These easy baking recipes for kids are designed to make cooking together simple, enjoyable and manageable. Children can help weigh ingredients, count spoonfuls, mix, shape and decorate while an adult handles the oven, hot equipment and sharper utensils.
Baking together can support communication, coordination, confidence and early mathematical understanding. Best of all, children can enjoy sharing something they helped to make.
The recipes below are suitable for family baking with appropriate adult supervision. Adapt each activity to your child’s age, abilities and dietary needs.
Why Try Easy Baking Recipes for Kids?
Easy baking recipes for kids introduce measuring, mixing and following instructions through a meaningful everyday activity. Measuring ingredients introduces quantities and numbers, while mixing, pouring and shaping can help develop coordination and control.
Children can also learn new words, follow a sequence and observe how ingredients change when they are combined or heated. The Department for Education explains that food activities can support healthy eating, turn-taking, language and positive relationships. Read its guidance on planning food activities with children.
Making Easy Baking Recipes for Kids Safely
Always supervise children closely in the kitchen and decide which jobs are appropriate for their age and development.
- Wash hands before preparing or eating food.
- Check ingredients carefully for allergies and intolerances.
- Keep children away from hot ovens, hobs, trays, pans and melted ingredients.
- Adults should handle sharp knives, graters and hot equipment.
- Do not allow children to taste uncooked batter or dough containing raw flour or egg.
- Cook food thoroughly and allow it to cool before serving.
- Supervise young children while they are eating.
The NHS children’s food-safety guidance provides further information about preparing, cooking and storing food safely.
1. Banana and Oat Cookies
These soft cookies are a simple introduction to baking and use the natural sweetness of ripe bananas.
Makes: approximately 12 cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas.
- 180g rolled oats.
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- 1 tablespoon rapeseed or vegetable oil.
Method
- Ask an adult to heat the oven to 180°C, 160°C fan or gas mark 4 and line a baking tray.
- Mash the bananas thoroughly in a large bowl.
- Add the oats, cinnamon and oil, then mix until combined.
- Leave the mixture for five minutes so the oats begin to soften.
- Spoon 12 small portions onto the tray and flatten them slightly.
- An adult should bake them for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly golden and set.
- Allow the cookies to cool before serving.
Children can help with: peeling and mashing the bananas, measuring the oats and shaping the cookies.
2. Simple Iced Biscuits
Children can cut these biscuits into different shapes and decorate them after they have cooled completely.
Makes: approximately 16 biscuits
Ingredients
- 100g unsalted butter, softened.
- 75g caster sugar.
- 1 medium egg.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- 250g plain flour, plus a little for dusting.
- 100g icing sugar.
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water.
Method
- Ask an adult to heat the oven to 180°C, 160°C fan or gas mark 4 and line two baking trays.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until combined and creamy.
- Add the egg and vanilla, then mix again.
- Add the flour gradually and bring the mixture together into a soft dough.
- Chill the dough for approximately 20 minutes.
- Roll it to approximately 5mm thick on a lightly floured surface and cut out the biscuits.
- An adult should transfer them to the trays and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden.
- Allow the biscuits to cool completely.
- Mix the icing sugar with enough water to produce a thick icing, then decorate the biscuits.
Children can help with: mixing, rolling, cutting shapes and decorating cooled biscuits.
3. Butterfly Cakes
These small sponge cakes are easy to portion and provide a creative decorating activity.
Makes: 10 cakes
Ingredients
- 110g unsalted butter, softened.
- 110g caster sugar.
- 2 medium eggs.
- 110g self-raising flour.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- 1 tablespoon milk.
- 75g unsalted butter, softened, for the buttercream.
- 150g icing sugar.
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract for the buttercream.
Method
- Ask an adult to heat the oven to 180°C, 160°C fan or gas mark 4 and place 10 cases in a cupcake tin.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.
- Add the eggs gradually, mixing between each addition.
- Fold in the flour, vanilla and milk.
- Divide the mixture between the cases.
- An adult should bake the cakes for approximately 15 minutes, until risen and cooked through.
- Transfer them to a wire rack and leave them to cool completely.
- For the buttercream, beat the butter until soft, then gradually mix in the icing sugar and vanilla.
- An adult should cut a small circle from the top of each cake and cut it in half.
- Add a little buttercream and position the two cake pieces on top as butterfly wings.
Children can help with: measuring, mixing, placing the cases in the tin and decorating cooled cakes.
4. Chocolate Crispy Cakes
Chocolate crispy cakes require no baking, although an adult must melt and handle the warm chocolate mixture.
Makes: 12 cakes
Ingredients
- 150g milk or dark chocolate, broken into pieces.
- 50g unsalted butter.
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup.
- 100g crisped rice cereal.
Method
- Place 12 paper cases in a cupcake tin.
- An adult should gently melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup together.
- Allow the mixture to cool slightly while remaining liquid.
- Add the crisped rice and stir until it is evenly coated.
- Spoon the mixture into the cases.
- Refrigerate until set.
Children can help with: arranging the cases, measuring the cereal, stirring the cooled mixture and filling the cases.
Avoid decorating cakes for young children with whole nuts, hard sweets or other small, hard foods that may present a choking risk.
5. Mini Vegetable Quiches
Not every baking activity needs to be sweet. These small vegetable quiches provide opportunities to explore different colours, textures and savoury ingredients.
Makes: 12 mini quiches
Ingredients
- 1 sheet of ready-rolled shortcrust pastry.
- 3 medium eggs.
- 100ml milk.
- 60g grated cheddar cheese.
- 75g finely chopped, cooked vegetables, such as peas, sweetcorn, pepper or broccoli.
- A small amount of oil or butter for greasing.
Method
- Ask an adult to heat the oven to 190°C, 170°C fan or gas mark 5 and lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin.
- Cut 12 pastry circles large enough to line the muffin holes.
- Press one pastry circle gently into each hole.
- Whisk the eggs and milk together.
- Divide the cooked vegetables and cheese between the pastry cases.
- An adult should carefully pour in the egg mixture without overfilling the cases.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the filling is completely set and the pastry is golden.
- Allow the quiches to cool before removing them from the tin and serving.
Children can help with: pressing in the pastry, whisking the eggs and adding the cooked vegetables and cheese.
6. Apple and Cinnamon Muffins
These lightly spiced muffins contain grated apple, which helps keep them soft.
Makes: approximately 10 muffins
Ingredients
- 200g self-raising flour.
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- 50g caster sugar.
- 1 medium apple, peeled, cored and grated by an adult.
- 1 medium egg.
- 150ml milk.
- 60ml rapeseed or vegetable oil.
Method
- Ask an adult to heat the oven to 190°C, 170°C fan or gas mark 5 and place 10 cases in a muffin tin.
- Mix the flour, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, milk and oil together.
- Add the wet ingredients and grated apple to the flour mixture.
- Fold everything together until just combined. Avoid overmixing.
- Divide the mixture between the cases.
- An adult should bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, until risen and cooked through.
- Allow them to cool before serving.
Children can help with: measuring, whisking, mixing and filling the muffin cases.
Learning Through Children’s Baking Activities
The finished food is only one part of the activity. Baking can introduce children to:
- Early mathematics: counting, weighing, measuring and comparing quantities.
- Communication: listening to instructions, asking questions and learning new vocabulary.
- Physical development: pouring, stirring, rolling and shaping ingredients.
- Understanding the world: observing how ingredients change when mixed, cooled or heated.
- Personal and social development: taking turns, making choices and sharing the finished food.
Allow children to complete manageable jobs and accept that the finished result may not look perfect. The experience of participating is more valuable than producing identical cakes or biscuits.
Enjoying Easy Baking Recipes for Kids Together
These easy baking recipes for kids provide a starting point for enjoyable family cooking. You can simplify the steps, reduce the quantities or adapt the ingredients according to your child’s age and dietary needs.
Cakes, biscuits and chocolate treats are best enjoyed occasionally as part of a varied diet. For information about food and nutrition at Hunny Pot Nursery, visit our Our Menus page.
At Hunny Pot Nursery, children have opportunities to learn through practical, age-appropriate experiences. You can discover more ideas in our guide to nursery activities children will love.
To meet the team and explore the nursery, book a nursery tour.