I am filling the pans at least 1/2 full, but maybe with a boxed cake it needs to be 3/4? I just figured a homemade cake would probably be thicker. I have done a "dream whip cake" and those come out nice and thick, but the edges of the cake always end up very hard.
By thin I mean my 9" rounds are coming out about 1" after leveling. I'm wanting them to be more like 1.5" closer to 2" after leveling.
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/2165/a-better-white-scratch-cake
I have used this one often and it is yummy and easy.
you say they're thin after leveling, do they have a large "hump" that you have to level? if so there are some thing you can do to help the cake bake more evenly so you don't have to trim off so much.
1) bake even strips (made by wilton and other manufacturers or you can make your own by cutting strips of a terry cloth towel and soaking it in cold water. Wrap around your pan and secure, you leave these on while it cooks in the oven.
2) use a heating core - Again, wilton makes one but it creates more of a plug in your cake. I like to use a metal flower nail (with the flat side down on the pan and the "nail" sticking up) in the middle of my pans.
the bake even strips around the outside slow down the cooking process on the outside so the middle has a chance to cook at the same time instead of the outside cooking faster and not rising as far.
the heating core will help bring heat to the middle of the cake so it cooks more evently with the outside edges of the cake.
In no way am i saying don't try a scratch recipe, but you may end up with the same problems anyways if you're cake has no large of a hump in the middle and the edes of the cake are not baking up higher.
Thanks so much Leily! Yes, I always end up w/ a hump at the top! I'm going to do a "practice" cake tonight! Trying the strips first, I'll have to research this heating core/metal flower nail. I've never heard of that before. But then again, I'm pretty new to all this jazz. 
deMuralist- Thanks for the link! I'll try that one!
Are you just using one cake mix split between two 9in rounds? If so that is the problem. The people that wrote the information on the back of the cake box apparently aren't concearned with getting nice pretty two in layers of cake.
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm
I use the above chart to figure out how much batter my pans need. I don't measure it out, since it doesn't have to be perfect, but it it is a helpful guide.
How much cake mix you get frorm a box depends on the brand as well as the flavors in that brand. DH mix makes around 5-6 cups of batter. White being closer to the 5, Golden Butter being at 6 and chocolate somewhere in the middle. BC and Phils make between 4-5 cups of batter. Again, white is at the lower end of the scale, chocolate in the middle.
Also if you doctor your mixes that changes how much they make, and will usually add a little more batter. There is also a recipe called an extender recipe that will give up about 2 more cups added to the cake mix when you use it.
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