As the leaves begin to change, so do the grocery story aisles. There are plenty of fall-themed baking mixes featuring autumnal flavors on the grocery shelves these days. From pumpkin spice to apple cinnamon, and everything in between – which one are worth your time?
I tried 5 of the most popular fall baking mixes (so you don’t have to), and here’s what I thought!
Join me as I taste-test and rate these fall baking mixes to help you find the perfect blend of convenience and deliciousness for your seasonal baking endeavors. Keep reading to see which mixes deserve a spot in your pantry this season!
What is Baking Mix?
First of all, what is baking mix, anyway?
Baking mix contains the dry ingredients needed to make a cake, muffins, cookies, or brownies. This typically includes flour, sugar, flavoring, coloring, a leavening agent, and preservatives. The flavoring can come from spices or dried fruits. The leavening agent is going to be baking powder or baking soda. These are all ingredients you would put in a cake if you made it from scratch, but they are all conveniently measured out and pre-mixed so you do have to do it.
Outside of the typical dry ingredients, a store-bought baking mix will also contain preservatives to extend their shelf-life. Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate are two of the most common preservatives that are added to prevent the growth of mold and yeast in baking mixes.
For a preservative-free option, we will soon be reintroducing our homemade baking mixes and baking kits on the Flour & Fiction Etsy Shop. Stay tuned for our seasonal fall flavors!
What Makes a Good Fall Baking Mix?
Store-bought baking mixes are formulated to be easy, convenient, and affordable. However, the main focus is not on taste.
Taste is of utmost importance to me, so I rated these 5 fall baking mixes in terms of ease, time, price*, and taste, with taste having the most weight. For each mix, you’ll find a list of key ingredients that give the baking mix it’s distinct fall flavor. I also included some helpful details like and which ingredients you need on hand and tools you need to make each fall bake.
*NOTE: Prices listed are accurate at the time of publishing for in-store purchases.
The 5 fall baking mixes I tried are:
- Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Pancake and Waffle Mix
- Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bread and Muffin Mix
- Betty Crocker Delights Super Moist Spice Cake Mix
- PB2 Pantry Apple Cinnamon Muffin Mix
- Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Mix
#1 Betty Crocker Delights Super Moist Spice Cake Mix
Overall rating:
Key Ingredients: Dried pumpkin, spices
Just add: 2 eggs, water, oil
Ease: Easy
Tools: 1 bowl, 2 baking pans
Time: Prep time – 5 mins, Baking time – 30 mins; Total time – 35 mins
Price*: $2.29
Taste: Simple and good. Moist, spiced, as advertised.
Betty Crocker Delights Super Moist Spice Cake Mix was probably the best fall baking mix I tried. It tasted like a spice cake should, like cinnamon and cloves, albeit not super punchy. I liked that there was no artificial pumpkin taste, which made me dock points for several of the other mixes.
This mix was well formulated for repeatability. It was easy to mix up, made two perfectly-formed sponges, baked up in exactly the time quoted on the box, and released well from the baking pans. The sponge was moist and paired well with cream cheese frosting.
Full disclosure – I made my own homemade cream cheese frosting with this so it might have skewed this rating and made the cake taste better than it actually was.
#2 Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Pancake and Waffle Mix
Overall rating:
Key Ingredients: Dehydrated pumpkin flakes, Dehydrated ground pumpkin, spices
Just add: 1 egg, water, melted butter
Ease: Super easy
Tools: 1 bowl, whisk, microwave safe bowl, waffle iron
Time: Prep time – 5 mins, Cook time – 20 mins; Total time – 25 mins
Price*: $2.99
Taste: Cinnamon-y but not very pumpkin-y. Not too sweet, which is nice because you’re going to add maple syrup
The Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Pancake and Waffle Mix worked really well as a mix. It quickly thickened up after adding the wet ingredients to form the right consistency for waffles. (The back of the box has a recipe for both pancakes and waffles and I chose waffles.)
The baking mix smelled good and cooked up well to make a beautiful fall-themed breakfast. I liked that it wasn’t too sweet on it’s own, so you could still add maple syrup. It tasted more like cinnamon than pumpkin, which could be a good thing for pumpkin-haters. My only critique is that it could have been spicier.
#3 Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bread and Muffin Mix
Overall rating:
Key Ingredients: Dried pumpkin, spices
Just add: 2 eggs, water, oil
Ease: Super easy
Tools: 1 bowl, whisk, spatula, baking pan
Time: Prep time – 5 mins, Cook time – 1 hr 10 min; Total time – 1 hr 15 mins
Price*: $3.49
Taste: very moist, well-spiced, and pumpkin-y
Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bread Mix was easy to bake and smelled good. The batter was a little runny, which threw me off, but baked up just fine. The sponge was moist and spicy enough, but the pumpkin tasted a little artificial.
This gets a lower rating because of taste and time. It also didn’t include any kind of icing or glaze, so I added my own cinnamon glaze. It does include a simple glaze recipe on the box.
#4 PB2 Pantry Apple Cinnamon Muffin Mix
Overall rating:
Key Ingredients: Roasted peanut flour, apples, cinnamon
Just add: 3 eggs, water, oil
Ease: Easy
Tools: 1 bowl, whisk, spatula, muffin tin, liners (optional)
Time: Prep time – 5 mins, Resting time – 10 mins, Baking time – 20 mins; Total time – 35 mins
Price: $8.49
Taste: Bland and “off”
The PB2 Pantry Apple Cinnamon Muffin Mix was the “healthy” option in this showdown and it tasted like it ?. This mix is made entirely with peanut flour (aka ground peanuts) instead of wheat flour. It is gluten free and can be made vegan with a special recipe on the label.
The mix smelled so strongly of peanut butter, I thought this was going to be delicious! However, after baking, they tasted “off” like there was a strange artificial extract in it, which provided a weird aftertaste. It was dry, and didn’t give cinnamon or apple at all.
There was also some added resting time in the recipe, making it a little more involved than the others. It’s a pass.
#5 Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Mix
Overall rating:
Key Ingredients: Dried pumpkin, spices, chocolate chips, oats
Just add: 1 egg, water, butter
Ease: Medium
Tools: Mixer, cookie sheet
Time: Prep time – 10 mins, Bake time – 20-25 mins, Total time – 30-35 mins
Price: $4.99
Taste: Bitter and gross. Nice texture with the chocolate chunks and oatmeal but with the bitterness, I can’t eat them.
I had high hopes for the Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Mix. I really did. The mix looked so chunky, with real chocolate chunks and oatmeal. It seemed so much more substantial than the other fall baking mixes. The recipe also called for real butter instead of oil. I even needed to bust out the electric mixer, so I thought this was going to be the real deal.
I was wrong. The cookies turned out dry (despite the butter) and terribly bitter. I think the bitter aftertaste came from the dried pumpkin. My friends said these tasted more like granola than a cookie. The texture was the only saving grace, with the crunchy oatmeal and tons of chocolate chunks. Still, one bite was all I could stomach.
What’s your Favorite Fall Baking Mix?
As you can see, I did not give out any 5 star ratings. None of these tasted amazing, but they were very quick, convenient, and easy to make. Personally, I prefer using real pumpkin or apples in my baked goods. I will share a real scratch-made fall recipe with ya’ll soon!
What are your favorite fall baking mixes? Did I miss any of the most popular ones? Let me know in the comments!
2 responses to “Fall Baking Mix Showdown: Ranking 5 Popular Fall Baking Mixes”
Chili turtle! Heart eyes ?
Yes!! I can’t wait for yall to see the next bake box I’m coming out with. It’s going to be a fall recipe!