This week’s article is a follow-up to last week’s post on holiday crafts. Baking is often synonymous with the holidays; however, baking can be time consuming and difficult to plan with busy schedules. Below you will find some simple projects that you can complete with young children. These recipes require only a few ingredients but are delicious and eye-catching at any event or simply as an after school snack.
Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
These cookies are delicious and also very fun to make! For this recipe, you will need:
- 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. of baking soda
- ½ tsp of kosher salt
- 1 stick of softened butter
- ¾ cup smooth peanut butter
- ½ cup of brown sugar
- ¼ cup of granulated sugar (and more for rolling the cookie dough balls in)
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp of milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- Hershey Kisses
- Preheat the oven to 375°.
- Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. This is a great activity for your youngest children to take on! No mixer needed, just a whisk.
- In a different and larger bowl, use a handheld mixer to beat butter and peanut butter until smooth.
- Add brown and granulated sugar to the peanut butter and butter mixture. Mix until fluffy.
- Add in the egg, milk, and vanilla, and mix until combined.
- Add in the dry ingredients from the small bowl, being careful not to overmix.
- Pour additional granulated sugar onto a plate.
- Roll about 2 tbsp. worth of dough into a ball. Then roll the ball through the extra granulated sugar on the plate (this is a great and fun activity for young helpers to take on).
- Place your cookie dough balls on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, until they are puffed.
- While the cookies are baking, remove the foil from your Hershey Kisses (this is another great and fun job for little hands!).
- As soon as your cookies come out of the oven, top them with a Hershey Kiss!
These cookies are wonderful warm right out of the oven, or make beautiful holiday gifts for neighbors!
Festive Sugar Cookies
These cookies look impressive, but could not be easier to make.
I purchased Pillsbury Sugar Cookies and Pillsbury Elf Cookies, but any of the holiday patterned sugar cookies will do!
You bake the plain sugar cookies following the package directions for about two minutes. Then take the cookies out of the oven and place the patterned sugar cookies in the center of the plain sugar cookies. Let the cookies finish baking and remove them from the oven.
For added impact, you can roll the base sugar cookies in sprinkles before baking.
Milano Reindeer Cookies
These cookies turn out a bit messy, but are a delight to make with children.
You start by purchasing some Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies, pretzels, M&Ms, and melting chocolate.
Begin by asking for some help sorting M&Ms. It is up to your little helpers to choose the color for the reindeer eyes and noses. Break your pretzels into antler-sized pieces. Then melt your chocolate; this will serve as the “glue” with which to secure your reindeer’s features. Once your chocolate is melted, you can either dip your pretzels and M&Ms directly into the chocolate (more messy, but maybe more fun?) or you can use a small tool, such as a toothpick, to place dots of chocolate on the cookies and then add the M&Ms and antler pretzels.
These are fun to make, tasty, and very festive!
Hot Chocolate Bar
If there is truly no time to bake, you cannot go wrong with a hot chocolate bar. Put some of your children’s favorite toppings out in small accessible cups, heat some milk, and let them get to it.
Bringing it Together
Baking can be a great way to connect during the holidays. Whether you are hosting a party or just trying to create some holiday magic at home, baking can help you and your loved ones share a special moment. However, the last weeks of December are often overwhelming at the same time. I hope the recipes and quick tips in this post offer an example of how you can simplify holiday baking. You do not need 500 ingredients or to make a total mess of your kitchen in order to create sweet holiday memories!