12 Days of Christmas – Day 1 – New KitchenAid mixer

I have been using a KitchenAid stand mixer for years. Mine has travelled from our old downtown Toronto condo to our home outside of the city where I have resided for the last seven years. It’s still going strong and remains one of my kitchen’s most versatile and often used small appliances. With that said, over the years, there are a few things I realize I wish it had or did. So, if someone were to place the new KitchenAid Artisan mixer under my tree, I wouldn’t be mad at them.

Check out all 12 Days of Christmas gifts

What you should know about the new KitchenAid mixer

The latest mixer in the line-up is the new KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer, which my colleague Shelly Wutke reviewed last month. While some prefer stand mixers without one, a tilt-head like the one available on this model is one feature I wish my KitchenAid stand mixer had. It makes it simple to add ingredients without having to remove the bowl or hold the measuring cup just so. That’s especially useful for recipes where you have to do things like add a bit of flour at a time.

Equipped with a 325-watt motor and 10 speeds, this mixer can handle every task you throw at it, from a light stir to a powerful whip. Indeed, it comes with attachments for whipping, blending, mixing, and even kneading dough for homemade bread or pizza crust. There’s also a pastry beater, which Shelly found works wonderfully for cutting butter into flour for recipes like homemade scones. That’s a game-changer if you typically use a grater, fork, or pastry blender to manually do this task.

Some great additions to the KitchenAid Stand Mixer

The pouring shield is a nice touch, too. It can assist when pouring wet ingredients into a mix, like a touch of vanilla for cheesecake batter or flavoured extract for holiday sugar cookies. With the shield, you can avoid messy splatters and spills. The mixer also comes with a bench scraper that Shelly loves for keeping her scones in uniform shape before slicing them.

Another great addition is the inclusion of not just one but two bowls: a 5-quart bowl to handle larger jobs (think three-dozen cookies for the school bake sale) and a smaller 3.5-quart for smaller jobs (think homemade icing for your delectable banana bread loaf). Both are dishwasher-safe, which makes clean-up a breeze.

Available in some seriously stunning colours like Cast Iron, Pistachio, Contour Silver, and Medallion Silver, the new KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer is a showpiece for the kitchen, too.

The gift that keeps on giving

One reason I particularly love KitchenAid stand mixers is for the Attachment Hub at the top. You open the circular cover to reveal a magical screw hole inside where you can attach numerous optional accessories. This makes the machine even more versatile.

I own the pasta roller and cutter set, and it’s absolutely amazing for rolling pasta and cutting your own linguine or spaghetti noodles at a desired thickness and width. Or, simply roll out flat and wide pieces for homemade lasagna.

But there are so many other hub accessories. Some can spiralize vegetables grind meat, grate cheese, slice and dice vegetables and fruit, juice fruits, and more. There’s even a unique bowl for making homemade ice cream.

Once you have this machine, you can add to the mix (pun intended) with new attachment accessories every season or occasion (or when a killer sale arises). If this is a gift for someone special, a new accessory for it will keep it fresh and exciting for years to come. This KitchenAid stand mixer will quickly become the most used small appliance in the kitchen.

Find the new KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer at Best Buy Online.

Take a look at our 12 days of Christmas posts

• Day 1 – a new KitchenAid mixer
• Day 2 – Epson EcoTank printer
• Day 3 – Everything Fitbit
• Day 4 – Samsung Neo QLED TV
• Day 5 – Lego
• Day 6 – BenQ projector
• Day 7 – KitchenAid coffee maker
• Day 8 – Arlo cameras
• Day 9 – New smartphone
• Day 10 – Ebikes
• Day 11 – Sennheiser headphones
• Day 12 – Video games