There’s no better way to inspire a lifelong love of cooking and enjoying nutritious recipes in your little ones than by baking with kids.
The wonderful thing about doing so is that there’s no need to involve hot stoves or difficult-to-handle ingredients. Everyone can have their own distinct job and siblings can work together to stir, measure and pour. Not only is baking with kids a fun activity, but it helps with math, reading and motor skills, too.
Before we dive into baking recipes for kids, let’s cover some tips that will help everyone (mom and dad included) keep things clean, organized and fun in the kitchen.
1. Be Ready for the Mess
It’s no surprise that baking with younger kids goes hand-in-hand with making a mess. Be ready for flour spills, sugar on the floor and milk on the countertops by preparing beforehand. Have dish towels or wet cloths ready to mop up the spills!
2. Choose Age-Appropriate Recipes
Toddlers might enjoy time spent creating simple baked goods like thumbprint cookies or helping to mix in ingredients like chocolate chips or sprinkles. Older children may enjoy more complex baking recipes that challenge them a bit (like cinnamon scone bread or pancakes done in the shape of animals).
3. Read the Recipes Beforehand
As the adult guiding the process, make sure to provide a little adult supervision and read the recipes beforehand. This will help ensure that you know what’s going on ahead of time (and that you won’t get frazzled during the baking process when things get a little crazy as they tend to do while cooking with kids).
4. Let Everyone Have a Job
If you’re working with multiple kids or siblings, spend some time beforehand to talk about what particular jobs everyone will have. Maybe one child would rather sift the flour than whisk the eggs, or vice versa. Having the chat beforehand will make things run more smoothly and will make for a better baking experience off the baking sheet.
5. Taste Test!
No matter if these treats are being made for a bake sale or if they're for the family to munch on, enjoy the journey of baking together with your kids in the kitchen. And when your treat is ready, make sure to taste test the results!
If you’re looking for some great recipes to follow with your tiny bakers, give these a try.
Basic Preparation Instructions for Gluten Free Pancake Mix
Nothing says weekend fun for kids like whipping up a batch of pancakes in the morning. Our Gluten Free Pancake Mix needs only milk, melted butter or oil, and eggs to make a warm and wonderful start to your day. This mix can also be used as a batter for waffles. All you need to make your breakfast even better is whipped cream and toppings like fruit, nuts and pure maple syrup. On a cool weekend morning, pair these fluffy treats with a mug of hot chocolate for the kids and piping hot coffee for the parents (keep in mind, a dollop of that extra whipped cream stirred in tastes just divine).
Bunny Breakfast Pancakes
These whimsical Bunny Breakfast Pancakes came to Bob’s Red Mill courtesy of Leah Herring from Leah With Love. They’re perfect for a springtime Easter brunch but are fun to make with kids any time of year. Top your bunny pancakes with a raspberry nose, carrot whiskers and chocolate chip smile, and your little ones will be delighted to sit down and dive into their breakfasts.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Balls
This Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Ball recipe is easy to make and packed full of fiber and protein. It’s a kid-friendly snack perfect to throw in your bag and take to the beach, park or school. They’re not technically baked: simply combine the ingredients in a bowl, mix well and form into balls using a tablespoon or spring-handled scoop. Store them in an airtight container and enjoy!
Cinnamon Scone Bread
This incredible Cinnamon Scone Bread is a hybrid of monkey bread, pull-apart bread and scones that the Bob’s Red Mill team developed in partnership with Food52. Kids will love creating the streusel filling with Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and heavy cream. In addition, if this recipe becomes a family go-to, you can also use it to make traditional scones (check out the note at the bottom of the recipe for directions on how to do so).
Confetti Cake
All you have to do to radically transform our Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix into the perfect party cake is add some colored sprinkles! This is a great recipe to make with kids, as our cake mix comes prepared to make the baking process easy. Whip this up to bring to birthday gatherings or enlist the help of siblings to create a surprise cake for their brother or sister. Add the candles and a carton of ice cream and your celebration is complete! Keep in mind, if you want this cake to remain gluten free, double check to ensure your sprinkles or jimmies are gluten free, too.
Kid Approved Gingersnap Cookies
These Kid Approved Gingersnap Cookies make for crisp yet chewy cookies that kids will love. They’re an excellent cookie to create with your kids around the holidays, but can be made as a special treat any time of year. Use our Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour and add butter, organic cane sugar, brown sugar, molasses, eggs, ground ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, salt and baking soda. Kids will enjoy rolling the cookie dough into 1-inch balls, then rolling each ball into the cane sugar for a hint of festive sparkle.
M&M Party Cookies
This recipe comes to Bob’s Red Mill courtesy of Adell Goff from Baked in Arizona. Using a classic cookie base, she replaces chocolate chips with M&Ms, then adds colorful sprinkles to create the perfect party snacks. As the recipe headnote states, these cookies can be made for any holiday by simply changing up the color of the chocolate candies and sprinkles. Kids will love to help choose the candy colors at the grocery store, depending on the time of year. From Halloween cookies to Christmas cookies, the sweet treat options are endless.
Maple Glazed Oatmeal Cookie Sticks
These Maple Glazed Oatmeal Cookie Sticks fit perfectly in a lunch box and are easy to handle (even for the littlest of hands). They’re chewy and subtle in their sweetness. Loaded with oats, they’re a nutritious snack to hold kids over in between meals. In addition to Regular Rolled Oats, they’re made with butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, maple extract, Unbleached White All Purpose Flour, baking soda and salt. As an added bonus, the simple glaze is great for kids to throw together with powdered sugar, melted butter, milk and maple extract.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oat Bars
These simple no-bake bars feature just four ingredients: peanut butter, honey, Quick Cooking Rolled Oats and chocolate chips. Mix them together and refrigerate for one hour, and you'll have a wholesome no-bake breakfast or snack the whole family can enjoy!
Strawberry Jam and Butter Thumbprint Cookies
These classic Strawberry Jam and Butter Thumbprint Cookies can be found on our bags of conventional and organic Unbleached White All Purpose Flour and can be made with any sort of preserve you’d like. We find that during certain times of the year, our pantry is filled with homemade jellies from family and friends, so this tasty recipe finds its way to the top of our list quite often. The best part, of course, is having kids press their tiny thumbs into the center of the dough ball and filling each thumbprint with jam!
Healthy Thumbprint Cookies
If your kids enjoy making the thumbprint cookies above, try these Healthy Thumbprint Cookies which combine natural almond meal, Regular Rolled Oats, Whole Wheat Flour, ground cinnamon, salt, avocado oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract and Organic Coconut Sugar with your choice of jam. Once rolled into balls and coated with coconut sugar, bake for 10 minutes, allow to cool and dig in!
Coconut Almond Macaroons Three Ways
Though the idea of macaroons may at first seem intimidating, they’re actually quite easy to throw together! Combine Shredded Coconut and Almond Flour with granulated sugar and eggs, and then use simple additions to make lemon, chocolate, and strawberry macaroons. This is an excellent baking project to in the summertime when your kids have friends over for playdates. At the end of the day, put together a variety pack and send it home with each friend so the parents can taste test, too.
Whether you’re baking with kids or baking for kids, these recipes are sure to please.
Have any go-to baked goods you like to create with your kids in the kitchen? From cookies to bars and cakes, feel free to share them with us in the comments below! We’re always on the lookout for kid-friendly baking inspiration.
