You can use your stand mixer for a lot more than just dessert! Try one of over 40 cake mixer recipes and hacks in your kitchen to save time and effort today!
Not too long ago someone told me they’ve had a KitchenAid mixer for years but had never used it.
I was shocked!
There are plenty of kitchen appliances that you don’t need, but I would never put my stand mixer on that list. I use it several times a week because it saves me SO MUCH TIME!!!
Using my KitchenAid stand mixer is like having an extra set of hands in the kitchen, and just like I’m constantly using my Blendtec blender for all sorts of things, I keep my KitchenAid busy with cake mixer recipes and hacks too.
THE BEST STAND MIXER FOR HOME USE
My husband and I were given a red KitchenAid 5-quart Artisan Stand Mixer for our wedding 10+ years ago. It’s met all my baking needs so far, and that’s one of the main reasons why I don’t have a set of old-school beaters, although that’s what I started out with.
My KitchenAid 5-quart Artisan Stand Mixer is one of my kitchen BFFs. With that said, however, there is one thing that’s now on my wish list:
That my friends, is the KitchenAid 7-quart Pro Line Stand Mixer.
As you’ll soon see, I use my mixer for ALL SORTS OF GOODNESS and one of my (few) complaints is that I often wish I had a bigger bowl. It would be nice to make a triple batch of Pizza Dough or a batch of Buttermilk Potato Bread without the dough getting all stuck in the mixer attachment. The 7-quart holds FOURTEEN cups of flour!!
I also think it would be nice to have something with a bit more horsepower (is it weird to say horsepower on a food blog?) so I can crank out a massive baking marathon without wondering if my mixer might need a rest.
But it’s certainly not a need. My 5-quart Artisan mixer has been holding strong, despite the toll that running a food blog requires, so I’m not complaining.
40+ CREATIVE WAYS TO USE A KITCHENAID MIXER
CAKE MIXER RECIPES FOR DINNER PREP
1. Shredding Cooked Chicken. Use the dough hook and turn it on for about 20 seconds at a time. This gives you shredded chicken, not mushy chicken. I most often used either roasted chicken or slow cooker chicken.
2. Shredding Cooked Pork. Same method as the chicken! The very best carnitas recipe is a perfect candidate for this.
3. Shredding Cooked Beef. Just like chicken and pork, you can have shredded beef sandwiches without shredding the meat for hours!
4. Mixing Meatballs. This is my favorite meatball recipe. Five minutes of dumping and mixing and 15 minutes of baking make dinner ready in a flash.
5. Mixing Meatloaf. I don’t necessarily think of meat when I think of stand mixer recipes, but just like with meatballs, you can mix up meatloaf really quickly in your stand mixer.
6. Mixing Ground Beef for Hamburgers. You can find my favorite burger recipe here. But of course, the mixer does the work.
7. Mashed Potatoes (white or sweet). There’s an art to mashed potatoes, which includes not mashing them for too long. Use the paddle and mix when they’re hot so they don’t dry out (which leads to adding too much liquid and overmixing, which leads to gummy potatoes). They’ll mix up fast so be careful not to overdo it
KITCHENAID MIXER RECIPES FOR SIDES & SNACKS
8. Granola. Part of the art of granola is to make sure ALL the dry is covered with wet. The mixer takes care of this beautifully. My family likes both Cranberry Orange Granola and Strawberry Chocolate Granola.
9. Granola Bars. This is one of the KitchenAid mixer recipes I make most often. Every week I make my husband a batch of Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars. I can tell you right now this wouldn’t happen if I didn’t have this mixer.
10. Guacamole. Mashing one or two avocados isn’t bad, but Simple Guacamole for a crowd? Or to make it in bulk and freeze it for later? That’s a mixer job.
11. Mixing Dips. You know those dips where you add spices to cream cheese and you stir like crazy, but it’s hard because the cream cheese is lumpy? Those come together much more easily in a mixer.
12. Stuffing. I’m talking about stuffed mushrooms and ravioli here – the stuff you STUFF into other stuff.
13. Egg Salad. This is another one of those cake mixer recipes that once you try it, you won’t go back! Use the wire whisk attachment for this one after a rough chop and you’ll have the perfect egg salad, every time.
KITCHENAID RECIPES FOR BREADS & DOUGHS
14. Pizza Dough. This is my Pizza Dough Recipe for our famous Friday night pizza tradition. I bust out the mixer every Friday at 4 pm, like clockwork.
15. Traditional Bread. Man Bread, Whole Wheat Bread, White Sandwich Bread…these are all KitchenAid recipes in my kitchen. Kneading with no hands is the best!
16. Cinnamon Rolls. These are THE BEST Cinnamon Rolls on the planet. Well worth loads of butter and overnight rise.
17. Biscuits. Nothing cuts the butter better than the paddle attachment. Convert all your butter-cutting recipes to stand mixer recipes. Trust me. (This is my original biscuit recipe and this is my sourdough biscuit recipe, but if you’re a Bisquick-type of person, use this homemade Bisquick recipe instead.)
18. Scones. Similar to the reasoning for biscuits (cutting the butter is SO EASY NOW), except you can add the liquids and mix-ins too and never EVER mix it by hand. Try Cranberry Orange Scones OR Chocolate Chip Scones. Both are awesome!
19. Quick Bread. Classic Pumpkin Bread is my favorite, but Caramelized Banana Bread is a close second.
20. Muffins. Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins anyone? Or do you prefer Banana Walnut? Mixing up your muffin recipes with KitchenAid mixers means they come together fast.
21. Donuts. Your choice – Strawberry Lemonade or Pumpkin Spice.
22. Tortillas. Homemade Tortillas are THE BEST, and since you need to cut the fat, they’ve never been easier.
RECIPES WITH KITCHENAID FAQS
What is the most used mixer attachment in recipes with KitchenAid?
The most used mixer attachment is the paddle attachment. Use this attachment if your recipe calls for your ingredients to be creamed, mixed, or beaten.
Can you chop nuts with a KitchenAid mixer?
Absolutely! The KitchenAid stand mixer can cut through nuts. If you need the nuts to be finely ground, I suggest using a grain mill like this one.
Why are KitchenAid mixers so popular?
The reason why KitchenAid mixers are so popular is that they are very sturdy and durable! They have long-lasting parts and make a wonderful cooking assistant.
HEALTHY DESSERT RECIPES FOR STAND MIXER
23. Brownie Batter. I usually make Black Bean Brownies in my blender, but I make my traditional brownie recipes with KitchenAid (using Homemade Brownie Mix).
24. Cake Batter. This is my Homemade Yellow Cake Mix Recipe and this one is for chocolate cake. Probably the most obvious of this whole list of cake mixer recipes, but the cake mixer is perfect for whipping up a light and fluffy cake!
25. Cupcake Batter. Officially speaking, cupcakes are different than cakes, but for normal baking people like you and me, we’ll just use our favorite cake recipe.
26. Cheesecake. Cheesecake is one of those cake mixer recipes that it’s really important to make sure all of your ingredients are mixed together well. This yummy No-Bake Cheesecake comes together in the mixer bowl.
27. Meringue. NOTHING whips up egg whites into glossy firm peaks better than a stand mixer.
28. Whipped Cream. Ditch the processed can and get heavy cream instead. A smidgen of powdered sugar and you’ve got delicious Homemade Whipped Cream. Make Chocolate Whipped Cream for an even greater treat!
29. Buttercream Frosting. Whipping butter into submission – by hand – for buttercream icing is no easy feat. Using a mixer makes this SO much easier. Plus it’s helpful with cream cheese frosting.
30. Cookies. Cookie doughs are a cinch with a stand mixer. You like it when the chocolate chips are evenly distributed in Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, yes?
31. Biscotti. Mix up the dough for any of these three flavors of delicious biscotti in your cake mixer.
32. Pie Crust. I repeat, CUT THE FAT people. Trust me on this. You’ll never look back. (Here’s my recipe.)
33. Marshmallows. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a method for these besides recipes for stand mixers. In my kitchen, they don’t happen often, but when they do, they ONLY happen in a stand mixer.
OTHER AWESOME STAND MIXER USES
34. Brown Sugar. I actually quit buying brown sugar when we quit processed sugar altogether. Now I use a ratio of molasses and Turbinado sugar – in my mixer – to make my own. Here’s the recipe!
35. Natural Peanut Butter. 99% of the jars of natural peanut butter I buy come with a layer of oil at the top. I dump it all in my mixer, whip it up, scoop it back into the jar, and store it in the fridge. Never again do you have to make a mess, spilling oil over the kitchen counter when you open a new jar of peanut butter.
36. Scrambling Eggs. One or two eggs get scrambled in a mug. But when I’m hosting company? Or making a quiche? Into the mixer, they go!
KITCHENAID RECIPES USING ATTACHMENTS
I still have the same 3 tools my red KitchenAid 5-quart Artisan Stand Mixer came with, and you can use them for all of the cake mixer recipes and hacks listed so far:
- Wire whisk
- Paddle attachment
- Dough hook
But additional attachments mean that you can do EVEN MORE with your cake mixer!
37. Scraping Frosting. My mother-in-law gave me a flex-edge paddle one year for Christmas, and that’s super cool too. So awesome to not scrape the bowl in the middle of Our Favorite Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe!
There are other awesome attachments too though:
38. Make fresh pasta with the pasta maker attachment. I don’t have this one, but homemade pasta topped with my Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce? Yes, please.
39. Grind your own meat with the meat grinder attachment. My Breakfast Sausage Recipe starts with ground meat, but if you do your own butchering or processing meat, you can go from cuts of meat to ground meat to sausage in one fell swoop!
40. Make ice cream with the ice cream maker attachment. We have this ice cream maker, which we use to make our favorite Vanilla Ice Cream, but if you don’t have an ice cream maker and you DO have a stand mixer, you could consider getting the ice cream attachment for your frozen dessert cravings.
41. Spiralize zucchini or other vegetables with the spiralizer attachment. This would make preparing a batch of Butter Parmesan Zoodles a snap!
I have zero experience with these last couple. I could see though, how they’d be life-changing if I had them (perhaps I should add these to my wish list too?).
RECIPES STAND MIXER
However you currently use your stand mixer, hopefully you’ve added some new ideas to your repertoire. Take this list of cake mixer recipes and hacks and see what else your stand mixer can do!
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The peanut butter idea blew my little gaskets. Awesome.
Just got my Kitchen aid for my birthday. It’s… great. Simply great.
What a great post and you totally led me down a rabbit hole with all the links to your recipes! I’ve been pinning and printing away this morning! Love,love, love my kitchen aid mixer. When I got it, I wanted to put it on a rotating stand and put a spot light on it, because I had wanted one for so long. I bought the most powerful one out there, it’s so worth the money.
Thanks Crystal!
Have you seen the new kitchen aid attachment that spiralizes, slices, and peels? So much easily on my weak wrists than using those plastic spiralizers!
I have not, but I’ve heard great things about it!
My mother-in-law uses the meat grinder to make cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.
Ooh – that’s a great idea!
I have longed for a Kitchen Aid for years. I mentioned at a ladies bible study my desire to have on. A few months later she gave me a $200 Kohl’s gift card as a going away gift. We are settled in our new parsonage several states away…last week Kohl’s had a terrific sale. I am the proud owner of a new Kitchen Aid. Your blog post is so timely…otherwise it would take hundreds of cakes and meranquine pies to justify the investment.
And lots of tummy aches from sugar overload, LOL. Congrats on the new addition to the kitchen Deb!! ♥
Try this Pumpkin Bread recipe. I make it with coconut oil and can sub 1/2c honey for the maple syrup too. https://naturallyella.com/pumpkin-oat-bread/ It is sooo good! And not too sweet!
I was happy to see this post! I had just ordered my 7qt. KitchenAid stand mixer you are talking about, I even ordered my mother one who has never had a stand mixer of any kind in her entire life. She doesn’t know she is getting it but will be an early Christmas gift for her! I am very excited, it will be here on Friday. Probably going to give my 15 yr old KA stand mixer to my daughter, she will be happy with it. I look forward to trying out some of your recipes also!
I’m totally jealous Ruth Anne!!
I’ve had the 5 quart Kitchen Aid for almost 20 years and love it! Also have the grain grinder which does a great job of grinding wheat and rye berries into flour. Just bought the spiralizer. Have only made curly fries so far; looking forward to spiralizing other things. It also peels, cores, and slices apples.
wow! Thanks for this elaborate post. I also like the KitchenAid mixer because of the big bowl and the strong motor.
Thanks Andre!
😊
What attachment for you use for cutting the fat?
The paddle attachment – the same one you’d use to make cookies. 🙂
Oh, ok. Just so you know it says blade attachment under biscuits. Thanks for posting this. Some of these things I’ve always just stirred by hand. Good ideas!
Oh goodness – thanks for letting me know Heidi!! 🙂
I am on my second Kitchen Aid. I upgraded to the 7 quart and gave my brother my old one when he got his first apartment. His is still going strong after 30 years!
I love the meat grinder! I specifically got the bigger stronger mixer for it. We make our own sausage (Italian – hot and sweet, chorizo, andoille, american breakfast). We can use better cuts of meat and know exactly what’s in it doing it ourselves. I usually do 3 big batches a year and the kitchen aid makes short work of the process.
I have used the ice cream maker, but we don’t eat much ice cream, so its not as useful to us.
I like the slicer shredder. Its great for larger batches of vegetables or at canning time, but too much for just daily use. There are only 2 of us, but a larger family might fin those more useful.
The pasta maker is great for “rolling” out cookie dough and dog biscuits. It will get it to a uniform thickness with less hassle and then you cut from there. Saves hours at Christmas time.
I hadn’t thought about the pasta maker for uniform cookies – BRILLIANT!! I’m not very good at rolling out cookie dough, and it takes forever anyway, lol. I like the idea of processing your own meats too. What a great way to take an inexpensive cut of meat, and turn it into something you’d use!
Jennifer O., we have been making our own sausage for about a year, and the breakfast sausage is REALLY good. We just wait till some type of pork is on sale for less than a dollar a pound, then get about ten pounds. The Italian sausage is OK, but there seems to be something missing, would love to have a recipe for your spice blend.
6 pounds pork butt
2 tablespoons cracked fennel
1 1/2 TBSP crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground coriander
6 teaspoons granulated garlic (or 10 large fresh cloves)
1 cup ice water
adjust the hot pepper and garlic to taste but we like them hot and garlicky so I usually double them
Try using the same blend of sage, pepper and salt you use for breakfast sausage. Add about a half teaspoon of thyme and a teaspoon of fennel seeds per pound for mild sausage. Add your favorite dried pepper if you want heat. I cannot guess at quantity because there is much difference in the Scovill level for commercial brands and in personal tastes. We raise and dry our mild jalapenos and add about a half teaspoon per pound.
Love the idea for doggie treats!
Love, love. love my kitchen aid mixer. I am on my second one because my first one just got tired after 25+ years!!!! It was not working quite as well so I got a new one last year for Christmas. My in-laws gave us our first one when we got married along with several attachments & the best thing to make applesauce or tomato sauce with is the strainer/juicer (probably why it got so tired). We also used the shredder attachment to shred potatoes & cheese or anything else that needs it. Now my new one is getting used just as hard.
Of course it gets used for many of the things you mentioned also
any good tips for us oldies but goodies that only use a hand (electric) mixer??
like can I chop anything, cream? anything but good ole mix?
Also, I am needing a good cheesecake recipe PLEASE!!
anyone have an old recipe for fig bars? my mom used to make these and CREAM PUFFS! OHHH HOW I WOULD LOVE TO TASTE THEM AGAIN!!
OK, LAST REQUEST..lemon meringue pie..every since My-T Fine pudding had to stop putting in the round white pill, and the yellow capsule .I cannot duplicate that taste…..anybody still alive that would remember this????
I have the shredder/slicer attachment. Perfect for cheese, and I use it for carrots, zucchini, and apples for carrot-apple-zucchini muffins/bread. So much nicer than hand-graters lol.
do not know where to post this
In a crunch and a rush? need a cup of milk” OHHH no milk, no condensed milk in cuppord, no COW!!
ok, here’s what I did (and do) a cup of hot water and use coffee creamer, yep that’s right, closest thing to milk in the house! well…. NO, I will not ask my granddaughter (who is breastfeeding) to express me a cup of “milk” for my recipe! OK back to my FIX. spoon in a tablespoon or 3 into the hot water mix and taste .serendipitous……milk!!
I have the meat grinder and the slicer/shredder. I use the cheese shredder all the time for the best pizza and casseroles. Cheese melts so much better when it is fresh. I wash it in the dishwasher and it’s so easy. I also use the meat grinder to make venison burger. My husband hunts and we grind and freeze meat every year. I put it through twice for the best results. You can also use it to grind hamburger and chicken breasts if you find the whole pieces on sale or clearance. I have had just the standard mixer for 20 years and want a bigger one someday also!!
This is my recipe and usually there isn’t but maybe one small slice left.
Meatloaf Recipe:
2lbs ground beef
4 slices bread torn apart in to small pieces (end pieces work great for this)
1 egg
1tsp soy
1 tsp worchestershire
1/2 C ketchup
2 TBSP honey
dash of salt
dash of white pepper
chopped onion to taste
1 tbsp minced garlic
mix all the ingredients together. shape into 2 loaves and place in meatloaf pan (our is a 2 pan set that the top pan has wholes to drain off grease) top with ketchup and spread ketchup and bake for 1.5 hours at 350 degrees.
Just tried your recipe last night. Impressive! My standard is very similar but I don’t add honey.. was great.
I have all the attachments (except the pasta extruder and the new one that makes flat sheets of veggies) but I don’t use them very often.I like the spiralizer but it only works if your zucchini is small (not the massive ones that come out if my garden). I have yet to use the pasta and ravioli maker. But I do love the ice cream maker. I haven’t used the meat grinder yet….I need more ideas!
I have had a KitchenAid since our wedding 24 years ago, and it is used often enough that I leave it on my counter top. I later acquired some of the attachments. The meat grinder is rarely used for meat (we’re not hunters), but I make my own jam with the abundance of fruit from our area, so I use it to grind fruit for making jam. I love it for plum jam, as Italian plums don’t mash well, like berries, and they take forever to cut by hand. Just wash and pit the plums, then press them through the KitchenAid grinder; it grinds the skins so fine that they don’t make the jam stringy but impart a beautiful color to the jam. I use the slicer/shredder more often. I wouldn’t attempt to slice potatoes for scallop potatoes any other way–it is so fast! And I shred veggies like carrots and zucchini for quick breads that way. My KitchenAid helps me to more quickly make food from whole foods and not rely on boxed stuff with preservatives and added sugar and salt.
What an amazing idea. I am fairly new to making jams myself, and this will be an investment for the future. I also just found out a melon baller makes a great stone fruit pitter.
Oh yeah…the shredder is great for making fresh coleslaw quickly, too.
We have only had our kitchenaid since Nov. when Best Buy had a deal I couldn’t pass up. We got the pasta roller/cutter attachment and have used it a lot! We got the ice cream maker, too, and have used it just once, but it was the best ice cream ever! I have the sifter/scale attachment now, as well, but have yet to use it. (Plans to use it in the next few days are in the works!) We are cooking so much these days because of this mixer, I can’t believe we waited so long to get one!
Roxanne, It is a great tool!
Meat grinder amazing! We make a lot of our own sausage. I Also have made hamburger with mine. However speed dies make a difference and if you use it to long it can over heat and shut down. … made that mistake once. It’s great for grinding veggies for stuffing… I love mine. Plus lots of tried n true recipes out there 🙂
Meat grinders are good for making ham, chicken, turkey etc. Salad.
The meat grinder has saved me a small fortune. When there is a good sale on pork roast and beef roast (almost any cut of meat) is ground up for ground beef or sausage. Almost always less expensive than buying ground beef or sausage. When I am done grinding I mix beef and sausage for meatballs and meatloaf. If you have a friendly butcher s/he will save beef or pork fat for you to add as needed.
How does the paddle attachment cut butter into flour. Or how do you do that?
I cut the butter into tablespoons (ish) and turn the speed on low. Let it run for a few minutes, or until the dough starts to look like breadcrumbs!
I used 5 cups flour, 1 lb. Shortening 1 tsp salt 1 half cup sugar ,for pie pastry ,used the dough hook on speed 1 and 2 , the result was I had to discard mixture, it was impossible to handle after rolling out , kept crumbling that it was a mess to even try to place in pie plate. Pls advise
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/homemade-pie-crust/#tasty-recipes-83284 follow this recipe.