Bake for Family Fun 2022 -

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!

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.

Use the following resources to give you a HEAD START!

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

FEATURED RECIPE: Savory Sausage Balls

Prepare for victory with delicious Sausage Balls. Crowd pleasing snacks are simple with “JIFFY”. Download the recipe here

FEATURED VIDEO: Make brown sugar at home!

Just mix 1 cup of sugar with 2 teaspoons of molasses (more to taste) and you’ll have the brown sugar you need!

BAKING ACTIVITY/LESSON: 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: The Kitchen As A Classroom

Including kids in cooking and baking can teach them a lot more than just what ingredients go into the food they eat, it can also teach them about math, science and reading, among other things.
The Kitchen as the Classroom

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!

FEATURED RECIPE: Red Velvet Cake

This is a big ol’ cake with a shocking red color and an extra-tender cake piled high with fluffy cream cheese frosting. The finished cake is almost a foot tall when frosted! It’s a wonderful dramatic dessert.
Big Texas Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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: Sugar In Baking

We all know that sugar is essential for baking—after all, it’s what makes sweets taste sweet. But thanks to its unique chemical nature, real sugar (the sugar that comes from sugar beets and sugar cane and is often referred to as table sugar or granulated sugar) also performs many other essential functions in cookies, cakes, and other baked goods. Learn more here

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.

FEATURED RECIPE: Black Walnut Sweetbread

This recipe, Grandma Sadie’s Black Walnut Sweetbread, comes to us with unique provenance – it’s one of the oldest known black walnut baking recipe and it dates to Missouri in the late 1890s, in the heart of black walnut country!

Homemade Goldfish Crackers from Bigger Bolder Baking

FEATURED VIDEO: How to Proof or Activate Yeast

Yeast is a microorganism that, when activated with liquid and fed by sugars, creates air bubbles that gives bread its rise and texture. Yeast needs to be tested to ensure it’s still alive and ready to behave in the recipe as intended. Find more information here!

LESSON/ACTIVITY: Salt Dough

Learn how to make classic Salt Dough with the kids, with baking, painting, and storage info. This method is straight forward, easy, and thorough—and a perfect gift idea for grandparents, teachers, and loved ones!

FEATURED RESOURCE: Types of Flour

There are six different classes, or types, of wheat. Each class is used for specific purposes to get the best possible finished product. Hard red wheat is best for yeast breads. Soft wheat is best used in cakes, pastries and other
baked goods, as well as crackers and cereal. Durum wheat is the hardest of
all wheat and makes the best pasta. This information will explain the
different types of flour and how they are best used.

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!

FEATURED RECIPE: Strawberry Lemonade Swirls

Maggie Sleichter of Clay Center, Kansas was the 2021 National Festival of Breads Youth Division Finalist with this Strawberry Lemonade Swirls recipe. She said, “Strawberry lemonade is a flavor combination that I’ve never tried in bread before. I have a big family and they love to taste test recipes.” Check out the recipe here!

Meet Maggie and learn more about her winning recipe here.

FEATURED VIDEO: Host a Bake Sale for No Kid Hungry!

Taylor has been hosting bake sales for years. Recently she added fun baking videos to help others with her baking tips. Videos like these are a great way to promote your upcoming bake sale. Or videos can be posted on social media with your fundraising webpage to raise funds online.

Bakers Unite! Learn more about hosting a bake sale for No Kid Hungry.

LESSON/ACTIVITY: Teaching Kids About Wheat

Ages 6-9: Teaching Kids About WheatThis presentation explains how wheat is grown, milling and made into the foods we enjoy. It also includes nutrition information. Download the presentation

FEATURED RESOURCE: Packaging Treats for Bake Sales