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Sunday 8 April 2018

Top Tips For Baking With Your Children

Baking with your children always feels like such a good idea to begin with, doesn't it? There's something wonderfully wholesome about donning an apron and showing them how to make food. And if that something happens to be sugary and buttery, then we've already fast-forwarded in our minds to the post-bake sample session that with any luck will involve a hot cup of tea and two minutes peace. To me, that's the point of no return.

Top Tips For Baking With Kids - Mummy Wales Blog

The actual process of baking with children though? That's a minefield fit to test the courage of even the bravest soldier. Luckily for you, I've a few brilliant tips from my blogging buddies to hopefully make the experience more #instabaker than a scene resembling the aftermath of a natural disaster, with the attitude to match.

"Crack the eggs into a jug first so they can just pour then in without getting bits of shell in the mix."

"Invest in a mixer - hand-mixing = bored toddler!"

"Weigh everything out beforehand. Just put ingredients into smaller bowls they can tip straight in. Way less stress!"

"If they tend to be messy run a bath first that is a little too warm for them, then by the time you've done baking you can get them straight in the bath before sticky hands go everywhere!"

"Keep wipes handy for nose picks, bum scratches etc and take lots of pictures for the memories."
Mummy Of 5 Miracles

"We have little helper kitchen pods for our toddlers. It keeps them contained and at the right height. It's brilliant (particularly for the first of those two reasons!!)"

"Don't worry about the result just enjoy the making. Choose a fail safe recipe (macaroni cheese, fairy cakes) and remember that they are doing it so let them. They can mix and sprinkle and stir even from a really young age."
"I cook and bake with my nearly four year old all the time he loves it, even if it's just putting veg in a pan. I normally just do the baking in bowls sitting on the floor for less mess, quick and easy to clean. I use his plastic table as it's his height for any rolling. We make biscuits, cakes, and dinners together and he loves it. The main thing is don't get angry - stay calm and let them find their own way of doing things."

"Pre-heat the oven first. It really does speed up the cooking time and let's face it...kids are impatient. Also let them help wash up, by the time they've finished the cakes have cooked and their hands are clean too."

"Keep the paper chef hats from Pizza Express for home baking times with kids and tell them as soon as the hats are on, that's sensible baking time as a way of controlling the situation a little." 
Thrifty Mum

"Do it at granny's house so you don't have the mess!"

"Start small. Like melting chocolate and adding rice krispies small!"

"Be prepared for mess! My main tip is definitely only give the kids a bit of mixture in their own bowl to mix/stir/pour until their heart is content, and use the rest to make your own cake too. We love making fairy cakes for this exact reason - a few kiddy cakes and lots of nice mummy cakes."

"Doesn't always have to be from scratch - recipe mixes make baking fun, easy and instantly gratifying."

"Let them taste & lick the bowl at the end. The best bit. Also making something they can decorate goes down well."


Do you have any fail safe tips to add? I'd love to know!

Mission Mindfulness

10 comments:

  1. And take a deep breath before hand hahaha

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  2. Some great tips here , I love the one about having a bath run ready.

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  3. I love baking with my kids and these are great tips! I usually weight everything first and make sure I have everything ready. Both kids want to do everything and if there's only one egg required that always causes a problem as they both want to break one. After having something that was rather too eggy, these days I never leave the egg box on the table!

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  4. We baked banana muffins today. I yelled. They had fun. The muffins were good. It was worth it.
    #blogstravaganza

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  5. Love some of these! I love baking with my kids but yes, sometimes it can turn into a why did I agree to this again? moment lol

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  6. This is one of the perks of having multiple ages. My older kids can now teach the younger ones, meaning I can get tons of baking done, but I don't always have to be the one to do it!

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  7. These are great tips and I will certainly be taking note. I'm not the best baker so I need all the help I can get, especially if the littles are getting involved too! Xx

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  8. Fabulous baking tips with kids here. Thanks for including mine xx

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  9. Great tips! Here is another one.... Don't worry about mess! Enjoy the process and worry about clean up afterwards, focus on the moment and not on the mess being made.

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  10. What a brilliant post filled with great advice. I wish I'd read this when mine were younger. Pre-Measuring was a must for us. I also loved the cracking eggs into a jug idea! #thesatsesh

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