Baking with Kids: 4 Easy Beginner Recipes for Little Ones in the Kitchen

As a mom to two boys, baking is a way for us to spend time together, learn reading and measuring and enjoy special bonding time. Pre-kids, I did not spend a lot of time in the kitchen admittedly.

Now that my 8-year-old has become interested in cooking and baking, I often find myself learning along with him. We love watching Kids Baking Championship together and trying new recipes.

Don’t be afraid to experiment even with recipes that are out of your comfort zone. We have definitely made cream puffs that were not puffy and kale chips that were more soggy than crispy. That’s part of the learning process. Here are some of our favorite easy beginner recipes!

Kodiak Cakes Muffins

You may have seen Kodiak Cakes pancake and waffle mix at your local grocery store. We normally have a box stashed in the pantry and recently found out they have a great muffin mix recipe. I actually found this by accident when we didn’t have quite enough mix to make pancakes, but had just enough for the muffins.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups Kodiak Cakes Buttermilk Power Cakes Flapjack and Waffle Mix
  • 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (any milk will work)
  • 1 egg lightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or brown sugar
  • 2 ripe bananas mashed (the riper the banana, the sweeter the muffin)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups or line muffin cups with muffin liners and set aside.

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and blend until smooth.

Fill muffin cups evenly. They will be close to full.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and inserted toothpick comes out slightly moist.

Ninjabread Cookies

This recipe is from the book The Ninjabread Man by C.J. Leigh and it’s one of our favorites. It’s a cute twist on the classic gingergread man story. You can find both the book and ninjabread cookie cutters on Amazon. Read the story together and then make the cookies!

Sift Into A Bowl And Mix:

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Beat Together In Another Bowl:

  • 1 farm fresh egg
  • 2/3 cup molasses
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 6 tablespoons softened butter

Directions:

Add dry ingredients slowly to wet mixture until well-blended. Cover and refrigerate for one hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour onto your board and your rolling pin as your work to keep the dough from sticking. Roll out a portion of the dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut out your gingerbread men with a floured cookie cutter. Or shape and hand press your gingerbread men if you don’t have a cookie cutter (make sure hands are floured). Place one inch apart on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes and then cool on a wire rack. Decorate with frosting, raisins or candy. This will make about 50 cookies.

Monkey Bread (recipe courtesy of Pear Tree Catering & Bakery)

The following two recipes are from our favorite local bakery where we love the giant chocolate chip cookies and take-out lunches on Fridays! During the recent stay at home order, the owner posted several kid-friendly recipes that I tested with my second grader (spoiler alert: we were all fans).

Ingredients:

  • Bundt pan
  • Pam baking spray
  • 3 packages Kroger jumbo ooey gooey cinnamon rolls
  • 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 stick of butter
  • Honey

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375. Cut your cinnamon rolls in quarters and place in a gallon ziploc bag.
Add your cinnamon and sugar to the bag and shake it up. Spray your bundt pan liberally and dump in your cinnamon rolls evenly around the pan. Top with melted butter and the extra topping (not the icing) that came with the cinnamon rolls. *If you couldn’t get the Kroger ooey gooey cinnamon rolls, up your butter to a stick and add 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Put that over top.*

Drizzle honey over the top and bake for 35 minutes or until it’s brown and the dough has reached the top of the pan. Let it cool for 15 minutes then flip it onto a plate. Top with all the icing, pour a glass a milk and eat while it’s still warm and gooey.

Pizza Bake (recipe courtesy of Pear Tree Catering & Bakery)

Ingredients:

  • Nonstick spray
  • 8×8 baking dish
  • 1 refrigerated pizza crust
  • 1 bag of pepperoni
  • You can add any toppings including diced red onion, sliced mushrooms, Italian sausage (cooked first), bell pepper or use a Hawaiian theme
  • 1 stick of salted butter
  • 1 Tbs minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • Marinara sauce for dipping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut up your pizza dough. Cut it into thick slices, cut it into quarters and separate the pieces out. Put it in a bowl or ziploc bag to mix. Melt butter then add garlic and Italian seasoning to your butter. If you used unsalted butter, add a little salt. Add butter mixture to your dough.

Add about 2 cups of mozzarella to a your dough. Add your toppings. Mix it all up then pour into a greased pan. Top with more mozzarella cheese. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. You want it to be bubbly, brown, and all melted.

Feeds 3-4 adults. Bake in an 8×8, but you can definitely double it for a 9×13 (be sure to let it bake a little longer if use you the larger pan). The leftovers are even good!

Lauren Davis
Lauren and her husband Dan live in El Dorado with their two boys (born 2011 and 2014). They have added a goldendoodle, a hedgehog and two cats to their family in recent years and are expecting a daughter to join their crew at the end of 2020! She is an elementary school secretary, a member of the Junior League of Wichita and the Tri-County CASA Board of Directors. Lauren spent much of her childhood in Lawrence, Kansas and moved to El Dorado about ten years ago after her husband graduated from pharmacy school. She gets by on a lot of coffee and loves all the messy, fun, wild and wonderful parts of being a mom.