Beautiful by Drew Barrymore Stand Mixer: cheap cakes and cookies

 A stand mixer is a must-have kitchen appliance for anyone who loves baking, but many of the best stand mixers out there today are expensive, retailing for upward of $300. If you don’t necessarily want to splurge on one of these high-end appliances, the Beautiful Stand Mixer might be the perfect option for your home. 

Beautiful Kitchenware is a line of budget-friendly kitchen appliances created by actress Drew Barrymore, and it’s exclusively sold at Walmart. I’ve tested several appliances from the brand, including the Beautiful Air Fryer, and I’ve consistently been impressed with the performance of its affordable products. The Beautiful Stand Mixer looks to be another great pick, offering a large 5.3-quart capacity, 12 mixing speeds, and a sleek matte finish that comes in several colors. 

To see how this inexpensive stand mixer stacks up against other popular models, I tested it in my kitchen for several weeks. I used the appliance to make a variety of different baked goods, and while it’s very far from perfect, I was still impressed by its performance, especially given its low price point. 

Product specifications

Unboxing

The Beautiful Stand Mixer was packaged in a combination of cardboard and plastic. Two pieces of molded cardboard held the mixer and its attachments in place, and every individual component was wrapped in a plastic bag to prevent scratching, which resulted in quite a bit of non-recyclable waste. 

When I pulled the mixer out of the box, I was truly shocked at how light it was. This mixer weighs less than 10 pounds, and it feels as light as a feather compared to my usual KitchenAid Mixer, which weighs in at around 24 pounds. I had no problem carrying it over to my kitchen counter, and it’s definitely a great option for anyone who doesn’t want to heft a heavy appliance around.

I received the mixer in the color Cornflower Blue, and the blue-purple matte finish was lovely. The mixing bowl is made from stainless steel, and the mixer also came with a plastic bowl shield and three standard attachments: a whisk, paddle, and dough hook. The whisk didn’t feel very sturdy, as the plastic top is quite thin, but the other two tools were made from a coated metal that seemed quite durable.

Test 1: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

It’s fall here in New England, so I’ve had cravings for all my favorite autumn treats. I decided to make pumpkin-flavored whoopie pies, and it was the perfect opportunity to take this stand mixer for a spin.

It took me a minute to figure out that the bowl shield attaches to the mixing head—not the bowl itself—which is quite smart, since it automatically lifts the shield out of the way when you need to scrape the bowl. The recipe I was following called for a whisk attachment to mix the batter, and I started out by creaming softened butter on speed 7. This mixer offers a total of 12 speeds, which is more than many other models I’ve tested and gives you more granular control.

While the mixer was able to cream the butter easily, the whisk didn’t quite reach the bottom of the bowl. I had to stop it several times to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl—otherwise, some ingredients weren’t being mixed into the batter. The other thing I didn’t like about the mixer’s design is that the head locks in the upright position. There’s a button that lets you lift the head up, but you also have to press it again when you want to lower the attachment back down. It’s not a huge problem, but I kept forgetting and tugging on the head trying to lower it. 

Overall, the mixer had no problem making the batter for my whoopie pies. However, if you’re wondering why there’s no “after” picture here, it’s because my homemade pumpkin puree was too watery and the shells ended up running together while baking. It just goes to show that not every recipe is a success, even for an avid baker like me. 

Test 2: Pretzel Bites

Next, I wanted to test the mixer’s dough hook. I wasn’t in the mood to make a loaf of bread, so I decided to bake some pretzel bites instead.

I used the mixer’s hook to mix yeast into warm water, then again to stir in the flour and other ingredients. The whole process was really easy, and the hook attachment saved me from having to hand-knead the pretzel dough. Plus, the bowl shield kept the flour from being splattered everywhere during the initial mixing phase.

Again, the mixer’s attachment didn’t quite reach the bottom and edges of the bowl, so I had to scrape the inside a few times with a rubber spatula to ensure all the flour was worked into the dough. The pretzel dough came out the perfect consistency after two minutes of kneading, and I was able to bake up two trays of tasty, crunchy bites that everyone raved about. It’s definitely a recipe I’ll make again. 

Test 3: Apple Cider Donuts

Keeping with my autumn theme, the next recipe I decided to make was apple cider donuts—one of my all-time fall favorites. I used the mixer’s paddle attachment to cream together softened butter and sugar, but the mixture kept getting pushed to the sides of the bowl, out of reach of the attachment. I had to stop the mixer at least once a minute to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl, and I also noticed it got a bit wobbly when I turned it up to speed 9, rocking back and forth a little. Thankfully, the suction cups on the bottom of the appliance held it in place on the counter.

The next step was to mix in two eggs, and the attachment struggled with this, too. The batter simply wasn’t homogenous, so I ended up hand stirring with a rubber spatula for a minute to get the ingredients evenly mixed. Thankfully, the mixer was able to stir in the dry ingredients without any major issues. 

Overall, the mixer didn’t do a great job with this recipe, but I got the job done with a little help from my favorite spatula. The donuts came out absolutely perfect, and I’ve been eating them for breakfast for a week now.

Cleaning

 After a long afternoon of baking, the last thing I ever want to do is hand-wash pieces of my stand mixer, so I was happy to find that all the detachable pieces of the Beautiful Mixer can be put in the dishwasher. The mixing bowl, bowl shield, and attachments are all dishwasher safe, which made it quick and easy to clean up the mess I made while cooking. They all came out of the dishwasher looking as good as new, too.  

How does it compare to other stand mixers?

It's hard to compare the Beautiful Stand Mixer to others out there because it's so much cheaper. It's nowhere near as good as the KitchenAid Artisan or other top-line mixer brands. The nearest by price that we've tested is the Cusinart Precision, which is still $150 more expensive. The long and short of it is that this is a great stand mixer for the price but a mediocre one compared to the big guns. 

Should you buy the Beautiful Stand Mixer?

If you’re in the market for a stand mixer—but don’t want to spend big bucks on a brand like KitchenAid, the Beautiful Stand Mixer is a worthwhile alternative. It costs just $99, and it has a stylish design that comes in several trendy colors and will look pretty on your kitchen counter. It might not be the most heavy-duty mixer out there, but it was able to handle most baking tasks, you’ll just need to scrape down the bowl occasionally. Overall, I think it’s a worthwhile tradeoff for a cute and budget-friendly appliance.