Easy bakin' over the decades

THIS KENNER'S Easy-Bake Oven may not have produced a mini apple pie since the 1960s, but it could be up for another bakeoff 50 years later. The small oven still lights up with two 100-watt lightbulbs and, according to its instruction booklet, can bake delicious, bite-size treats in 15 minutes or less.

Three small pans and a rolling pin have traveled through the decades with this children's toy, which has adapted over the years into a modern microwave-like contraption. Though it's missing a spatula, bowl and teaspoon, this old easy-bake celebrates the novelty of electric toys with a sturdiness and durability that's hard to find these days.

The toy, found at the RE Store in Ballard, comes with a cookbook that shows how to make chocolate cakes, oatmeal fruit bars, brownies and other treats. The recipes demand a steady measuring hand: 6 teaspoons shortening, 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar, a dash of salt. The booklet also explains how to craft pie lattice, deftly fill fudge into paper cups and roll out pizza dough.

For sale: The Kenner's Easy-Bake Oven and accompanying recipe book go for $20, and the play ironing board and iron are selling as a set for $40. Or for $60, nab the entire package for your little tyke — or avid antique collector — in time for the holidays.

Dimensions: All three pieces perfectly fit a child's height, hands and fingers. The ironing board stands about 2 feet tall, and the easy-bake is no taller than a foot.

Suggested use: Your child or grandchild can bake right alongside you as you prepare for the holidays. For the child-at-heart adult, the oven, when lit, looks charming resting on an end table, and the ironing board could sit happily among your antiques.

Michelle Ma is a Seattle Times online news producer. Courtney Blethen Riffkin is a Times staff photographer.