The $4 Boxed Cake Mix I Make for Dessert AND Breakfast — It’s Perfectly Moist

When I was a kid, I had a phase of eating Betty Crocker’s microwavable Warm Delights Cinnamon Swirl Cakes for breakfast. As an adult, the idea of a warm, comforting cake in the morning feels nostalgic and extra special, given I usually eat scrambled eggs and toast (which I also love). Naturally, I’m a sucker for a good coffee cake — especially one I can make easily from a boxed mix. 

I recently moved from a big city to the suburbs, which means the grocery stores I shop in now are much bigger and packed with all sorts of fun and delicious products that didn’t fit on the smaller city shelves. One of those products is Reese’s Coffee Cake Mix. I had been thinking about buying it for weeks, so I finally decided it was time to give it a try — and let me tell you, it’s everything a peanut butter devotee like myself could want. 

The boxed cake mix includes dry ingredients for the cake batter as well as the streusel topping. Similar to other mixes, you’ll need to provide vegetable oil, water, and two eggs for the batter. Pour that mixture into your cake pan, top it with the brown sugar streusel, and pop it in the oven for anywhere from 17 to 27 minutes, based on the pan you’re using. In less than 30 minutes, you’ll have a delicious, tender cake. 

The boxed mix is available in several national and regional grocery stores (its bright orange packaging makes it easy to spot). It’s less than $4 at Walmart. You can also buy bulk packs of four or six boxes, starting at $15.76, in case you want to stock up ahead of the holidays.

The cake recipe is quick and easy. It took me less than 10 minutes to put everything together and get it in the oven. I used a 9×9-inch nonstick pan, and baked it for 28 minutes at 375°F. My oven runs a tad cold, so I left it in for three extra minutes than the package instructions suggested.

When I took it out of the oven, the cake was golden, cooked all the way through, and nice and tender on the inside. I was surprisingly patient and waited about 30 minutes to give it enough time to cool before cutting myself a slice. 

The outside edge was a little crisp, which I love, while the inside was perfectly moist. My favorite part about this cake is the peanut butter chips. I adore that they add a little extra pop of creamy peanut butter to the slice. This cake is nicely balanced, too. Plus, the brown sugar streusel topping was just sweet enough, I didn’t miss the icing I would normally want on cake (though that didn’t stop me from adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top for an after-dinner dessert). 

This might have been my first time trying this cake mix, but it certainly won’t be my last. It’s so good with a can of iced coffee in the morning or as an afternoon pick-me-up. It might not be as sweet as Reese’s peanut butter cups, but it does keep me coming back for more just like my favorite candy.