Season 3, Episode 3: Holiday Baking with Kids

Conner: (00:00)
Welcome to Kiddos in the Kitchen, a podcast hosted by my mom.

Jackie Bruchez: (00:18)
I feel like with holiday baking, it's a time that you want to plan. I mean, there are times where you're like, "Oh my gosh, I have some bananas. Let's make some banana bread." And do it quickly, and in a rush. Have them help here and there. But when it's holiday baking, I think the main goal is to create the experience and the memory. And so taking the time out of your day and having them really be involved will get everybody really excited.

Stephanie Conner: (00:44)
That's Jackie Bruchez, the baker and chef behind the popular food blog The Seaside Baker. Now Jackie goes big on holiday baking which may be a little intimidating for some of us, but she also has some tips to make it a little easier, and she 100 percent knows that the objective isn't just a beautiful plate of cookies. It's making memories with her kids.

Welcome to Kiddos in the Kitchen, a podcast about helping busy adults find the inspiration and information they need to teach the kids in their lives how to cook. I'm your host, Stephanie Conner. And today, we are talking about holiday baking with kids.

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Stephanie Conner: (02:18)
Holiday baking, especially those treasured Christmas cookies for Santa, can be a special time, but it can also be frustrating for some parents. Flour and powdered sugar everywhere. Sprinkles that hide in places you won't sweep them up until spring. All for cookies that look nothing like that Martha Stewart magazine cover. Of course, if you are a professional baker like Jackie, they probably do. But she knows this isn't about the perfect cookie. This is about creating memories.

Jackie Bruchez: (02:54)
We usually sit down probably in the beginning of December, and we put together a list of things that we want to cook. And we don't just base it off of our favorite recipes, but we also want to make sure that the plate is visually appealing and that there's colors and different textures and different flavors. So we'll sit down and base it off of past recipes we've done, but we want to make sure that the plate that we provide is just as appealing as it tastes, as well as it looks. We also add candies and things like that, and we talk about who we want to gift it to and how we're going to package it. And then we get cooking. Growing up, we would do the same thing, usually around November, I come from a very large Italian family, and my grandfather would let me skip a week of school, and we would bake hundreds and hundreds of pounds of Italian cookies. And then we'd assemble it on a plate and give them to everybody. So I want to recreate that with my kids.

Stephanie Conner: (03:58)
I had to know what all is on this gift plate that she and her kids are making. Last year, they kept it simple, which for them meant decorated sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, spritz cookies, a chocolate pecan shortbread, and homemade caramels. But in years when they go big, it might be 10 types of cookies.

Jackie Bruchez: (04:25)
Last year it was definitely simple. And we always try and add, like, an Italian cookie. My kids are half Swiss, so we'll add a Swiss cookie there. We try and incorporate not only flavors, but also traditions and heritage.

Stephanie Conner: (04:40)
You had mentioned caramels. Is there anything else that you do sometimes beyond just the Christmas cookies? When we think of holiday baking, we always think cookies, but there's other stuff out there too.

Jackie Bruchez: (04:52)
Candy making is one of my favorite things to do. And my kids love coming home to the smell of candy. So we make caramel. We make toffee. We also make something called Christmas crack. It's toffee caramel mixed with crackers and chocolate. And oh my gosh, it's divine. Sometimes we will make divinity, and sometimes we'll also make jams or salsas, and we gift those just to add something different. It depends on who we're giving it to. We always gift homemade treats.

Stephanie Conner: (05:29)
So how does Jackie involve her kids?

Jackie Bruchez: (05:33)
We always incorporate some sort of decorated cookie. It can be hard sometimes. I have kids that are in their teens and I have one that's 10. Their decorating isn't professional quality, but I think that's totally okay. And I think it's really special for them to gift their teachers some cookies that they decorated or baked. They always are involved with some sort of decorating of some sort of cookie. They usually like to help bake. My kids love to bake. The older ones, they will make a recipe on their own. My son's specialty is smoked brownies right now. That's his new thing. He'll go out on the Traeger and make a couple batches of brownies and smoke those. And then my daughter loves making cookies or breads. She'll make something like that. And that way we can give the gift of our cookies and everybody can say, "Listen, I made this, and I did this, and I did that." And they have a story to it.

Stephanie Conner: (06:32)
How can we get our kids excited about baking together this holiday season?

Jackie Bruchez: (06:38)
I say, bring the kids in from start to finish. Have them help you decide. Go on Pinterest, look up recipes, have them help you decide what you're going to make. Take them to the store. Say, “What color frosting do we want to use? What color sprinkles do we want to use?'“ I think if you bring them in from start to finish, they're more likely to finish it with you and also be really excited about it; and also bring them in on deciding how you're going to assemble the trays or who you're going to give them to, and just get them really excited about the whole process. I think definitely saying, "Okay, this time period from here to here is when we're going to be together, and we're going to bake together, and we're going to get these done, and then we're going to be able to give them to everybody we care about." And just make it an experience.

Stephanie Conner: (07:29)
For your kids, do you know what parts they really look forward to?

Jackie Bruchez: (07:34)
I think they really enjoy the process. They love creating something. They love tasting it after and saying, "Oh, that was good, but maybe those brownies are a little overcooked. Maybe next time I should undercook them." They critique their cooking a lot. They'll taste something and say, "Hmm, this is a little cakey." It's actually funny to listen to them talk about their recipes, but they love the whole process. They love thinking about it. They love this deciding what to make. They love everything about it, I think. Even my youngest. My youngest will sit here and be like, "Okay, well let's make this." And we have baking days. He just loves to get the flour and do the mixture and just bring all these ingredients together to create something delicious.

Stephanie Conner: (08:19)
So you bake all the time. I mean, it's your job. You're always baking and creating recipes. So since you're doing this all the time, what is it about holiday baking that's still important or special for you?

Jackie Bruchez: (08:35)
So, because it's my job and I do it all the time, the kids do their own thing. They'll bake when they want something if it's not available at the house, but when it's holiday baking, we come together as a family and we do it together. And I think that's the most important thing for me. It's creating the tradition. It's creating family time. It's just a good time for us all. So we set aside a weekend, and we say nothing else going on. We're turning on our Christmas music. We're lighting all the candles. Generally speaking, it's the weekend that we're decorating. There's hot chocolate, there's everything going on. And we just come together and we do it together, and they are actually able to participate and do the decorating and all of that. So I think they love that more than anything. It's creating the tradition. That's what I want to do. That's what I want them to remember when they're older.

Stephanie Conner: (09:31)
Now, for those of us who are not professional bakers, what cookie recipes should we look for to make life a little easier? And how can we avoid some big mistakes?

Jackie Bruchez: (09:43)
Spritz cookies are great. The recipe is super simple, and the kids can use the spritz gun to push them out themselves. And it's really easy. And the cookies are absolutely delicious. And again, they're pretty because they're decorative and you don't have to make royal frosting to go on them or anything like that. You just put a little sprinkles on them and they're good to go. Brownies are always great. They cut well, they travel well. They fit well on a plate.

Jackie Bruchez: (10:12)
Shortbread cookies are easy. You can do the slice and bake cookies. The kids can transfer the dough from the bowl to the Saran Wrap and roll it up. Then they can cut them. Anything with chocolate. You can make the little truffle balls, the cake balls or whatever. They can roll them. That's a lot of kid participation. That's easily done, and they can dip them and then decorate them. And those are always really good. I think any recipe can be kid-friendly, as long as you have patience. And you have to just say, "You know what? The kids are going to make it. It may not be perfect, but it will be theirs. And this is what they’re going to remember."

Stephanie Conner: (10:52)
Speaking of things not being perfect. Are there any baking pitfalls, common mistakes that people make that you can help us avoid this year?

Jackie Bruchez: (11:02)
Not having your ingredients at room temperature throws off the balance of the dough, no matter what dough it is. That's always really important to have all your ingredients at room temperature. We want to make sure that either you use unsalted butter and you add salt, or you use salted butter and you don't add the salt. Because if you have both, then it's going to be way too salty. Make sure you don't mix up your baking powder and your baking soda, and help the kids measure important ingredients such as salt and spices. Because sometimes they get really excited and they go overboard, and you're like, "Ah!" For baking, use parchment paper. Foil tends to burn the bottoms of cookies and items. Either use parchment paper or a silicone mat, but definitely stray away from foil unless you're making some sort of bar, and it's a little bit thicker. It doesn't burn as much.

Stephanie Conner: (12:02)
Now I'm excited to share the tip that will make my own personal holiday baking experience much better. I don't love decorating cookies. I don't love making so many different frosting colors, and I've never mastered the art of multiple frosting consistencies. But sugar cookies are important to my son as part of our holiday baking day. Jackie understood this, and she has a solution.

Jackie Bruchez: (12:31)
If you just do like a white frosting and you let it dry completely, and then take the gel food coloring, they can paint the decoration on it. They can paint Christmas trees or they can paint whatever they want to paint. And it looks festive and cute and homemade. And it's really easy and a heck of a lot less messy.

Stephanie Conner: (12:52)
This is a game changer. I have already purchased food-safe paintbrushes.

And now it's time for Kitchen Questions. This season, we are asking chefs some questions to help us all learn more about food and cooking. We asked Jackie a few baking-related questions.

Kids: (13:12)
It's time for Kitchen Questions.

Kids: (13:18)
I have a question. What would happen if you put a little bit of the wrong ingredient inside a cookie?

Kids: (13:26)
Why are cupcakes squishy?

Kids: (13:27)
How often do you burn things on accident?

Kids: (13:30)
Do you like cake?

Kids: (13:32)
What is the difference between baking and roasting?

Kids: (13:35)
What is your favorite recipe?

Kids: (13:42)
How do you know it's time to replace baking powder or baking soda?

Jackie Bruchez: (13:50)
They might have a lifespan typically of six months to a year. So if it's been open longer than that, get rid of it and get new ones. You can also mix it with a little bit of boiling water and if it starts to bubble and foam immediately, then it's still good. If it doesn't, throw it out and get new ones.

Kids: (14:08)
Can we omit salt from dessert recipes?

Jackie Bruchez: (14:12)
No, don't ever omit salt.

Kids: (14:15)
Why?

Jackie Bruchez: (14:16)
Because it enhances the flavor, and it gives somewhat of a balance. You can if you're using salted butter, but you have to make sure that salt is in there because it balances out the sweetness. So you don't want to take it out all together.

Kids: (14:30)
What's the difference between a crumble and a crisp?

Jackie Bruchez: (14:34)
So a crumble is more like a streusel. It's a butter, flour, sugar mixture. And a crisp has oats in it. So it gets crunchy because the oats kind of crisp up while they're baking. So it's mixed with the same ingredients, but you usually add oats to a crisp. And it's more of a crunchy rather than a soft topping. The crumble kind of melts into the butter and the sugar and melts into the fruit. Whereas the crisp keeps its form because of the oats.

Stephanie Conner: (15:07)
Up next, you'll hear from a cooking kiddo. Our first kid chef on the show is Chef Ayo Brazier.

Kids: (15:16)
I'm a cooking kiddo.

Kids: (15:17)
I'm a chef.

Kids: (15:20)
I love making memories in the kitchen.

Kids: (15:24)
I like to eat what I cook.

Kids: (15:27)
Kitchen time is the best time.

Ayo Brazier: (15:32)
Hello. My name is Chef Ayo. I am a young chef from Canada, and I'm 11 years old in grade six, and I really like to cook and bake.

Stephanie Conner: (15:45)
His mom and sous chef, Shelly, remembers the moment she knew her son was born to cook.

Shelly: (15:52)
I don't know how old he was. Maybe 3 or 4, just watching him make his own meal for the first time on a little step stool in front of the stove. As a parent, you're kind of like, just don't burn anything. Just crack one egg into the pan. But he cracked it himself. He had a chef hat and a matching apron. He looked all cute. I think in that moment you can sort of see, this is what they were kind of made to do. And he was like, 3 or 4 at the most. Really little. He was just so proud of himself at the end. And then he took his little egg on a plate and sat down at the dining room table and ate his little creation. But in that moment I remember going, "Okay, yeah. He's going to be a chef or something in the culinary field for sure."

Stephanie Conner: (16:36)
Chef Ayo, who also enjoys playing video games and Legos, reading, and playing the piano, wants to be a chef when he grows up. He also recently prepared meals for people in his community who are homeless with a group called Project Good Karma. And once a month he makes dinner for 21 people at a local shelter. How does cooking make Ayo feel?

Ayo Brazier: (16:59)
Well, I feel excited because if I'm making something that I really like to make or I like to eat or something, then I can feel excited about that. Or if I'm making, like, a new recipe, I can feel excited about that. And I feel happy because I'm baking and cooking.

Stephanie Conner: (17:17)
Chef Ayo prefers baking to cooking, and he has made every baked good you can imagine. You'd better believe he's baking up a storm for the holidays, but he's also mastered brownies, cinnamon buns, cookies, macaroons, crepes, cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, funnel cakes, hand pies. He even makes his own pop tarts. He is quite accomplished in the kitchen.

Ayo Brazier: (17:40)
I remember this one time when I was icing a cupcake, I did it so smooth. The icing was smooth, but, like, when I say smooth, I mean like when I was piping it, it felt so smooth. I just found that very satisfying.

Stephanie Conner: (17:58)
Ayo is a proponent of mise en place: chopping, prepping and measuring ingredients before starting to cook. And get this, this kid chef cleans as he goes, his mom says.

Shelly: (18:10)
He keeps a very clean kitchen in that sense. I keep a clean kitchen too, but I like to sort of tidy up and then move on to the next thing like in batches. I feel like after every little step, he's like, "Okay, let's stop and clean." But it takes like twice as long to make the recipe because we're stopping every five minutes to clean up. So he is actually pretty good. He likes to keep the counter clean, his hands clean and pretty organized.

Stephanie Conner: (18:33)
Chef Ayo recommends that young chefs learn how to properly use a knife and how to read a recipe. Then, he says, it's important to have fun and keep practicing.

Ayo Brazier: (18:43)
If you made, for example, a new recipe, and you think you did something wrong, you can keep on to practicing that recipe to keep on getting better and better at it. So eventually you can make it really, really well.

Stephanie Conner: (18:57)
And while he dreams of a culinary career, he believes it's important for all kiddos to learn how to cook.

Ayo Brazier: (19:04)
Even if you don't want be a chef when you grow up, it's still important to learn how to cook and bake and stuff like that. Because when you grow up, you have to be able to cook so you can make your own meals, so you can cook for yourself.

Shelly: (19:19)
These days, it's so easy to sort of pick up an app like Uber or something and just order food, but...

Ayo Brazier: (19:25)
You can't keep on doing that for the rest of your life.

Shelly: (19:26)
Exactly.

Stephanie Conner: (19:32)
Thank you again to Jackie Bruchez and Chef Ayo. You can follow Jackie on social media. She's The Seaside Baker, and Chef Ayo is on Instagram at chef_ayo. That's A-Y-O. I'll share all these links in the show notes on kiddosinthekitchen.com.

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Stephanie Conner: (20:19)
The holidays are a magical time, but they aren't without stressors. There can be financial stress. Having your family around might cause you anxiety. There are too many parties, too many things that take up our time and, yes, all the extra food and sweets can be stressful for some people. But for my time and money, there's no better investment than spending an afternoon baking cookies with my son. Sometimes it's surprising how long he'll sit and focus, and every year brings a new surprise. A new cookie he wants to try. A new kitchen task he's old enough to tackle. But every time, there's a new memory made. And that really is the whole point. Happy holidays.

Kids: (21:10)
Happy holidays.

Stephanie Conner: (21:16)
Thanks for joining me for Kiddos in the Kitchen. I'm your host, Stephanie Conner, with a reminder from my son.

Conner: (21:23)
If you like my mom's podcast as much as I do, you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Stephanie Conner: (21:42)
That's right, Conner. You can also view the show notes, subscribe to our newsletter, and check out all of our other content at kiddosinthekitchen.com. We're @KiddosCook on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and I'll be back next month with another fresh episode. Until then, I encourage you to get your kiddos in the kitchen.