Do you want to be more creative in the kitchen?
The best stand mixer can make all kinds of fun recipes. From brownies and cookies to mashed potatoes and various kinds of butter, there are plenty of delicious dishes you can whip up from scratch with the help of a stand mixer.
But these essential kitchen appliances aren’t only known to make your favorite meals and desserts. Your hungry tummy isn’t the only thing that can benefit from a good stand mixer recipe. You can get creative and make non-food items with your stand mixer that will benefit your skin, your home and even your dog.
Read on to learn the best stand mixer recipes and how you can get the most out of your mixer.
The Best Stand Mixer Recipes
Sure, it’s fun to whip up a cake mix in no time with your stand mixer. But why not take advantage of the appliance’s versatility? Here are a few different recipes to try with your stand mixer:
Bath Salts
The best stand mixer can also be used to create stress relieving bath salts. Rather than coming home and baking dessert, mix up the right concoction to add to a relaxing bath. Bath salts can reduce muscle aches as well as inflammation.
Get some Epsom salts, soothing essential oils and your favorite herbs or flowers for a delicate fragrance. You’ll combine the ingredients in your stand mixer and mix them together well. Store the salts in an airtight container and allow them to rest for a few days. This gives the herbs time to be infused with the salts.
Then, when it’s time for that relaxing bath, you’ll add about 1/2 cup of the salts to your bath water. How relaxing!
Here’s a basic bath salts recipe to get started with!
Christmas Ornaments
This recipe is a little like baking. But instead of getting a tasty treat at the end of the cooking time, the best stand mixer helps you make some cute and creative Christmas crafts!
Kids will love getting involved with making these quick and easy salt dough ornaments. You can hang them on your Christmas tree, place them in stockings or use them as gift tags. With baking and painting involved, they make for quite the creative holiday craft.
All you need to do is mix two cups of flour, one cup of salt and 3/4 cup of water with your stand mixer until they’re all combined. Use your dough hook and knead the dough until it is soft and pliable.
Then on a sheet of parchment paper, you’ll roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out your ornaments using your favorite cookie cutters. Remember to cut a hole at the top of each ornament so you can hang them.
Bake the ornaments at 200 degrees for one hour. They’ll be dry and hard when they’re ready. Let the ornaments cool completely, then have fun painting them with your favorite colors!
Face Mask
Not only does the best stand mixer whip up delicious ingredients like oats and honey for your baked goods, but you can also you these healthy pantry items to make a nourishing face mask.
Oats are great for your skin because they are anti-inflammatory and exfoliating in a gentle way. Honey helps moisturize your face while providing important antioxidants to the skin.
With this recipe, you’ll combine ground oats and honey with lemon juice and tea tree oil. If you don’t have ground oats, use the meat grinder attachment to grind your own old-fashioned oats. Use your stand mixer to mix these ingredients together until they’re well combined.
Then, use your fingers to apply and massage the mask onto your face. Sit with the mask on your face for about 15 minutes before rinsing it off with cool water. Store any leftover in an airtight container.
Dog Treats
Don’t forget about Fido! Your dog can benefit just as well from the treats you make with the best stand mixer.
Your stand mixer and dough hook attachment allow you to make all natural dog treats. There’s no need to feed your pup processed snacks with the help of your kitchen appliances.
Dogs will love this recipe for Cheesy Dog Treats. Your dog’s health will benefit with ingredients like rolled oats, wheat bran, and whole wheat flour. He’ll love the tasty addition of grated cheese.
You’ll use your stand mixer to combine the ingredients, then use your dough hook to knead the dog treat dough for 3 to 4 minutes. You can get creative here too by making fun shapes with cookie cutters. Kids will love helping make dog treats as well.
You’ll bake the treats for one hour at 300 degrees. After one hour, turn the oven off and leave the pan in the over for another 90 minutes to really dry them out. Remember, you don’t need to taste test these!
Play Dough
The best stand mixers are great for mixing up all kinds of dough, even play dough! With a few ingredients, you’ll have a fun and natural alternative to store-bought play dough. If your kid is the kind who ends up with play dough in his mouth, this is a great way to lose your worries over him getting sick.
All a play dough recipe calls for is some flour, salt, water, olive oil and food dye. Use cream of tartar to make the play dough last six months or longer.
You’ll combine everything except the food dye, and mix the ingredients with the dough hook until they’re well blended. If you find that the dough is really sticky, add extra flour. And if your dough is too dry, add water.
Then, add the food dye and continue mixing until your reach the desired color.
While baking and cooking are fun and easy, there are plenty of other things you can whip up with the best stand mixer. Take advantage of your appliance’s versatility and experiment with bath and body products, dog treats and fun things for the kids!
For more great stand mixer recipes, check out our blog.
Some of our Favorite KitchenAid Mixer Recipes & Books
Below are some of our favorite KitchenAid Stand Mixer recipe books. While we can’t claim to have tried all of the recipes in these books, we think they are worth looking at either for yourself or as a gift! Happy mixing!