Baking cookies with children: tips and recipes

Why do children love to bake cookies?

Children love cutting out different shapes and decorating cookies with bright colors. The delicious results are then proudly presented to family and relatives. If you give them the opportunity to help out in the kitchen, you will give them confidence in their own powers. When baking Christmas cookies, children train their motor skills and take on responsibility. Especially in the run-up to Christmas, baking cookies together quickly creates a Christmassy atmosphere. But where hot ovens and other kitchen utensils are used, a few rules should be observed, especially with children. The following ten basic tips make baking with children a special experience. Of course, you can also apply most of the rules to cooking with children.

Tips for baking cookies with children

• Time: When you start baking in the pre-Christmas period, you need above all a lot of time and peace, because under time pressure mistakes can occur. If you take a few hours with your children to bake the first Christmas cookies of the year, it will definitely promote harmony and serenity for everyone involved.
• What do you need to bake cookies?: Children should not only be involved in baking, but should also be included in the preparation and planning of the day. For example, you can do the shopping together. In this way, your children will get to know the baking ingredients better.
• Which cookies to bake with children:  Since children quickly lose interest, it is always better if you limit yourself to just one or two cookie recipes. Of course, you can choose the recipes together with your children. This gives them the feeling of being able to have a say in the baking process right from the start.
• Encourage independence: It is important that children are allowed to do a lot of baking themselves, as this promotes their self-confidence. Afterwards, they can proudly report that they baked and decorated the cookies all by themselves. Of course, you can still offer a helping hand.
• Allocation of tasks: Give your child an age-appropriate task. Small children love to knead the dough. Give them a piece of dough that they can use to cut out cookies. Primary school children can weigh the ingredients or use the hand mixer. It’s exciting and challenges you.
• Safety: When baking cookies you will definitely work with a hand mixer and use the hot oven. Never leave your child alone with these kitchen appliances as they could injure themselves. It shouldn’t be taking the hot baking sheet out of the oven on its own, either.
• Fast results: Choose a simple recipe with few ingredients, because this leads to fast results and motivates your child. It is best to choose a dough that you can process immediately without long waiting times. With batter, your children can vigorously swing the wooden spoon and scrape out the bowl afterwards.
• Decoration: Make sure that your children can decorate the cookies nicely. Colorful pearls, chocolate chips, couverture or icing sugar conjure up great patterns and motifs on monotonous cookies. Your children can let off steam creatively! We have put together some ideas for decorating cookies in our practical tips for you.
• Praise: Even if not everything is perfect when baking cookies: You should praise your little baker’s apprentices as often as possible, because this will boost their self-confidence and they will be enthusiastic about the next baking afternoon.
• Dishwashing: What is started together should also be finished together. For your child, washing the dishes is just as much a part of baking as eating the cookies later. When you’re waiting for the delicious masterpieces, time flies by.
• Extra tip – cookies as a gift: Your child will surely burst with pride when they can give away the homemade cookies to grandma and grandpa or friends. Simply pack it in a nice bag and the perfect Christmas present is ready.

Bake cookies: delicious recipes

• Witch cottage made from butter biscuits
• Chocolate cornflakes pile
• Chocolate Amaretti
• Duchess Cookies
• Burgenland
• Polo Nero
• hazelnut butter
• Colorful Christmas cookies
• Christmas stollen muffins
• Peanut Cookies
• Shortcrust pastry with honey

After the cookies have been baked, the advent calendars have been bought or made – all that’s missing is the Christmas decorations for the beautiful advent season. Check out our post “ Crafts for Christmas: Beautiful DIY Craft Ideas ” for lots of great ideas.