We all know it can be hard to keep kids entertained and with the Christmas holidays coming up, everyone’s frantically trying to plan Christmas activities to deliver days packed with fun. One of my favourite things to do is get creative and do some Christmas baking – but when looking for ideas there’s just so much out there how can you decide! So, I’ve surfed the good old internet and highlighted our favourite recipes for Christmas baking with kids, so you don’t have to.
Top 4 recipes for Christmas baking with kids
Chocolate Reindeer Cookies
Kicking our Christmas baking with kids blog off with a bang, we have these chocolate reindeer cookies – and look how cute they are! This is a great recipe to follow if you’re sending you little ones to nursery or school with some treats, hosting a Christmas party or just ready to tackle 50 cupcakes!
Servings: 50
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
|
352g flour 1 ¼ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 171g butter 330g brown sugar 2 tbsp water 2 bags of chocolate chips 2 eggs ½ tsp almond extract 1 tub of chocolate icing |
Pretzels M&Ms Reese’s mini white peanut butter cups / white chocolate buttons White chocolate chips / chocolate balls |
Method:
-
Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Then, place the butter, brown sugar and water in a large saucepan; cook and stir it over a low heat until the butter has melted.
-
Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in your chocolate chips until it’s smooth. Then, stir in he eggs and extract, followed by the flour mixture from the start. Let the mixture stand until it’s firm enough to shape – usually about 15 minutes.
-
To freeze the dough, shape level tablespoonfuls of dough into balls; flatten each to less than half an inch thick. Then, put them in a covered container, separating the layers with waxed paper and freeze until they’re firm. (May be frozen for up to 3 months.)
-
To bake, preheat oven to 170°C. Place your frozen dough portions 2” apart on grease proof paper and bake until set - 12-14 minutes. Once cool enough to touch, remove them from the tray and leave on a cooling rack.
-
Spread the icing across the cookies and save a small amount for their mouths. Create the faces with white chocolate buttons or balls for the eyes; add peanut butter cups for their snouts, pretzels for antlers and M&M's for noses. Then, use the left-over icing to draw a mouth. Go crazy and create silly faces for your reindeer – it’s Christmas!
Gingerbread Friends
You can tailor this Christmas baking with kids’ idea to suit you – if you think they’ll only enjoy the decorating, you can buy pre-made gingerbread men and let them go crazy with the decorating, of if you think they’ll have some fun – then here is the recipe!
Servings: 15 – 20
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
175g dark muscovado sugar
85g golden syrup
100g butter
350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
Icing pens
Method:
-
Melt your sugar, golden syrup and butter in a saucepan and leave it to bubble for 1-2 mins. Then, leave it to cool for about 10 mins.
-
Tip the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices into a large bowl, add the warm syrup mixture and the egg, and stir it all together.
-
Gently knead in the bowl until it is smooth and streak-free. Don’t worry - the dough will firm up once it has cooled, so wrap it in cling film and chill for at least 30 mins.
-
Remove the dough from your fridge and leave at room temperature until softened. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line two baking trays with grease-proof paper.
-
Roll out the dough to the thickness of a £1 coin, then cut out your gingerbread people with a cutter. Re-roll the excess dough and keep cutting until it’s all used up.
-
Lift your friends onto the trays and bake for 10-12 mins, swapping the trays over halfway through cooking.
-
Leave them to cool for around 5 minutes – or until you can touch them, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
-
Use your icing pens to decorate the biscuits as you wish and stick-on chocolate or sweets for buttons. Leave to dry for 1-2 hrs and voila! Will keep for up to three days in an airtight container.
Snowmen Cupcakes
Now, these are the cutest cupcakes I’ve ever seen and Christmas baking with kids will now become your favourite Christmas activity every year! These are a little fiddlier option for Christmas baking with the kids, however getting them to mix and paint their own snowmen faces will keep them well entertained!
Servings: 12
Total time: 1 hour 5 min
Ingredients:
|
250g unsalted butter, softened 250g caster sugar 4 eggs 250g self-raising flour ½ tsp baking powder 1 tsp vanilla extract 12 tsp white chocolate spread |
100g dark chocolate 12 pink marshmallows 24 white marshmallows 125g butter, softened 250g icing sugar ½ tsp vanilla extract 12 matchmakers |
Method:
-
Heat the oven to 150°C and line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper cupcake cases – or spread the cases out on a flat baking tray.
-
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy – using a handheld whisk will give the best results.
-
One at a time add each egg, beating the mixture after each one. Then sift in the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Fold it through with a large spoon until just combined (not blended!), then stir through the vanilla extract.
-
Using half of the mixture, fill half the cupcake cases with a spoonful of mixture, add a tsp of white chocolate spread to the centre of each and then fill the rest of the case with the remaining mixture. Put your tray in the oven and bake for 16-18 mins, until golden – to test if they’re ready you can touch the top to see if it springs back. When they’re cool enough to touch, take them off the tray and leave to cool on a wire rack.
-
While they’re baking you can start to make the snowmen. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, then remove from the heat – or in the microwave but be sure to watch you don’t overdo it.
-
Line a flat baking tray with greaseproof paper. Poke a cocktail stick into the thinner end of a pink marshmallow and dip it into the chocolate, coating it. Place on the paper and, using the cocktail stick, spread the chocolate dripping down the sides in a circular motion so it looks like a brimmed top hat. Repeat until you have coated all 12 pink marshmallows, then make some room I the fridge and leave them to set. Reserve the leftover melted chocolate.
-
In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat again until well combined. Using a small palette knife – or just a normal knife, spread the butter icing over each of the cooled cakes. Save a little butter icing for sticking the marshmallows together.
-
Stick two white marshmallows together with a little butter icing you saved. Break each Matchmaker into 4 pieces and insert one on either side of the bottom marshmallow to make the snowman’s arms.
-
Using a paintbrush, cocktail stick, or skewer, draw eyes, a mouth, nose, and buttons with the leftover chocolate – or use icing pens. Repeat until you have 12 snowmen. Carefully top each cupcake with a snowman, pressing into the icing to hold him firm.
-
Insert a cocktail stick right through the heads of the snowmen and into the cakes, leaving a little of the stick protruding. You can use this to secure the hat. Carefully peel the hats off the baking paper and press into the cocktails sticks. Store in a cool place.
Christmas Cookie Ornaments
Saving my favourite until last – I love this idea for Christmas baking with kids because they love to show off their creations when they make things, and this gives them the perfect way by hanging it pride of place on the Christmas tree. These are also great because you can whip them up ahead of Christmas if needed, then store them in an airtight container in the freezer, leaving them until the kids are ready to decorate.
To see the full recipe of making your own icing, follow the link – however, to make it more fun and creative for the kids, we’ve put our spin on it.
Servings: 40 cookies (approx. 3”)
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients:
113g butter, softened
76g shortening
85g honey
201g sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
384g flour
¼ tsp salt
Icing pens in a variety of colours (for decoration)
Ribbon/string/rope (something to hang your ornament)
Method:
-
In a bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugar, then, beat in the honey, egg, and vanilla and gradually add the flour and salt.
-
Sprinkle some flour onto the side and roll your dough out across it – try and roll it out to just under an inch thick. Grab your cookie cutters, or just a knife and go crazy with some shapes – it can help to cover your cutters in flour, so they don’t stick. Then put your shapes on a greased tray / grease-proof paper.
-
Using a straw, make a hole in the top of each cookie – ensure it goes all the way through and remove the centre circle.
-
Bake the cookies at 350° for 6 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Take them out the oven and leave to cool in a wire cooling rack.
-
Once the cookies are fully cool, get your creative hat on and personalise your cookies just how you like with the icing pens. Write names and messages – perfect for giving as gifts or draw your favourite Christmas characters.
-
To create the hanging loops, take your ribbon, string, or rope, and cut 40 8” strips. Thread the strip through the hole in every cookie and tie the ends in a bow – and voila! Hang your cookies once the icing has set for all to appreciate.
We hope this has given you a few good ideas for filling the Christmas holidays with some Christmas baking with kids. If you decide to use an of these recipes for inspiration please snap a photo and tag us on Instagram @tiny.dining, we’d love to see the mess you got into and the end results!
As always, thanks for reading, and have a very Merry Christmas,
Love, the Tiny Dining Team