincidence…I was in T.J. Maxx yesterday, saw these mixes and wondered if I should try one out. The packaging is adorable.
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