Duncan Hines
Duncan Hines is a brand is now owned by Conagra Brands, having been reunited with the company through its acquisition of Pinnacle Foods in 2018.
Read more about the history of the company after the list of recipes.
Join our Vintage Recipe Facebook Group to discuss and find “new” old recipes to enjoy.
Links to find other recipes:
Duncan Hines Recipes
Below are the Duncan Hines recipes we have published to date. As more are published, we will update the page.
If you know the years these were published, please comment below so we can update our articles and this article.
These recipes use a Duncan Hines cake mix as the base to create something even more delicious than the original cake.
Duncan Hines Recipes
Duncan Hines Cake Recipes
Duncan Hines Cookie Recipes
Duncan Hines Cobbler Recipes
History of Duncan Hines
Duncan Hines was an American pioneer of restaurant ratings for travelers. He is best known today for the brand of food products that bears his name.
He worked as a traveling salesman for a Chicago printer, and he had eaten many meals on the road across the United States by 1935 when he was 55. At this time, there was no American interstate highway system and only a few chain restaurants, except in largely populated areas. Therefore, travelers depended on getting a good meal at a local restaurant. Hines and his wife began assembling a list for friends of several hundred good restaurants around the country.
In 1952 was the first foray into baked goods by Duncan Hines introducing his bread to the world through the Durkee’s Bakery Company of Homer, New York. Principals Michael C. Antil Sr., Albert Durkee, and Lena Durkee were the bakery proprietors.
By 1953, Hines sold the right to use his name and the title of his book to Roy H. Park to form Hines-Park Foods, which licensed the name to a number of food-related businesses. Hines and Roy Park form Hines-Park Foods, Inc. with the purpose of bringing high-quality foods to the American household. They produce over 250 canned, bottled and boxed products featuring the Duncan Hines label.
The cake mix license was sold to Nebraska Consolidated Mills in Omaha, Nebraska, which developed and sold the first Duncan Hines cake mixes.
In 1957, Nebraska Consolidated Mills sold the cake mix business to the U.S. consumer products company Procter & Gamble. The company expanded the business to the national market and added a series of related products.
At 55, Hines and his wife sent a list of 167 recommended establishments to their friends as a Christmas present. Hines self-publishes “Adventures in Good Eating,” an expanded list of recommended restaurants. It becomes so popular he publishes a guide to the best hotels and motels.
Hines-Park Foods merges with Procter & Gamble. Within a short time, Duncan Hines introduces cake mixes, which are marketed nationwide along with other items under the brand name.
Resources:
Disappointed with Duncan
Saturday 2nd of July 2022
Duncan Hines cake mix is now garbage. They have ruined all my old recipies. Even when adding additional cake mix to the old 18.5 oz, they aren’t the same. Their team screwed with the recipe when then lowered the ounces of product in the box. The crumb of the cake is not at all near the same as it was. So disappointed in this brand now. I will no longer purchase it.
Sandra Farrior
Monday 20th of February 2023
@Disappointed with Duncan, when added 1/2 c.oil, the cake don't seem as when using 1/3 c.oil
Linda brown
Monday 20th of September 2021
Can I use your pineapple supreme cal mix to make upside down cake? What would I need to adjust? Thanks
Sandy Miller
Monday 30th of November 2020
My aunt is searching for an old Duncan Hines cookie recipe that her aunt made. I'm guessing it's from the 1970's (ish!). It was the DH brownie mix with a few additional ingredients wrapped around a Hershey Kiss. The dough was stiff, the cookie didn't flatten when baked, and the Kiss retained its shape. She said they were called Bon Bons. Have you run across anything like this? Thanks so much!
Sharonlee K Johnson
Saturday 3rd of October 2020
Dear Sir:
I have a number of old recipes which were created when Cake mix boxes contained 18+ oz. of mix contents. I want to make one of these cakes soon and would like to know how to adjust the recipe. The recipe calls for 1 yellow cake mix (181/2 oz.), 1 3 3/4 oz pkg. vanilla pudding mix, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup cold water, 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup dark rum. If I want a cake of comparable size how much of a second mix should I use? I never measured out the cup amount that was in the old box. I don't have a food scale to measure out the weight of the contents. Appreciate help in being able to adjust these recipes so I can continue to enjoy them. Thank you Sharon Johnson