Gifts for Kid Cooks: The Ultimate List

I definitely learned a thing or two about the best gifts for kid cooks during my time spent in the kitchen developing recipes with my kids over the last few years.

I watched the items that my kids gravitated towards and used again and again.

If it held up to our heavy use? It made this list!

If it helped them have fun? It absolutely made it to this list.

If you're looking for a fun gift for your child, everything you need to make a sweet kitchen goodie basket is right here.

The BEST Cookbooks for Kids

The first thing your kid cook needs is the right recipe. These cookbooks for kids were written by a real mom cooking in a real kitchen with her real kids.

Our favorite family recipes were gathered together and written with thoughtful details to help your child have the ultimate success with whatever they choose to bake or cook.

Best Baking Tools for Kids

• Rainbow Whisk: My cookbook features this whisk set here.
• Baking Mat: Our family loves this mat.
• Hand Mixer: So much easier for kids to use than a stand mixer, I love this one here.
• Magnetic Measuring Spoons: Perfect since they can just dirty one or two spoons at a time. I love this colorful set here.
• Liquid Measuring Cups: Perfect for measuring and small mixing, I love this handy set here.
• Dry Measuring Cups: My kids love this colorful set here.
• Mixing Bowls: Look for one with a handle and a grippy bottom like this.

Decorating Tools for Kid Bakers

Decorating your dessert is one of the most fun parts about baking. Everything looks better with sprinkles, so a fun festive set would be a perfect addition to the gift.

I also love these kid-friendly decorating tools:

• Food Coloring Gels: I love this basic junior set here. It has all the colors you need.
• Piping Bags & Tips: For cake decorating, cookie decorating, and putting flourishes on any other special treats, this is a very handy set of piping bags so they never run out. And they will love these decorating tips.
• Candied Decorations: The quickest way to decorate cakes, cupcakes, and other treats. This set is featured in some of my favorite recipes.

Basic Baking Ingredients

Don't underestimate the power of a box of ingredients to seriously impress your kid baker.

Head over to Costco or another warehouse store and stock up on the GIANT packages of things kids love to bake with like chocolate chips or a huge bottle of vanilla extract they can call their own.

• HUGE Bag of Chocolate Chips: We always buy this resealable bag.
• Vanilla Extract
• Specialty Baking Mixes
• Candy Melting Wafers
• Meringue Powder: A pricey ingredient that is essential to royal icing for sugar cookies. You can buy a resealable bag here.
• Rainbow Sprinkles: Any treat looks better with some sprinkles. I love this set of jimmies.

6. Gifts for Cake Bakers

• Round Cake Pans: For making a two-layer cake or a batch of cinnamon rolls. I love this set.
• Mini Bundlet Pan: For making individual bundt cakes, this pan is adorable.
• Cake Strips: For ensuring your layer cake has PERFECT even tops, this is my favorite baking tool.
• Cake Boards: These 9 x 13-inch cake boards are surprisingly handy for turning a simple sheet cake into a stunning dessert like my Monster cake below!
• Rectangle Cake Pan with Lid: But for the kid who wants to bake a cake inside the pan and leave it there, this is my favorite because the lid is perfect for storage.

Gifts for Cupcake Bakers

• Cupcake Wrappers: Select a variety of fun and festive wrappers for different holidays or treat them to this rainbow assortment here.
• Cupcake Pan: This set of cupcake pans is great because most recipes make 24 cupcakes.
• Cupcake Filler Tool: For making filled cupcakes, this gadget comes in handy.

Gifts for Cookie Decorators

• Baking Pans: A cookie decorator can never have too many baking pans. This set works great for holding the cookies during the decorating process.
• Pre-Cut Parchment Paper Sheets: Pre-cut parchment makes it so much easier for kid bakers to get just the right amount they need for a recipe.

Gifts for Donut Makers

Homemade donuts are so much fun to make. Pair the donut pans or maker with a big tub of jimmies for homemade frosted donuts!

• Donut Pans: I used this pair of donut pans to bake our favorite apple cider donuts and the other fun donut recipes in the baking book.
• Mini Donut Maker: This mini donut maker would be another fun way to finish the recipes.
• Giant Donut Pan: For a fun surprise, how about this GIANT donut pan! My kids would think this is hysterical.