Creative Nature – Original Baking Mix Taster Pack Review

Reviewed by Lindsay Harris

Heading off to university for the first time can be pretty daunting, particularly if you’re moving away and living with people you’ve never met before. My sure-fire advice for making friends? Feed them baked goods!

One of the best ways to make a great impression is to serve your new flatmates tasty treats, so I was delighted to receive the Original Baking Mix Taster Pack from Creative Nature to try out.

Consisting of four different baking mixes, each one is gluten, dairy and nut free, and they all come with a vegan recipe option, so they cater perfectly for the range of dietary requirements you’re likely to meet in university halls. The pack includes:

• 1 x Wholegrain Banana Bread Mix
• 1 x Cacao Rich Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1 x Chia & Cacao Choc Chip Brownie Mix
• 1 x Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix

First up, I tried the brownie mix. On the back it lists two recipe options. You can opt for the vegan version (by adding flaxseed, water & dairy free spread) or you can add eggs and butter for a non-vegan version. Since I didn’t have any flaxseed in the cupboard, I decided to go for the non-vegan option and quickly grabbed my mixing bowl and spoon.

The recipe was nice and easy. Once the butter was softened slightly, all the ingredients went straight in one bowl to be mixed and then dolloped in a baking tin. 20 minutes later, the rich smell of chocolate was wafting around the house and my mouth was watering. After a brief moment to cool (I’m very impatient!), it was time to tuck in. The result was a decadently rich chocolate flavour, with a lovely moist top. The pack says it serves 12, and unlike some packs where the serving sizes seem stingy, these were 12 decent size pieces. If you’re in a particularly big house share, you could even cut it into 24 bite-sized pieces to make it go further.

Next up, I tried the chocolate chip muffins. This time I had all the vegan ingredients in my cupboard, so I smooshed a couple of bananas into a gooey mush (very satisfying), added some dairy free spread, and then stirred in the baking mix. The instructions said to add a splash of water if the mix seemed dry, but since I wasn’t entirely sure how wet it should be, I experimented and split the mix in half. The half that I added extra water to rose much better, so if in doubt I’d recommend adding the extra water.

As with the brownies, the muffin recipe was really easy, although it was slightly more time consuming by the time I crushed up the bananas. Sadly for me, the banana taste was still quite obvious after baking. I’m a bit of a chocolate purist, so the combination of banana and chocolate wasn’t my favourite – but if you love the taste of banana, you’d probably be in heaven! Next time I try the vegan version I’ll try the 3 ‘flax eggs’ it suggests as an alternative to the bananas.

Since I was on a 7-day review deadline (and there’s only so much cake I can eat in one week!), I haven’t had a chance to try the chocolate cake and banana bread mixes. But based on the muffins and brownies, they’ll be quick, easy and no-fuss.

Although I love baking from scratch, for students who are short on time and lack the cupboard space to store lots of baking equipment and ingredients, these mixes are perfect. Add in the fact that they’re allergen-safe and vegan-friendly, and you have a recipe for success!

Rating: 4/5

RRP: £13.96

This product can be purchased from Creative Nature here.