Learning how to bake can start at any age!

Whether your budding chef is still developing those fine motor skills or dreams of owning a bakery of their very own someday, there are so many ways to help children start to find their way around the baking process. Adding ingredients to the mixing bowl is just the beginning: kids of all ages can also stir, decorate, spread, and beyond. The easy baking recipes for kids below are designed with steps to help your little ones feel comfortable and confident in the kitchen.

Easy ways to get kids involved in the kitchen

• Pre-measure ingredients in bowls so that kids can simply dump and stir.
• Prepare your greased or lined pans ahead of time, then let the kids pour in the batter.
• Get creative with decorations! Even if the recipe doesn't call for them, sprinkles, chopped nuts, and dried fruit are fun for kids to work with.
• Use baking as an opportunity for an impromptu science lesson! Start by exploring the role of each ingredient with your child. For example, the proteins in flour are what give baked goods their structure, fats like butter and oil grab onto flavor molecules and make those muffins and cakes yummy, eggs have special proteins that give baked goods a certain texture depending on how they're used in the recipe, and sugar can add a "crunch" to certain baked goods when it caramelizes in the oven.

1. Strawberry Sheet Cake

Kid-friendly steps:

• Breaking, mashing, or (carefully!) chopping up the strawberries
• Dumping all ingredients into the bowl and stirring the batter together
• Spreading the batter in an even layer in the pan
• Spreading the frosting on the cake

Tips:

• Substitute regular flour for the oat flour and use any kind of yogurt (low-fat, berry-flavored, Greek) that your kids like
• Have the kids top the cake with sprinkles, chopped nuts, or shredded coconut

2. Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

Kid-friendly steps:

• Dumping all ingredients into the bowl and stirring the batter together
• Sprinkling in chocolate chips and blueberries and helping incorporate them into the batter

Tips:

• Rather than a combination of the two, use all whole wheat or all all-purpose flour if preferred

3. Healthier Carrot Cake Bars

Kid-friendly steps:

• Dumping all ingredients into the bowl; stirring together the dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and combining the two
• Spreading the batter out in the pan
• Spreading the frosting on the cake

Tips:

• Swap the cream cheese frosting for your favorite vanilla buttercream recipe
• Top the finished bars with sprinkles, chopped nuts, raisins, or even toasted coconut

4. Veggie and Quinoa Egg Bites

Kid-friendly steps:

• Adding the ingredients to the bowl and helping stir them together

Tips:

• A little extra cheese only makes these muffins tastier, so as a fun last step, have the kids sprinkle some on top

5. Fresh Cranberry Orange Bread

Kid-friendly steps:

• Adding all the ingredients to the bowl (they all go in at the same time, so this step is great for the little ones!)
• Stirring the batter together
• Spreading the batter in the pan

Tips:

• Leave the cranberries out of your bowl until the end so that kids can help sprinkle them on top and mix them into the batter

6. Coconut Cake Balls

Kid-friendly steps:

• Adding the ingredients to the cake mix and stirring everything together
• Breaking up the cooked cake into crumbs
• Mashing the cake and frosting together
• Forming the cake balls
• Rolling the cake balls in coconut (this might get a little messy, but it'll be a lot of fun!)

Tips:

• Virtually any standard boxed cake mix or frosting will work for this recipe, so don't be afraid to try out different flavors!

7. Grasshopper Sandwich Cookies

Kid-friendly steps:

• Stirring together the cookie batter
• Scooping and shaping the dough balls
• Stirring together the filling
• Topping and squishing the cookies into a sandwich
• Sprinkling the chopped candy on top

Tips:

• In a pinch, use milk in place of the cr√®me de menthe and add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract to flavor your filling

8. Baked Mint Chocolate Donuts

Kid-friendly steps:

• Dumping stirring together the ingredients
• Sprinkling the candy topping over the chocolate glaze

Tips:

• Use your favorite candy, finely chopped, in place of the candy canes

9. Donut Muffins

Kid-friendly steps:

• Stirring together the ingredients and combining the wet and dry ingredients
• Scooping batter into muffin cups
• Dipping muffin tops in melted butter, then rolling in spiced sugar

Tips:

• Use a mini muffin tin to make these donut muffins bite sized; perfect for lunchboxes!
• Use your favorite spices for the topping (cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc.) or eliminate them completely

10. Strawberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Kid-friendly steps:

• Stirring together the bar ingredients (mashing the wet ingredients into the dry ones can be extra fun for the kids)
• Pressing the bottom layer of dough into the pan

Tips:

• Leave the lemons out if you don't have any on hand, or substitute orange juice or zest instead
• Swap the strawberry jam for your favorite flavor

11. Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Muffins

Kid-friendly steps:

• Mashing the bananas
• Dumping all the ingredients into the mixing bowl and stirring everything together
• Sprinkling and mixing in the chocolate chips
• Sprinkling the oats on top of the muffins

Tips:

• Use melted butter, canola oil, or vegetable oil in place of the coconut oil
• If you don't have whole wheat flour on hand, simply swap it out for all-purpose flour

12. Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Muffins

Kid-friendly steps:

• Crumbling the bacon
• Adding ingredients to the bowl and stirring them together

Tips:

• A little extra cheese only makes these muffins tastier, so as a fun last step, have the kids sprinkle some on top

*Wondering about substitutions for nuts, specialty ingredients, whole wheat flour, and more in these easy baking recipes for kids? Send us an email at kindnesscrew@nelliesfreerange.com and we'll help!