Christmas baking with kids:

I’ll be first to admit that I am a big Christmas baking fan. For the past 5 years a friend and I get together every Christmas to bake Christmas pies from scratch, and I pre-soak sultanas in rum a month out for the best rum balls. But grown-up treats aside. It has become a tradition to also do some extra Christmas baking with the kids. We do this so that we always have something fun on hand to take to the many Christmas catch ups we have happening over November and December now that everything is opening up.
So here are some of my favourite ways to get the kids involved in Christmas baking.

Decorate biscuits

I’m starting off with the easiest. This one is a bit of a cheating fun hack. In fact there is no baking at all. It is more of an activity to do with your little ones, especially if they have friends over. Milk arrowroot biscuits make the best base, but any will do… even TimTams. Simply set out a range of icing, coloured sprinkles, sugar pearls etc and let your little ones have fun decorating Christmas style. Also pretzels make great reindeer ears 😊. If you want to make it really easy on yourself, the kits from Cookie Cutter shop will do the trick.

Gingerbread man

My personal fave when it comes to baking with  the kids. The boys take turns weighing and adding all of the ingredients. And while I help with the rolling, mostly I let them put their playdough skills to work with the cutters to get a selection of Christmas shapes. Using the same decorations above plus smarties, I let the kids decorate a quarter of the batch each and I do the rest (I love my Christmas baking too much to relinquish total control). If you are looking for a good Gingerbread recipe, give this one a go.

Shortbread

A simple one that everyone loves. Get your little ones helping to measure out ingredients. It's a great way to introduce mathematical language such as fractions and units without being all 'Mathsy'. And when it comes to shortbread you can make the decorating as easy or hard as you like. You can use cookie cutters to make fun shapes or why not use a stamping rolling pin to add some Christmas fun in a different way. Here is a shortbread recipe which is perfect for cutters or using a stamping rolling pin.

Chocolate balls

As I mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of the real rum balls and get my sultanas soaking in rum a month out. But there is no way I would let my kids near those ones, let alone let them share in the baking. So last year I went on the hunt for a Christmas baking with kids friendly chocolate ball recipe. This year it looks better than ever. Check out these cute reindeer Christmas truffles.

Last but not least... Rocky Road

I love to give this one as gifts. And there are so many options of what you can add. Lollies, nuts, marshmallows; white, milk or dark chocolate... The options are endless. You can then pack them up in little bags and give them as gifts. Or take little plates to a Christmas catch up (maybe the nut free ones). Here is a recipe inspo to get you started.

So there you have it. 5 ideas to get your Christmas baking with kids on this year. Give us a tag if you give any of them a go... we'd love to share.