I recently celebrated my 19th birthday and received one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten- a robin’s egg blue KitchenAid Stand Mixer with a glass bowl. I’ve wanted this exact mixer for about 10 years, after using my mom’s mixer for the first time. There wasn’t really a need for an eleven–year–old to have her own mixer, but now that I’m not home for more than half the year at a time, it made sense to have my own.
Here are 12 things college students can make with a KitchenAid mixer:
1. Guacamole
Photo courtesy of @tanya-t on flickr.com
Yeah, it costs extra, but it doesn’t need to be extra. Rival Chipotle with your very own guac made at home. Making your own guacamole allows you to control the texture of the guac, to make it perfect for you.
2. Mashed potatoes
Photo courtesy of @23601600@N06 on flickr.com
No need for the abomination that is boxed mashed potatoes when you have a mixer. Using a mixer makes the easy side dish, easier.
3. Hummus
Photo courtesy of @powerplantop on flickr.com
Throw in some chickpeas and tahini into your mixer and you’ve got a healthier version than the store-bought hummus.
4. Smoothie Bowl
Photo courtesy of @k-80 on flickr.com
Be the envy of all your Instagram followers when you make your own smoothie bowl in your very own mixer. Smoothie bowls are also a quick and healthy breakfast for any busy morning.
5. Frittata
Photo courtesy of @bour3 on flickr.com
This egg dish cleans out your fridge because you can put anything you want in it. So dig up that soon-to-be-rotten bell pepper and that almost expired ham and throw them into the mix.
6. Pretzels
Photo courtesy of @bour3 on flickr.com
What’s cooler than saying you made your own pretzels? Saying you made your own pretzels in your very own mixer, that’s what.
7. Pizza dough
Photo courtesy of @browneyedbaker on flickr.com
Make-your-own-pizza night can and will be an instant classic. No need for a culinary degree when you’ve got a mixer.
8. Crack Pie
Photo courtesy of @aubrey_rose on flickr.com
Along with many other copycat recipes, Crack Pie from Momofuku Milk Bar can easily be recreated in places where the original doesn’t exist.
9. Pasta
Photo courtesy of @kiddyfactory on flickr.com
No need to go out to a restaurant when you can make your own pasta right at home. Making the pasta dough fresh and from scratch allows you to freeze it and make it at a later date.
10. Cookies
Photo courtesy of @chle on flickr.com
This is a given. Chocolate chip cookies are undoubtedly the best cookie in the world, you can quote me on that.
11. Donuts
Photo courtesy of @anitawaters on flickr.com
Less commonly made at home, donuts are trendy. No need to head out to the local Krispy Kreme, a KitchenAid Mixer makes it easy for store quality at home.
12. Banana Bread
Photo courtesy of @effigie on flickr.com
What better way to use those bananas you stole from the dining hall? I know sometimes I take way too many bananas to eat so banana bread is an easy fix.
Having a mixer makes cooking easier and healthier. Now that my dream of owning a robin’s egg blue mixer with a glass bowl has come true, you will never pull me away from that thing.