The Home Baking Association (HBA) has designated February as “Bake for Family Fun Month” and has resources, recipes and activities to help families get started in the kitchen!
Each week you will find designated recipes, baking activities and opportunities to spend time together in the kitchen. From toddler to grandparent – baking is the perfect family activity. Select the week you’d like to celebrate below.
Week One of Bake for Family Fun Month is all about the basics of baking. Whether you are a seasoned pro or a beginner, it’s never a bad idea to review the building blocks of baking… some of the best ideas come when you start from scratch.
Here Are Some Resources & Tips to Help You Get Started
| Baking Food Safety 101 | Ten Tips for Baking Success |
| Thrill of Skill | Food Skills Checklist |
| Safe Kitchen Checklist | Measure Up |
| Baker’s Dozen Labs | Baking w/ Whole Wheat Flour 101 |
Do some prep work. Prep by reading and trying the recipe first. Add 20 to 30 minutes to explain, show and guide beginners and 15 minutes for intermediates or experienced bakers. Divide it into two sessions if needed, or pre-measure or prepare some steps beforehand.
Keep it clean. Remember to wash hands and countertops before starting and cleaning up after you’re done. Provide separate towels for hands and dishes and frequently wash pot holders. Aprons or large T-shirts are great for keeping clothes clean during the baking process.
Take it one step at a time. Read the recipe, gather ingredients, and make sure nothing was left out. When short on time, or working with beginning or young bakers, prepare some steps ahead or do some steps one day and complete the mixing or baking the next.
Use the right tools. Pour liquids (water, oil, milk, honey, corn syrup) in a clear liquid measuring cup placed on the countertop. Read amount at eye level. Use standard dry measures for dry ingredients (flours, sugar, cocoa, brown sugar, cornmeal). Use measuring spoons for small amounts less than ¼ cup (4 tablespoons).
Do a safe kitchen checklist. Turn handles of pans toward the center of the stove so sleeves or people passing by won’t catch on them and spill. Keep cupboard doors and drawers closed unless in use. Use only dry hot pads or oven mitts because heat goes through damp mitts. When stirring or checking for doneness, tilt the lid away from you so steam is released away from your face.
Oven ins and outs. Before preheating, make sure the oven racks are in the right place for the pans and recipe. Preheat the oven as the recipe directs. Place pans in the oven so they do not touch each other or the oven sides. Do not place pans on racks directly below or above another pan. Keep clean, dry oven mitts or pads close by.
Baking can be a learning experience. Children and adults learn a lot together in the kitchen. The results of cooking or baking together contributes to stronger relationships at home and in groups and children learn time management, team skills, following directions, and problem solving.
WEEK ONE: FEATURED RECIPES
Grandma’s Old Fashioned Pancakes
Homemade pancakes from scratch are fluffy, delicious and easy to make. Give this Panhandle Milling Recipe a shot!
Southern Biscuit Self-Rising Biscuits
With only 4 ingredients, this is a great family recipe. Find the Renwood Mills recipe here!
FEATURED VIDEO: Important Kitchen Tools for Teaching Kids to Bake
Sharon Davis from the Home Baking Association gives an overview of the basic tools that are best to keep on hand when teaching young ones to bake.
BAKING ACTIVITY/LESSON: Field-To-Table STEAM Packet and Baking with Kids
Baking with Kids – Inspire your kids and challenge their creativity by getting them involved in the kitchen. They’ll learn everything from how to follow directions to understanding measurements and so much more. Your quest for happiness in the kitchen starts with C&H Find these resources here!
FEATURED RESOURCE: Baking with Friends
Baking is not just a fun activity, it’s also a valuable life skill that helps prepare children for the future. Kitchen activities not only help develop a child’s creativity, but gives them experience following instructions, measuring ingredients, and learning basic kitchen safety. Additionally, baking provides an excellent opportunity for way for children to bond with their family and friends, and develop a love for cooking that will last a lifetime.
The following resources are samples from the children’s cookbook Baking with Friends: Recipes, Tips and Fun Facts for Teaching Kids to Bake, a valuable resource produced by the Home Baking Association. Order this award-winning educational book today!
Thrill of Skill
Age Appropriate Kitchen Skills from Age 2 to 13!
Foods Skills Check List
Download for each child and check the skills each can do!
Ten Tips for Baking Success
Review before you begin baking.
Love and friendship is in the air during week two of Bake for Family Fun Month! Let’s celebrate the ones you love by baking up something special. These recipes and activities will help get you started. Have a happy Valentine’s Day!
WEEK TWO: FEATURED RECIPES
Cherry Kolaches
Winning 4-H Yeast Bread Award from a Kansas County Fair!
Strawberry Swirl Coffee Cake Muffins
Enjoy these delicious muffins from Domino Sugar
FEATURED VIDEO: Measurement Matters
Measuring temperature is critical to success in baking, whether it’s checking water temps for yeast, monitoring the temperature of ingredients like butter and flour, or verifying the doneness of the finished product. Check out this informative video, and special educator offer!
LESSON/ACTIVITY: What makes Valentine’s Day so sweet?
Sugar has a time-honored place during many holidays and on Valentine’s Day, sweets take centerstage. Chocolate, candy and sweets were the most popular Valentine’s gift in 2018, purchased by 63% of consumers, beating flowers and plants (40%). All of these gifts from admirers add up, too: Between 2010 and 2020 American consumers spent an estimated $2.4 billion on candy for the holiday! While we have all traded candy hearts and chocolates since our youth, where does the tradition of presenting loved ones with candy on Valentine’s Day come from?
FEATURED RESOURCE: Easy As Pie!
“Book and Bake” is designed for all ages. Teens or ‘tweens read to and assist with pre-K to 3rd graders. Call on your local senior center, Junior League, 4-H, or FCCLA chapter to lend a hand. Download this amazing tried and true resource!
Building a family baking history and traditions may be starting with you. OR, if you’re lucky it may go “way back” to a cherished biscuit, dumpling or sourdough recipe or a daily corn or fry bread. You’ll find such great traditions baked in week three of Bake for Family Fun Month.
WEEK THREE: FEATURED RECIPES: Black Walnut Sheet Cake and Homemade Pan Pizza
Black Walnut Sheet Cake
This delicious sheet cake recipe has been in the Hammons family for three generations!
Homemade Pan Pizza with Perfectly Crispy Crust
Family Pizza Night! Start a family tradition with this great recipe and tips! It’s better than take-out! Thank you Baker Bettie for this amazing recipe!
FEATURED VIDEO: How to Make Powdered Sugar At Home
If you find the pantry empty when you need powdered or confectioners’ sugar for your favorite home-baked treat, you can make just what you need for the recipe with the sugar you have at home! This is possible because all sugar is made by first extracting juice from sugar beet or sugar cane plants, and from there, many types of sugar can be produced. Through slight adjustments in the process of cleaning, crystallizing and drying the sugar and varying the level of molasses, different sugar varieties are possible.
LESSON/ACTIVITY: Bearthday Celebrations
How Baking At Home Takes You Around The Globe – Birthdays are celebrated in a variety of ways across the globe. Each culture has unique and delicious baked goods that help individuals celebrate another year around the sun. In response to the Covid-19 Pandemic, millions of Americans were staying in, baking at home, and celebrating birthdays alone, so this lesson gives students the opportunity to bake, celebrate, and experience multicultural foods, all while staying home. Download this valuable resource here!
FEATURED RESOURCE: Learning About Baking History and Traditions
Why is passing down family recipes from generation to generation so important? Read this fascinating blog post by the Home Baking Association to learn how you can keep family traditions alive. Do your part to preserve your family history.
Baking for others can increase a feeling of wellbeing, contribute to stress relief and make you feel like you’ve done something good for the world, which perhaps increases your meaning in life and connection with other people. Let’s make some positive change in the lives of others this week!
WEEK FOUR: FEATURED RECIPE: Whole Grain Banana Bread and Glazed Lemon Cookies
Whole Grain Banana Bread
This one-bowl banana bread from King Arthur Baking uses the simplest ingredients, but is incredibly moist and flavorful.
Glazed Lemon Cookies
These Glazed Lemon Cookies are lemony, soft, and topped with a delicious citrus glaze. They’re made with lemon juice and zest and have a masterful balance of sweet and sour.
FEATURED VIDEO: How to Convert A Recipe to Whole Grains
A lot of people think baking cookies, cakes, and pastries with whole grain flour requires new recipes and complicated techniques, but this really isn’t the case. Sharon Davis from the Home Baking Association discusses how to convert a recipe from white flour to whole grain flower with this convenient technique.
LESSON/ACTIVITY: Baking for Special Needs
People have different dietary restrictions for various reasons, such as allergies, health issues, or religious beliefs. By learning how to make recipes that accommodate these restrictions, we can show respect and consideration for our friends, family, and guests. Download this exceptional handout Kitchen Science: Baking for Special Needs.
FEATURED RESOURCE: Let’s Have A Bake Sale, Support No Kid Hungry!
All of Muffin – Sign up today and No Kid Hungry will help you plan a successful in-person or virtual bake sale. You’ll get access to your own fundraising website and resources to help you plan, promote and fundraise.
Baking Resources for Home Bakers
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