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Here’s a confession that’s been really weighing on me recently: One time I used a boxed chocolate chip cookie mix for my office’s annual holiday cookie swap. In most places of work, no one would bat an eye at this … but, at the time, I worked at a food magazine where people really care about food. (Kinda like my current place of employment here at Kitchn!) Don’t get me wrong, I really care about food, but I was pinched for time and just so happened to have a mix for chocolate chip cookies staring me down in my pantry. Thus, I made a game-time decision and prayed that no one would shame me for it.

I mixed the cookie dough starter pack with a lot of butter (as directed), stuffed little spoonfuls of it into a mini muffin tin, and threw everything in the oven for 10 minutes. While they baked, I cut marshmallows in half with a scissor and broke apart a giant bar of Hershey’s chocolate. I then topped the cookie muffins with the marshmallows and chocolate and broiled until they were cookie muffin s’mores. All in all, the process took 15 minutes. I shoved my half-homemade s’mores cookie muffins into a tin and brought them to work where I hoped none of my fancy food coworkers would notice. Guess what? NO ONE NOTICED.

The moral of the story? Boxed baking mixes aren’t anything to scoff at — especially when you add your own special touch. To corroborate my findings, I asked a few of our favorite bakers to confess a few favorite baking shortcuts of their own.

Here’s what they had to say.

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Filed under: Fitness