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    Home » Blog » Cooking with Kids

    20 Easy Dessert Recipes for Kids to Bake

    Published: Apr 12, 2023 by Tiffany Dahle · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    A photo collage shows brownies, peanut blossom cookies, and Trix krispie treats.

    Easy dessert recipes for kids are a great way to get them excited to learn how to bake cookies, brownies, cake, and more. These easy treats are perfect for any special event all year long.

    A photo collage shows a platter of brownies, cupcakes, krispie treat bars, and peanut blossom cookies.

    Kids just LOVE to bake, don't they?

    My girls have been helping me bake cookies and brownies since they were tall enough to reach the counter when standing on a kitchen chair.

    As soon as they were able, they wanted to start baking all on their own and we needed easy dessert recipes they could manage by themselves.

    I've gathered together my kids' favorite easy desserts to help inspire your kids to have a little baking fun!

    Jump to:
    • Why These Are The Best Recipes for Kids
    • Kitchen Tools They Need
    • Essential Skills for Teaching Kids to Bake
    • The Best Recipes to Start With
    • Easy Brownies and Bars
    • Easy Cookie Recipes for Kids
    • Easy Cakes for Kids
    • No Bake Desserts
    • The BEST Baking Book for Kids
    • More Recipes for Kids to Make
    • 💬 Comments

    Why These Are The Best Recipes for Kids

    It is so easy to get kids excited about spending time in the kitchen when baking something sweet is in store.

    These are the best recipes to bake with kids because:

    1. Easy: None of the recipes are overly complicated or difficult. Many of them are one bowl or a minimum of dishes.
    2. Flexible: You can change the flavors with simple swaps and give kids the freedom to make them just how they want.
    3. Totally Delicious: I dare any grown up at your party to not gobble up these treats. They're so tasty, I bake them with or without my kids in the kitchen!

    Kitchen Tools They Need

    From Day 1, I let my kids use the regular kitchen tools I use myself when they wanted to bake something special for the family.

    That said, I naturally stocked up on easy kid-friendly kitchen tools.

    Take a look through your kitchen supplies and have a chat with your kids about which tools they are allowed to use before they dig in.

    • Copies of The Totally Awesome Ultimate Kids' Cookbook and The Ultimate Kids' Baking Book by Tiffany Dahle sit next to a wooden spoon, a rainbow whisk, a pot holder, measuring spoons, and heart-shaped cookie cutters.
      The Best Kitchen Tools for Kids
    • A photo collage of popular gifts for kid bakers
      Gifts for Kid Cooks: The Ultimate List
    • A bin of colorful sugar cookie cutters with a few samples laid out in front.
      The Best Cookie Cutters for Kids
    • A crock filled with cooking spoons sits next to a gas stove top.
      My Top 20 Favorite Kitchen Tools

    Essential Skills for Teaching Kids to Bake

    Most parents feel overwhelmed with where to start when it comes to teaching kids to bake.

    When I wrote my best selling baking book for kids, the first thing I did was outline the essential kitchen skills kids need to learn to bake easy treats for all the special events throughout the year.

    The recipes in the book build off those basics. As the kids' skills grow, the recipes become more deliciously complex but all along the way there are tricks for young bakers to make the treats their own.

    The good news is, you can use that format and my printable lesson plans to guide your kids through learning all the kitchen skills they need to have success!

    • A young girl chops onions in a food processor.
      The BEST DIY Kids Cooking Classes
    • Lesson Plans for Teaching Kids to Cook

    The Best Recipes to Start With

    If you want to get your kids excited to bake, let them start with something they love to eat!

    Let them page through a cookbook for kids and make their own selection!

    But if you want to start with a kid-friendly recipe that MY kids have loved, I've gathered together some of our very favorites in the lists below.

    Easy Brownies and Bars

    A young child's hand is holding a brownie with a bite taken out.

    My absolute favorite thing to let the kids bake all by themselves is a classic pan of brownies or cookie bars.

    The batter is often made in just one bowl and then poured into a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

    There's just one thing to pop into the oven and watch to ensure it bakes properly. It is the fastest road to success for most kids.

    Easy Homemade Brownies for Kids

    • A round platter of a pile of chocolate brownies with a bite taken out of the one on top and a sprinkle of chocolate chips to the side.

    These homemade brownies are rich and fudgy and absolutely delicious. They are my daughter's claim to fame and she makes them when family comes to visit.

    They are perfect as-is but would be amazing with chocolate cream cheese frosting spread over the top once completely cooled.

    You could also frost them with vanilla cream cheese frosting and decorate them with your favorite candies or sprinkles.

    Butterscotch Blondies

    • A batch of butterscotch brownies have been cut into squares on a piece of foil.

    The easy dough for these butterscotch blondies bars is loaded with butterscotch chips and chopped pecans for a sweet and salty flavor that I find completely irresistible. My daughters agree but I secretly know they bake them for me when they want to give me a special treat.

    Easy Trix Krispie Treats

    • A cake plate has several squares of cereal bars in rainbow colors with mini marshmallows scattered about.

    Made with Trix Minis, these rainbow-colored marshmallow Mini Trix krispie treat bars are an easy no-bake dessert for kids to make.

    Everything gets mixed together in one big pot and then transferred to a baking pan to form the bars.

    Cookies and Cream Blondie Bars

    • A tray of cookies and cream bars have OREOS sitting next to them.

    These easy cookies and cream blondie bar are loaded with chocolate chips and broken up OREO cookies.

    They make a nice big pan and the recipe is perfect for kids baking for a bake sale or bringing a treat to a potluck.

    Easy Cookie Recipes for Kids

    A baking rack has a dozen cookies cooling on the counter.

    Cookies and kids go hand in hand and this is often the first treat kids will ask to make by themselves.

    Pick the just-right cookie recipe and the kids will feel so proud when the perfect treat comes out of the oven.

    Chocolate Chip Cookies

    • Baked chocolate chip walnut cookies with chocolate chips sprinkled over the top.

    The most popular cookie of all time is the classic chocolate chip cookie.

    My fantastic recipe for chocolate chip walnut cookies is the absolute best because kids can prep the dough and freeze a pan of cookie balls so that just a few can be baked at a time!

    Cut-Out Cookies

    • Heart-shaped frosted sugar cookies in rainbow colors against a black chalkboard.
      Best Sugar Cookies Ever {For Kids!}
    • Gingerbread cookie dough is rolled out and has a few letter shapes cut out and put on a baking pan.
      Easy Gingerbread Cookies for Kids

    During the holiday season, kids often get their hearts set on cookie decorating with traditional roll and cut cookies like shaped sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies.

    Decorating them is a fun family tradition for both the kids and you! Especially if you use my tips for baking sugar cookies with kids.

    For beginner cookie bakers, I suggest you try one of these easy frosting recipes.

    For more advance kid bakers, it might be try to dig in on the easy royal icing recipe!

    • Two Heart Cookies with Blue Frosting are decorated with sprinkles on half of the cookie.
      Easy Frosting Recipes for Sugar Cookies
    • A platter of green Christmas tree sugar cookies have been decorated with royal icing in simple patterns.
      Easy Royal Icing Recipe
    • A tree shaped sugar cookie has a green royal icing border that was piped on. The piping bag rests next to it.
      How to Decorate Cookies with Royal Icing

    Easy Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

    • A platter of puffy pumpkin butterscotch cookies with a sprinkle of butterscotch chips sits next to a denim napkin.

    Made in just one batter bowl, this easy pumpkin butterscotch cookies recipe tastes a little like a cake married a cookie.

    Soft and yet chewy, my girls have loved baking these since they were tall enough to reach the counter.

    Peanut Butter Blossoms

    • A tray of peanut butter blossom cookies with hershey kisses on top.

    What kid can resist pushing a chocolate candy kiss into the top of a warm pan of fresh baked peanut butter blossom cookies??

    Often found on Christmas cookie trays, these easy cookies are great any time of year.

    M&M Cookies

    • A plate of festive M&M cookies feature red, pink, green, and white candies for the holidays.

    Mix and match the color of the candies and these M&M cornflake cookies would be a perfect fit for any holiday all year long.

    We used a fun mix of pink, red, white, and green for a Cindy Lou Who-inspired Christmas cookie but kids could bake these in their school colors, a friend's favorite color, or the perfect holiday color combo.

    Pretend Macaron Cookies for Kids

    • A trio of macaron-inspired cake sandwich cookies in green, pink, and blue colors on a polka dot napkin.

    Real macarons are one of the most difficult cookies to bake because they require such precision.

    My daughter and I had a ton of fun baking these "pretend" macaron cookies for kids based on her favorite American Girl character.

    Cake mix in the batter makes them extra easy. They taste a little bit like super-fancy whoopie pies.

    Easy Cakes for Kids

    Shh . . . lean in. I need to tell you a secret:

    I loooove boxed cake mixes.

    I could make a cake from scratch, and sometimes I do. But for a classic vanilla cake?

    Boxed mixes are phenomenal if you use my TOP SECRET TIP:
    Use the cake mix, but make the frosting from scratch.

    It is way easier and the frosting is what makes or breaks the cake. For real.

    You can even turn a boxed cake mix into a gorgeous 2-layer cake if you use my trick for perfect cake layers using cake strips.

    When your frosting takes as incredible as these easy recipes, no one is going to ask about the cake.

    • A vanilla cupcake in a white wrapper has white vanilla glaze and rainbow sprinkles on top. More cupcakes are in the background.
      Easy Vanilla Glaze for Cupcakes
    • Vanilla cupcakes have been topped with a swirl of cream cheese frosting and sit on a cake plate. There's a frosting piping bag on the counter in front.
      Easy Cream Cheese Frosting
    • Cupcakes topped with a swirl of chocolate cream cheese frosting sit on a baker's rack next to a piping bag filled with frosting.
      Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

    No Bake Desserts

    Finally, it's always a good idea to have a few no-bake dessert recipes under your belt.

    Sometimes the weather is too hot. Sometimes mom or dad don't want you messing with the oven.

    In any case, these no bake treats are always a huge hit when we serve them at parties.

    Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

    • A metal pan has an ice cream cake with red and white sprinkles over the top. A slice is missing so you can see the layers of ice cream sandwiches inside.

    Made with ice cream sandwiches, whipped topping, and ice cream sundae sauces, this easy ice cream sandwich cake is a favorite of one of our very special family members -- Grandma!

    My kids love to make it for the 4th of July but it is a fun treat any time of year.

    Harry Potter Chocolate Frogs

    • A cake plate has a serving of Harry Potter chocolate frogs next to a bowl of jelly beans.

    These adorable Harry Potter chocolate frogs do require a few extra tools, but are a super-fun introduction to easy candy making for kids.

    We made them for a Harry Potter movie marathon complete with Harry Potter movie snacks. They'd be especially amazing for a Harry Potter birthday party.

    Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Mix

    • Pretzel nuggets have drizzled chocolate over them and orange and yellow candies.

    Grab a giant tub of everyone's favorite pretzel nuggets at the warehouse store and get ready to make this deliciously easy chocolate peanut butter pretzel snack mix.

    Decorate it with fun sprinkles, let it cool, and then put it in a big party bowl for a special treat.

    Ultimate Homemade Hot Chocolate

    • A blue mug filled with hot cocoa has mini marshmallows on top and chocolate pieces and marshmallows scattered around it.

    Last but not least, for a big party like you might have at Christmas time, put the kids in charge of making the ultimate hot chocolate bar using a Crockpot!

    What makes it extra special is all the yummy cocoa toppings you can set out for friends and family to customize their own hot chocolate mugs, just the way they like.

    The BEST Baking Book for Kids

    If you've loved these easy desserts for kids to bake, you will absolutely love The Ultimate Baking Book for Kids.

    Filled with 60 recipes for fun and easy desserts, kids will love baking these treats for all the holidays, birthdays, and special milestones a family enjoys all year long.

    This is the companion book for The Totally Awesome Ultimate Kids' Cookbook. Bundle them together for the ultimate kids cookbook set, they make an amazing birthday or holiday gift for your kids!

    • A copy of The Ultimate Kids' Baking Book sits on a pink background with a whisk, sprinkles, and cookie cutters.
      The Ultimate Kids' Baking Book

    More Recipes for Kids to Make

    Now that your kids are excited to be in the kitchen, how about you hand them one of these easy recipes for kids to make dinner??

    • The photo collage shows a cheese pizza, chicken tacos, sloppy joes, and mac and cheese.
      30 Easy Recipes for Kids to Make for Dinner
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      The Best Cookbooks for Kids 2023
    • A photo collages shows several easy dinner ideas kids could make.
      Easy Dinner Ideas for Yo-Yo Nights {You're On Your Own!}
    A photo collage shows brownies, peanut blossom cookies, and Trix krispie treats.

    More Cooking with Kids

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    Hi, I'm Tiffany!
    I believe a great family recipe is one that makes everyone at the table happy, not just the kids. I'm the author of two bestselling cookbooks for kids that are chock full of recipes everyone in your family will love. I'm also the hostess of the best online book club for moms.

    More about me →

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