An iconic toy from my childhood.

The Easy Bake Oven may just be one of the most iconic toys from my childhood and one of the most memorable. I actually remember the first time I saw an Easy Bake Oven. My best friend got one for her birthday and I can not tell you how incredibly jealous I was, it may just be the only time I really was truly envious of one of my friends. I actually remember making my very first cake with my Easy Bake Oven, using the little pusher to push that tiny little cake pan back into the stove and how proud I felt that I actually made my very own cake. It was my very first taste of Independence, a real sense of accomplishment. I know its just a toy, and the cake mixes are so simple a monkey could do it, but to a little kid its so much more than just a simple cake mix.

Easy Bake Ovens have been around since the 1960s and really not too much has changed about them other than their external shell. The Easy Bake Oven is a pretty basic oven it actually cooks its goods with a light bulb. This makes the oven very light, portable, and easy to use even for little bakers. Actually all you do to make your little tiny cakes is to follow the directions on the cake mix which really just requires you to add some water to the mixture, throw it in the tiny cake pan, and use the pusher to push the cake into the center of the oven. It takes around 8 to 10 minutes for your cakes to finish, then you use the pusher to push the cake out the other side. They will be hot so I do recommend you give the kids something to protect their hands and table as they tend to be about as hot as a dish after being in the microwave for a few minutes.

The new Easy Bake Oven comes in a cute turquoise color which is a throwback to the very first Easy Bake Oven which sported the same color. Though much has changed since the 1960s really the oven operates much the same way the only real change is its outer shell.

The Easy Bake Oven comes with a yellow cake mix, chocolate frosting, and a sugar cookie mix. If you plan on giving an Easy Bake Oven for a Christmas present this year I highly recommend you invest in at least two or three extra packages of mixes (each package comes with two or more mixes) as the first two I can almost guarantee will be gone the first hour as its very exciting to cook your own cake that first day that kids want to bake everyone in the family their own cake. One other small detail I should mention is the fact that the Easy Bake Oven runs on a 100w light bulb which is not included with the oven (due to how fragile light bulbs are). That means you need a 100w standard light bulb, not an energy saver light bulb, so again pick one up before Christmas morning as nothing is worst than looking at your Easy Bake Oven and not being able to use it, believe me I've been there dozens of times as a kid. heh.

Overall the Easy Bake Oven has to be one of the most fun and memorable toys of my entire childhood. Its a great introduction to cooking for kids and it was really my stepping stone to cooking other things other than just Easy Bake mixes as a child, so really I can't say anything bad about it as I still think fondly of my childhood oven. The only disadvantage at all to the Easy Bake Oven, that I realize mostly now because I'm a mother, is the fact that you have to buy Easy Bake Oven mixes to use your oven. They are not expensive but it is a bit inconvenient that you have to buy refills.

The Easy Bake Oven is available at most major retailers and toy stores! You can pick up your own Easy Bake Oven at the Hasbro website.

I have two Easy Bake Oven cooking aprons to give away to two very lucky readers. Think how cool your child will be when she has her own apron too!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Check out the Easy Bake Oven and tell me a story about your Easy Bake Oven growing up or why you'd love to have one for your child.
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
  • For an extra entry :
  • Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
  • Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
  • One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
  • This contest will end Jan 15th at midnight!