The strangest toys on wish lists this year

Here’s a holiday recipe you probably haven’t made yet.

First, pour two brightly colored powders into a bowl. Then add water and mix until a dough-like substance is formed. Place that in an animal shaped baking pan, remove it and place it in a plastic oven. Set a timer for 90 seconds; When you hear a noise, open the oven. What’s in it? A smiling stuffed animal with big, pleading eyes. Squeeze it and you’ll notice that its soft body is not only warm, but also smells of cinnamon.

Such is the alchemy of Cookeez Makery, one of the stranger toys to be released ahead of the holidays this year. Combining elements of Build-A-Bear and the Easy-Bake Oven, the toy has enticed children and adults with its ability to seemingly transform a blob of porridge into a warm, dessert-scented creature that resembles a dog, cat or rabbit.

Jennifer Jack, 35, recently bought a Cookeez Makery for her daughter after they saw a commercial for it on TV. “She said, ‘I want that!’” said Ms. Jack, who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. “And I looked at it, and I thought, that looks weird.”

Mara Warren, 26, who has a 2-year-old daughter, was also amazed by the toy after seeing posts about it on social media. “I didn’t understand how it worked,” she said.

Ms. Warren, who lives in Austin, Texas, added that even after she bought it and started using it at home, she still found Cookeez Makery baffling. “When I did it, I thought, what the heck?” she said.

The toy’s apparent baking performance is actually achieved with shelves moving in the oven when the door is closed and the timer is set. Essentially, the doughy mixture goes on the bottom shelf and as the timer ticks down, that shelf lowers while an upper shelf containing the stuffed animal lowers into place.

Sweet-smelling pellets embedded in the plush body of the animal give it a freshly baked aroma. When you squeeze for three seconds, the battery-powered cuddly toy starts to heat up and make beeping sounds. If the animal does nothing for two minutes, it goes into a sleep mode until it is pinched again.

Mrs Jack said her 4-year-old daughter and her 7-year-old son have not lost interest in the oven since they first used it. “The surprise hasn’t worn off yet,” she said, even though they’ve figured out how it works.

Adrienne Appell, executive vice president of marketing communications at The Toy Association, a trade group, said the element of surprise was just one call from Cookeez Makery. The toy is also a draw, Ms. Appell said, because it includes a new stuffed animal and gives children the opportunity to imitate their parents in a kitchen.

“They cook just like mother,” she said. “But instead of a cookie that everyone is going to eat, they get their own magical friend.”

Released in August, Cookeez Makery was created by Moose Toys in Australia; the manufacturer’s retail price is $35, but it may vary depending on the seller.

The toys are inspired by all the baking done during the pandemic, said Ronnie Frankowski, the company’s global president. Many designers at Moose Toys got into baking at that time and began thinking about ways toys could evoke the experience of pulling a just-made treat out of the oven.

“You open that oven door,” Mr. Frankowski said, “and the smell and the warm coziness come out.”

“It’s an incredible moment,” he added, “like a surprising revelation.”

He said that while testing versions of the toy with children during the production process, the company found that “children love the surprise for themselves the first time, and then love to perform the surprise for others,” like a magic trick.

Mrs. Warren had another takeaway after she and her daughter used the Cookeez Makery she purchased.

“I feel like if you wanted to do it again,” she said, “you would just buy another one.”