The Discontinued Betty Crocker Cake Mix We'll Probably Never See Again
The baking aisle is filled with a variety of Betty Crocker cake mixes, catering to every preference from lava cakes and pound cakes to upside-down cakes and more classic-style bakes. However, if you're looking to bake the once-popular Snackin' Cake, you'll need to start from scratch — Betty Crocker discontinued this particular baking mix quite some time ago.
Betty Crocker's Snackin Cake mix was introduced in 1972, and its selling point was that it produced cakes that could be mixed, baked, and served all in the same pan. Unlike other cake mixes that required eggs, oil, and water, Snackin' Cake only called for water, and preparing the batter only took two minutes. The convenience of this product allowed it to remain popular well into the '80s, however, the appeal eventually wore off, and Betty Crocker stopped producing it. One of the last commercials featuring the Snackin Cake mix aired in 1981, and sometime after that it seems Betty Crocker moved on to new products.
Why was Betty Crocker Snackin' Cake mix discontinued?
You'd think a boxed cake mix that only needed water would have been a major success, but Betty Crocker had previously attempted to market a just-add-water formula, and this was also not met with the success the brand expected. The whole reason standard cake mix now calls for an egg is due to the fact that the company learned that consumers felt that their cakes weren't "homemade enough" otherwise. The canned frosting that Betty Crocker sold also helped make the cakes feel more homemade, increasing customer interest in purchasing Betty Crocker products.
The Snackin' Cake mix, on the other hand, didn't call for eggs and was advertised as "so rich and moist, you don't need frosting." Lacking the two ingredients that contributed to how well Betty Crocker's baking products sold could have easily had something to do with why the Snackin' cake mix was eventually discontinued. Once Betty Crocker released Stir 'n Frost cake mix, which was essentially the same thing except it also came with frosting, it seems people had even less of a reason to buy the Snackin' Cake mix.
Could Betty Crocker Snackin' Cake mix ever come back?
Given that Betty Crocker's Snackin' cake mix hasn't been around since the '80s, it probably won't come back, however, the possibility isn't entirely off the table. In 2015, for example, Betty Crocker brought back its Rainbow Chip frosting that was originally introduced in the '80s. And when a fan asked Betty Crocker about the Snackin' Cake mixes on X, formerly known as Twitter, the company responded, "We'll let our team know that you would like to see them back again."
While Betty Crocker appears to take customer feedback about discontinued products into consideration, there's arguably more reason to believe Snackin' Cake won't be making a comeback. Circa 2005, Betty Crocker released Warm Delights, yet another cake product that only required consumers to add water and mix. Unlike Snackin' Cakes, Warm Delights were designed for single servings and were cooked in the microwave rather than in an oven. This shift targeted individuals rather than families or traditional home cooks and appears to have been successful for Betty Crocker, as the product still exists, though it's now called Mug Treats.
It's safe to say Snackin' Cake mix is a thing of the past, but you can always settle for the Mug Treats or one of the many snack cake recipes Betty Crocker shares on its website or in boxes on store shelves.