baking hack – Jellybeans in the City

Gourmet desserts in minutes with Maya Decadence Premium Mixes

Being a busy mom with a sweet tooth, I can get frustrated when I can’t get my hands on quality desserts when my craving for sweets hit.

Granted, going to the nearest dessert shop or bakery, or having the new trendy desserts delivered to my doorstep can be easy enough but they do cost me a pretty penny.

If only there was a way to get those decadently premium desserts without breaking the bank nor tying me up all day to the kitchen, eh?

Well, there is, thanks to Maya Decadence Premium Mixes.

These comprise a line of high-quality baking mixes that are perfect for busy moms like me who love delicious, decadent desserts but don’t have the time or expertise to make them from scratch. Whether you’re a busy parent, a novice baker, or just someone who loves sweets, Maya Decadence Premium Mixes are the perfect solution for your baking needs.

Each Maya Decadence Premium Mix is made with the finest ingredients, including cane sugar, wheat flour and other additives that give each mix a rich, luxurious flavor and texture that will make your taste buds sing.

All you have to do is add wet ingredients (usually eggs, oil and water) to the cake mixes then bake them according to the package instructions.

Check out how I made my delicious attempts at producing show-stopping cakes using Maya Decadence Premium Mixes.

Yellow Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Maya Decadence Yellow Cake Mix has a moist and dense texture, produces a thick batter and possesses a distinct taste makes it ideal for most cake recipes.

My cake was a dense, three-layered confection which I topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting (recipe provided at the back of the box).

Shop Now

Red Velvet Cake with Leftover Cream Cheese Frosting

Maya Decadence Red Velvet Cake is a richly red and velvety confection which run a gamut of flavors from milky to acidic to slightly chocolatey.

The resulting cake also goes well with cream cheese frosting. Fortunately, I had some leftover from the Yellow Cake. I saved the Whipped Cream Powder included in its box for the Devil’s Food Cake.

Shop Now

Devil’s Food Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Whipped Cream Frosting

Maya Decadence Devil’s Food Cake Premium Cake Mix produces cakes that are richer, darker, fluffier, and as simply delicious as you can imagine, thanks to its use of unsweetened chocolate instead of cocoa powder.

I made this especially sinful by topping each layer with chocolate ganache, then covering the top with kisses of sweetened whipped cream made from the powder included in the Red Velvet box.

Shop Now

In case you’re still on the fence on whether or not Maya Decadence Premium Cake Mixes are for you, consider these advantages:

Convenience. They save you the time and hassle of measuring and mixing individual ingredients. With Maya Decadence Premium Cake Mixes, you can simply follow the instructions on the package (or improvise like I do sometimes) and have your baked goods ready in no time.
Consistency. Since Maya Decadence Premium Cake Mixes are made with standardized recipes and ingredients, you can expect consistent results every time you use them. This is especially helpful if you are new to baking and want to ensure that your baked goods turn out well.
Variety. Maya Decadence Premium Cake Mixes come in three variants which can be baked strictly per instruction or adapted into new recipes. They allow you to experiment with different frostings, icings or toppings to truly customize your cake creations.
Cost-effective. Using Maya Decadence Premium Cake Mixes is definitely more affordable than buying and stocking up on all the individual ingredients separately, especially if you only need a small amount of a specific ingredient. They also help reduce food waste by providing the exact amount of each ingredient needed for the recipe.
Long shelf life. Maya Decadence Premium Cake Mixes have a long shelf life, making them a great pantry staple. This means you can always have a cake on hand for last-minute baking needs (such as gifts or potluck contributions) or unexpected guests.

So, go ahead and try these fabulous baking hacks. Who would have thought that you can produce gourmet desserts in minutes just by using cake mixes?

Know more kitchen hacks by visiting the Maya Kitchen website or following it on Facebook and Instagram.

Baking hacks with Betty Crocker Muffin Mixes

With more than a year since the start of the pandemic, some people stuck at home have started pursuing baking as a hobby.

It’s a great way to whip up freshly baked snacks and desserts for the family to enjoy without breaking the bank.

Plus, speaking as a home baker myself, there’s this sense of accomplishment that comes with knowing that I have produced something delicious.

However, some would-be bakers may need to ease in to their baking adventures, especially if they don’t have the time or the budget to stock up on the needed ingredients, or if they don’t have a grasp of the basics in baking at the moment.

Fortunately, Betty Crocker has a line of muffin mixes that can introduce newbie bakers to the joys of baking. Betty Crocker Muffin Mixes consolidate the dry ingredients needed to produce muffins, conveniently packaged in portable pouches or boxes, needing only the addition of eggs and liquids, and of course, baking, to produce mouthwatering baked goodies.

They’re easy to store in the pantry and take out when you want to quickly whip up a snack, or pack into your food bags to take with you when you travel. Whether you’re at home or on the go, having Betty Crocker Muffin Mixes on-hand means a yummy baked treat is never more than a few minutes away. Just follow the instructions on the package, and, soon,you’ll be enjoying your fluffy and freshly baked muffins.

Check them out:

Betty Crocker Triple Berry Muffin Mix.

Living in a tropical country makes it hard to keep mixed berries on hand. With Betty Crocker Muffin Mix, you get triple berry bits mixed in with the other dry ingredients, ready to be transformed into a sweet and fruity dessert.

Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix.

Chocolate chip is arguable the world’s favorite cookie flavor. With Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix, it can be enjoyed in muffin form.

Betty Crocker Banana Nut Muffin Mix.

Perfect as an after-meal treat, this combines bananas and nuts into a fluffy muffin.

Betty Crocker Cornbread & Muffin Mix.

A savory baked good, this is a great side dish to barbecues for a Southern meal or a light and fluffy snack.

Even if you’re a baking newbie, you can whip up muffins for the fam to enjoy with Betty Crocker Muffin Mixes.

Cookie hacks with Betty Crocker’s Cookie Mixes

Hello, house-bound mumshies!

Have you gone on a baking spree already?

If you still haven’t thrown yourself into one of the quarantine’s most popular pastimes because you lack the time, ingredients or equipment, let me share with you some hacks that will have you donning on your apron, ready to bake.

Let’s start you off with simple treats that will surely win the hearts (and tummies!) of the youngsters and adults alike: cookies!

Cookies seem to have been originated in 7th century Persia, a little while after the use of sugar became common in the region. Through the Muslim conquest of Spain, this baked goodies spread throughout Europe. It was said to have come to America through the Dutch in New Amsterdam in the 1620s with the Dutch word koekje latet Anglicized to “cookie.”

Since then, exciting cookie variants have been introduced, giving cookie fans more reasons to love their favorite baked treat.

Bringing these bits of sweet happiness to your home even got a whole lot easier with these beloved cookie flavors in packaged mixes from Betty Crocker.

Betty Crocker got its start back in 1921 through a sales promotion ran by Gold Medal Flour targeting home cooks. Along with the entries, flour milling company Washburn Crosby Company (the predecessor of General Mills, Inc.), received a deluge of questions about baking. The name Betty Crocker was formulated to personalize responses to these queries.

Today, Betty Crocker is considered an icon of food expertise and reliable products, offering reliable and accessible recipes, sound cooking advice and dependable products. Its trademark red spoon and the Betty Crocker brand evokes that feeling of warmth and homeyness.

Among its products are the Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes. These mixes have no colors, no artificial flavors and no preservatives, just honest-to-goodness ingredients that will enable home cooks to have freshly baked treats from bowl to oven in minutes.

And really, these cookie mixes are so easy to use; I made three flavors of cookies using just my trusty mixing bowl, a fork, a 1 1/2-in diameter ice cream scoop, and, of course, my trusty oven (preheated to 375 deg F (190 deg C).

Each 17.5oz (496g) cookie mix bag produces twenty-four 3-inch cookies, enough to sate the cravings of any cookie fan.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

This beloved cookie was invented in 1938 by chefs Ruth Graves Wakefield for the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts, then a popular spot for home cooking. She chopped bits from a Nestle semi-sweet chocolate bar into a cookie dough made with flour, butter, brown and white sugar and vanilla, and a legendary cookie was born.

The Hack: Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Mix together the cookie mix, one stick (1/2 cup) softened butter and egg until a soft dough forms.

Scoop the dough into round balls and drop them in an ungreased cookie sheet two inches apart.

Bake for nine to eleven minutes or until edges are light golden brown.

Each cookie is chewy and bursting with sweetness, a sure hit for kids and adults alike!

Oatmeal Cookie

A descendant of the traditional Scottish oatcakes which has been around since the middle ages, the recipe of the oatmeal cookie was first published in 1896 by Fannie Merritt Farmer author of the Boston Cooking School Cook Book. When it became popular in the US in the early 1900s, it was considered a health food due to the increased fiber content from the oatmeal.

The Hack: Betty Crocker Oatmeal Cookie Mix

Mix together the cookie mix, one stick (1/2 cup) softened butter, 1 tbsp water and egg until a slightly stiff dough forms.

Scoop the dough into round balls and drop them in an ungreased cookie sheet two inches apart.

Bake for ten to twelve minutes or until edges are light golden brown.

A bit heftier when compared to other cookies, this moist and chewy oatmeal cookie packs a lot of texture as well as flavor in each bite.

Peanut Butter Cookie

The peanut butter cookie was invented in the 1910s by George Washington Carver when he published a peanut cookbook to promote the crop. While his original recipes called for chopped nuts, these were substituted in later iterations with peanut butter, and a classic cookie fave came to be.

The Hack: Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookie

Mix together the cookie mix, three tbsp vegetable oil, 1 tbsp water and egg until a soft dough forms.

Scoop the dough into round balls and drop them in an ungreased cookie sheet two inches apart.

Bake for nine to eleven minutes or until edges are light golden brown.

From the smell of peanut butter wafting to your nostrils to the satisfying bites into salty-sweet chewiness, this cookie is a feast for the senses.

(Traditionally, fork marks are associated to the peanut butter cookie. I just forgot to apply them before baking, my bad!)

Want some more cookie hacks?

Allow the cookies to cool for one minute on the cookie sheet before removing them.

Baked too many? Store leftovers in an airtight container and reheat in a 300 deg F (150 deg C) oven for four to six minutes or until warm

Want to save some cookie dough to be baked later? Place the dough balls in a container with lid and place in a freezer. You can pop these in the oven and bake for few minutes longer.

So stock up on these cookie mixes so you can easily treat the fam to bites of cookie happiness at home.

Check out my other product reviews:

This post contains affiliate links.