Baking with Kids

Baking with little ones isn’t always picture-perfect—sometimes it’s flour on the ceiling and eggshells in the batter. When I became a mom in 2007 and started baking the following year, I had no idea how much the two would shape each other. By 2014, with four boys under my roof, my kitchen had become equal parts chaos and joy. Today, I’m sharing what those early years of baking with babies and toddlers really looked like.

Photo taken in 2024 - Allen, Aiden, Scott, Amber, Austin, Ashton

What is easy with one is challenging with two, chaotic with three, and near impossible with four. Each addition came with a new set of challenges, but it also came with all the love in the world. My boys grew up with homemade cakes (and bread). They didn't know that you could walk into a grocery store, open a door, pull a cake out, go home, and start eating. For them, if we wanted cake, it was a whole ordeal of making the cake, waiting for it to cool, decorating it, and then enjoying it. Of course, cakes for us to enjoy didn't get the royal treatment when it came to decorating, but I used every cake as a chance to improve my skills or try something new.

By the time Austin was crawling, I was doing cakes regularly (1-2 per month). Cake decorating is messy, especially when homemade fondant is involved. I didn't take many pictures during this stage because I didn't want people to get the wrong idea, but the messy truth is, it can be messy! And yes, I do clean as I go, but when you are mixing fondant and when you have powdered sugar flying everywhere, it's easier to wait till the messy part is done before cleaning and moving on.

One of my favorite memories while making fondant was when my floor looked similar to these photos. I looked down to see crawl tracks through the powdered sugar, between the two sets of hands and knees, and there was a tongue trail. It still makes me chuckle to think about this. Little Austin, who couldn't even walk yet, was licking the powdered sugar off the floor.

I'm sure this gives some people the ick - but there is a saying. If your first child eats dirt, you run to the doctor; if your second child eats dirt, you clean out their mouth; if your third child eats dirt, you wonder if you still need to feed them dinner. Austin is my third...

It took many years for my boys to learn their boundaries when it came to Mom baking. As young children, they didn't understand that the cake on the counter was not meant for them. If I wasn't careful, I would turn around and look back to see a hole where there wasn't one a minute ago.

This happened only this one time with mini cupcakes, but I did have one time an entire handful of cake was pulled off the side of a cake layer. Another time when there was a trail of little fingers in the frosting. The internal anguish that occurs when you turn around to see this is something I pray no one has to experience. It's not so bad if you have "time", but if your deadline is looming, it is the worst feeling. Still, I never locked them out of the kitchen.

Luckily, children learn, and looking back, this stage didn't last too long.

Despite my children being little cake thieves for the first couple of years of their lives, I welcomed them into the kitchen. Why??? Why not?

 By allowing them in, I created four young men who love the kitchen!

How it started - How it's going!

It's not just baking that my boys fell in love with; they learned how to cook at a young age. They make amazing dishes from scratch. They can read recipes, double them, or even cut the recipe in half when needed. They can make noodles, bread, sauces, cookies, sushi, and so much more from scratch!

If I had one regret, it would be not inviting them into the kitchen more.

I do sometimes wish I had slowed down when they were younger. My oldest is 18! My youngest is 11. I had all these great intentions of doing more with them, teaching them more. I was going to have them decorate a cake every year so they could see their skills develop. Unfortunately, adulting gets in the way. I started a more demanding job and didn't make the time to do this with the boys. If you were to ask them, I don't think they would say I didn't make the time to invite them to learn the love of cooking and baking. But there were times when I would be asked, "Can I help?" and I would respond, "No, not this time." This response became way too familiar as my job got more demanding and my cake orders increased. Eventually, they didn't ask as often. But when they do get the chance to decorate a cake or cookies, you can see the joy radiant from them.

Here is my advice I can give to any young mom or dad who enjoys cooking or baking: invite your children in. The mess can be cleaned up, the eggshells can be pulled out of the batter, no one will notice one missing mini cupcake from your display, but the memories you will make will greatly outweigh any of the challenges you may face in the beginning. They grow up too fast not to invite them in.

Don't fear the mess, embrace it.

I would love to hear your own stories of how you invited your children into the kitchen, what they love to cook or bake, and any funny stories you may have! Feel free to share them in the comments below.