The easiest things to bake with kids are the old favourites: shortbread biscuits, banana bread, fairy cakes and chocolate cornflake cakes. All four use a handful of ingredients and give little hands something useful to do at every stage, from rubbing butter into flour to spreading the icing at the end.
Baking with kids is rarely tidy and never quite as quick as the recipe says, but it is also one of the better ways to spend a wet afternoon making special memories. The eleven recipes below are sorted by age and by how long they really take when a child is helping, so you can pick one that fits your day. Each starts with good Cornish butter, because when a bake has only a few ingredients, the butter needs to be the best butter you can find!
Table of Contents
What age can children start baking?
Children can start baking from around two years old, as long as the jobs are matched to their individual abilities. A two-year-old can stir, tip and mash. A five-year-old can measure and roll. By eight or nine, most children can follow a simple recipe with you nearby rather than beside them at every step.
The table below is a rough guide rather than a rule, since children vary enormously and you know yours better than any chart does. It follows the same progression used in the British Nutrition Foundation’s age-appropriate food skills framework, which maps how kitchen skills build from one age to the next.
| Age | What they can do | Best bakes to start with | Realistic time |
| 2 to 3 | Stir, tip in pre-measured ingredients, mash bananas, press dough, scatter toppings | Chocolate cornflake cakes, banana bread | 20 to 30 minutes of their attention |
| 3 to 5 | All of the above, plus spooning into cases, cutting shapes, rolling balls, brushing with milk | Shortbread biscuits, cheesy butter twists, jam thumbprints | 30 to 40 minutes |
| 5 to 8 | Weighing, levelling spoons, rubbing butter into flour, rolling out, icing and decorating | Fairy cakes, flapjacks, Cornish scones, rock cakes | 45 minutes to an hour |
| 8 and over | Reading and following the recipe, creaming butter and sugar, using the oven with supervision, timing | Chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread people, anything on this list | An hour or more, mostly unaided |
One thing worth knowing before you start. Flour is a raw ingredient, so raw dough and cake batter are not safe to taste, and the Food Standards Agency advises against it for young children in particular. Save a few chocolate chips in a separate bowl if you need something to hand over to hungry tots who can’t wait to taste the finished result.
Baking with toddlers (ages 2 to 3)
Two-year-olds are better bakers than people expect, as long as nothing depends on accuracy! Weigh everything out into small bowls before they arrive at the table, then let them tip and stir. They will likely lose interest somewhere around the twenty-minute mark, so choose a recipe that you can have in the oven before then.
Mashing is a satisfying job that you can’t get too wrong. Bananas or softened butter (and the back of a fork) are all you need.
Top tip: A tea towel laid down beforehand is a simple way to make cleaning up the inevitable floury mess on the floor much easier afterwards.
Start with: chocolate cornflake cakes, or banana bread.
Baking with preschoolers (ages 3 to 5)
This is the age where baking starts to feel like a shared activity. Three- and four-year-olds can spoon mixture into cases, press cutters into dough, roll balls between their palms, and make thumbprints for jam. Fine motor control is developing fast, and shaping jobs help it along.
Rolled and shaped bakes are ideal here (a wonky biscuit tastes the same as a neat one).
Start with: shortbread biscuits, cheesy butter twists, or jam thumbprints.
Baking with children aged 5 to 8
School-age children can start doing the parts that determine whether the bake works. Weighing on digital scales and levelling a teaspoon are real skills, and there is a noticeable shift in how seriously children take baking once they are trusted with them.
Rubbing in is a technique worth teaching at this age. It needs cold butter, light hands and a bit of persistence, and once a child can do it, they can make scones, rock cakes and shortcrust pastry for the rest of their life.
This is also the age for decorating, which many children enjoy more than the baking itself. Set out a few bowls of sprinkles and icing and let them get on with it.
Start with: fairy cakes, flapjacks, Cornish scones, or rock cakes.
Baking with children aged 8 and over
By eight or nine, most children can work through a recipe themselves while you stay within earshot.
Creaming butter and sugar takes steady effort and the arm strength to keep going. Taking the butter out of the fridge a good hour beforehand will make it much easier on them. This unlocks proper cookies, sponges and anything else that needs air beaten into it.
Oven use still needs supervision, and gloves rather than a folded tea towel. Beyond that, the useful thing you can offer at this age is restraint. Let them get it slightly wrong, work out why, and try again.
Start with: chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread people, or anything else on this list.
Five things that make baking with children easier
Just a few simple ideas to keep your baking time pleasant and not one that ends in tears (from you or the child!).
1. Pre-measure everything before you start
Weigh everything into small bowls before you call them into the kitchen. It takes five minutes, and once you start, all they have to do is tip and stir. With older children, you can hand the weighing back to them, since it is a useful practice and helps them learn about measuring.
2. Give every child a job
If two children are baking, decide who does what before either touches the bowl. One measures, one stirs, then swap. “You are in charge of the butter” holds a four-year-old’s attention far longer than “do you want to help?”
3 Choose bakes with five ingredients or fewer
Short ingredient lists are the single best predictor of a bake going well with children. Fewer steps, fewer things to go wrong, and the whole thing is finished before attention runs out. Save the layered, chilled, two-stage recipes for when they are older.
4. Use good butter, and take it out of the fridge early
Butter straight from the fridge is hard work for small arms. Take it out an hour before you start. Quality matters more here than in most recipes, because butter is the star of the show. In a shortbread biscuits recipe where the only other ingredients are flour and sugar, the butter provides the flavour. Our Cornish butter is churned using cream from grass-fed herds, which is what gives it the colour and the taste that comes through in a simple bake.
5. Set up for the mess rather than fighting it
There will be flour on the floor. Put a tea towel down, push everything breakable to the back of the counter, and accept it now rather than negotiating with it for the next forty minutes.
11 easy baking recipes for kids
Every recipe below uses metric measurements, standard UK oven temperatures and ingredients you can buy in any supermarket. They are ordered from easiest to hardest, so start near the top if this is a first attempt.
Easiest first: toddlers and preschoolers
3-Ingredient Butter Shortbread Biscuits
Total time: 45 minutes · Hands-on: 15 minutes · Ingredients: 3 · Ages: 3+
What the child does: rubs the butter into the flour, rolls out the dough, presses the cutters.
Ingredients
- 225g plain flour
- 150g salted butter, softened
- 75g caster sugar
Method
- Heat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan, gas mark 3). Line a baking tray.
- Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs.
- Stir in the sugar, then bring the mixture together into a dough with your hands.
- Roll out to about 1cm thick and cut into shapes.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until pale gold, not brown. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes before moving.
Makes: around 20 biscuits
Cheesy Butter Twists
Total time: 25 minutes · Hands-on: 10 minutes · Ingredients: 4 · Ages: 3+
What the child does: brushes the pastry, scatters the cheese, twists the strips.
Ready-rolled pastry does the difficult part. The twisting is the fun part, and it does not need to be neat!
Ingredients
- 1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry (320g)
- 30g butter, melted
- 100g mature cheddar, grated
- 1 egg, beaten
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, gas mark 6). Line two baking trays.
- Unroll the pastry and brush all over with the melted butter.
- Scatter the cheese over one half, fold the other half on top and press down gently.
- Cut into strips about 2cm wide. Twist each one a few times and lay on the trays.
- Brush with beaten egg. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until puffed and golden.
Makes: around 16 twists
Easy Banana Bread (One Bowl)
Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes · Hands-on: 10 minutes · Ingredients: 6 · Ages: 2+
What the child does: mashes the bananas, tips everything in, stirs.
The most forgiving recipe on this list. Overripe bananas are better than green for this recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas (around 300g peeled)
- 125g butter, melted
- 150g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 225g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4). Line a 900g loaf tin.
- Mash the bananas in a large bowl until fairly smooth.
- Add the melted butter, sugar and eggs and mix well.
- Tip in the flour and baking powder and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour into the tin and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
Makes: 1 loaf, around 10 slices
Chocolate Cornflake Cakes
Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes (mostly chilling) · Hands-on: 10 minutes · Ingredients: 4 · Ages: 2+
What the child does: stirs the cornflakes through the chocolate, spoons into cases.
Ingredients
- 100g milk chocolate, broken up
- 50g butter
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- 100g cornflakes
Method
- Put the chocolate, butter and syrup in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. An adult job.
- Take off the heat and let it cool for a couple of minutes.
- Tip in the cornflakes and stir gently until everything is coated.
- Spoon into 12 paper cases and chill for at least an hour to set.
Makes: 12
Good next steps: ages 5 to 8
Fairy Cakes with Buttercream Icing
Total time: 45 minutes · Hands-on: 25 minutes · Ingredients: 7 · Ages: 5+
What the child does: weighs the ingredients, spoons the mixture into cases, ices and decorates.
Ingredients
For the cakes
- 125g butter, softened
- 125g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 125g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the buttercream
- 100g butter, softened
- 200g icing sugar
- 1 to 2 tbsp milk
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4). Line a 12-hole bun tin with cases.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, around 3 minutes.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
- Fold in the flour until just combined.
- Divide between the cases and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden and springy. Cool completely.
- For the buttercream, beat the butter until soft, then add the icing sugar in two goes. Add milk until it is spreadable. Ice the cooled cakes.
Makes: 12
Jam Thumbprint Biscuits
Total time: 40 minutes · Hands-on: 20 minutes · Ingredients: 5 · Ages: 3+
What the child does: rolls the dough into balls, presses a thumb into each one, fills with jam.
Ingredients
- 175g plain flour
- 115g butter, softened
- 60g caster sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 4 tbsp jam (strawberry or raspberry)
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4). Line two baking trays.
- Beat the butter and sugar together, then mix in the egg yolk.
- Stir in the flour until it comes together into a soft dough.
- Roll into walnut-sized balls and place on the trays, spaced apart. Press a thumb into the centre of each.
- Fill each dip with about half a teaspoon of jam.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the edges are just golden.
Makes: around 18
Buttery Flapjack
Total time: 45 minutes · Hands-on: 10 minutes · Ingredients: 4 · Ages: 4+
What the child does: stirs the oats into the melted mixture, presses it into the tin.
Ingredients
- 250g porridge oats
- 150g butter
- 100g soft light brown sugar
- 3 tbsp golden syrup
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4). Line a 20cm square tin.
- Melt the butter, sugar and syrup together in a pan over a low heat until smooth.
- Take off the heat, tip in the oats and stir until fully coated.
- Press firmly into the tin, right into the corners.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden at the edges. Mark into squares while warm but leave in the tin to cool completely, or they will crumble.
Makes: 12 to 16 squares
Proper Cornish Scones
Total time: 35 minutes · Hands-on: 15 minutes · Ingredients: 6 · Ages: 5+
What the child does: rubs in the butter, brings the dough together, cuts out the rounds.
Jam first, then cream. Not up for discussion here in Cornwall!
Ingredients
- 350g self-raising flour
- 85g butter, chilled and cubed
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 175ml whole milk
- 1 egg, beaten, to glaze
Method
- Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan, gas mark 7). Line a baking tray.
- Rub the butter into the flour and baking powder until it looks like breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar.
- Warm the milk for 30 seconds in the microwave, then pour into the bowl and mix quickly with a knife until it just comes together.
- Tip onto a floured surface, pat out to about 4cm thick and cut out rounds with a 5cm cutter. Press straight down; do not twist.
- Brush the tops with beaten egg and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until risen and golden.
Makes: 8 to 10 scones
For confident bakers: ages 8 and over
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Total time: 30 minutes · Hands-on: 15 minutes · Ingredients: 7 · Ages: 6+
What the child does: creams the butter and sugar, spoons the dough onto the tray.
Soft in the middle, crisp at the edge. Take them out while they still look slightly underdone.
Ingredients
- 150g butter, softened
- 100g soft light brown sugar
- 75g caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 225g plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 200g chocolate chips
Method
- Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan, gas mark 5). Line two baking trays.
- Beat the butter with both sugars until light and creamy.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Fold in the flour and bicarbonate of soda, then the chocolate chips.
- Drop heaped dessertspoons onto the trays, well spaced. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden at the edges but still soft in the centre.
- Leave on the tray for 5 minutes before moving to a rack.
Makes: around 20
Gingerbread People to Decorate
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes (includes chilling) · Hands-on: 30 minutes · Ingredients: 8 · Ages: 5+
What the child does: cuts out the shapes, decorates once cooled.
The dough needs chilling, so this is an afternoon rather than a quick fix. The decorating makes up for it.
Ingredients
- 350g plain flour
- 100g butter, cubed
- 175g soft light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 4 tbsp golden syrup
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Method
- Rub the butter into the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices until it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.
- Beat the egg and syrup together, add to the bowl and mix to a firm dough.
- Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4). Line two trays.
- Roll out to 5mm thick and cut out your shapes. Lift onto the trays.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until slightly darkened at the edges. Cool completely before decorating with icing and sweets.
Makes: around 20, depending on cutter size
Rock Cakes
Total time: 35 minutes · Hands-on: 15 minutes · Ingredients: 7 · Ages: 6+
What the child does: rubs in the butter, shapes the rough heaps on the tray.
Ingredients
- 225g self-raising flour
- 100g butter, chilled and cubed
- 75g caster sugar
- 100g mixed dried fruit
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp milk
Method
- Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan, gas mark 5). Line a baking tray.
- Rub the butter into the flour and mixed spice until it looks like breadcrumbs.
- Stir in the sugar and dried fruit.
- Beat the egg with the milk, add to the bowl and mix to a stiff, lumpy dough. It should not be smooth.
- Spoon rough heaps onto the tray, leaving space between them.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden. Best eaten the day they are made.
Makes: 12
Baking with kids: your questions answered
What can I bake with kids?
Almost anything, if you match the recipe to the age. Toddlers do well with banana bread and cornflake cakes, where the jobs are stirring and mashing. Preschoolers enjoy shaped bakes like shortbread and jam thumbprints. From five, children can manage fairy cakes, flapjacks and scones with a little help.
What are the easiest things to bake with kids?
Shortbread biscuits, banana bread and chocolate cornflake cakes are the three easiest bakes on this list. Each uses four ingredients or fewer, needs no special equipment, and gives a child something to do at every stage. Cornflake cakes need no oven at all, so they are the safest first attempt.
What can I bake with kids using only a few ingredients?
Shortbread needs three: flour, butter and sugar, in a 3:2:1 ratio by weight. Chocolate cornflake cakes need four. Flapjacks need four. All three come together in ten minutes of hands-on time, which is usually about as long as a young child’s attention lasts.
How do you bake with a toddler without the mess?
Embrace it rather than avoid it! Weigh everything into small bowls beforehand so there is nothing to spill, put a tea towel on the floor, and use a much larger mixing bowl than the recipe needs.
Should you use salted or unsalted butter for baking with kids?
Either works for everything on this list. Salted butter suits shortbread, flapjacks and cookies, where a little salt lifts the flavour. Unsalted gives you more control in buttercream and sponges. If you only want to buy one, salted is the more useful all-rounder for family baking.
Can you bake with kids without an oven?
Yes. Chocolate cornflake cakes are made entirely on the hob and set in the fridge, so a child can do almost every step themselves. Tiffin, rocky road and fridge cake all work the same way. They are also useful when the oven is already busy with dinner.
Can kids lick the bowl?
Not safely, no. Raw dough and cake batter contain uncooked flour, which can carry bacteria such as E. coli, and the Food Standards Agency advises against tasting it, particularly for children under five. Set aside a small bowl of chocolate chips or a spoonful of jam instead. The cooked biscuit is worth waiting for.
Can kids play with baking soda and vinegar?
Yes, and it is a good rainy-day activity, though it is a science experiment rather than baking. A spoonful of bicarbonate of soda with vinegar poured over it fizzes up dramatically and is harmless. Keep it out of eyes, and use a tray. Best done outside or in the sink.