Our Favorite Family Recipes to Bake Right Now

Today we’re talking about our favorite things to bake with the kids (ages 3 and 5 right now). These are all family favorite recipes we’ve made for the last 5-30 years. 

Do you find yourself baking more than usual at home these days? We’ve been using baking as a fun activity, especially during the long afternoon hours that seem to stretch endlessly on until dinner. 

I’ve rounded up nine of our favorite family recipes, almost all handed down from my mom or grandmother. We’ve been baking them for decades and they don’t disappoint. 

Our favorite ones with toddlers are the chocolate chip cookies, the chocolate chip pumpkin bread, and the whole wheat chocolate chip muffins, but my kids are excited about all of these, too. 

Happy Baking! 

1. Best ever chocolate chip cookies: This is our all time favorite classic chocolate chip cookie recipe! If you were coming over for games tonight, there’s a 90% chance I’d be making these. We’ve made these since I was 5 (my first job was selling them to school kids on the streets of Tokyo). We did a bakeoff last year with 15 other delicious chocolate chip cookie recipes (made by very talented women) and these took the grand prize.  
2. Chocolate chip peanut butter bars: These keep really well so are awesome to make one afternoon and snack on for the rest of the week. 
3. Whole wheat chocolate chip muffins: If you need a sweet pick me up in the morning or are trying to get some whole grains into your kids, these are packed with oatmeal, whole wheat flour, and chopped nuts. They’re our favorite muffin recipe (and you can half the brown sugar or skip the chocolate chips if you want). 
4. Chocolate chip pumpkin bread: Usually this is a fall family favorite but we’ve made it twice during quarantine already. You can also make these in muffin tins if you want them to bake faster or be easier for grab-and-go snacking. 
5. Best sugar cookie recipe: These are the tastiest sugar cookies and make for such a fun indoor activity. If you’re not into a big frosting ordeal, I like to just mix milk and powdered sugar and dip the tops of the cookies in to frost. They don’t make for the prettiest cookies but they’re tasty and easy (and by the time we’ve rolled, cut, and baked the cookies, I am usually not up for a crazy frosting ordeal). If you don’t have cookie cutters on hand, you can use the top of a cup to make round sugar cookies. 
6. Cheesecake surprise cookies: These cake mix cookies are stuffed with cream cheese frosting and drizzled with white chocolate and are just so delicious.  My favorite are the red velvet ones but you can make them with chocolate cake mix, too. These are a newer addition to our family recipes and I’ve only been making them for the last 7-8 years. They’re a little more involved and require freezing the cheesecake frosting ahead of time. 
7. Buttered crescent rolls: We have made these crescent rolls 1-2 a week since quarantine started. They’re light, fluffy, and buttery. They pair really well with your favorite soup for dinner or as a snack anytime. 
8. Fried scones: Have you fried something before? These were my first attempt frying anything 8 years ago and they’ve been a family favorite since. The dough recipe is simple and frying is much easier than I thought. Set out a variety of toppings and make your own fried dough bar (powdered sugar, cinnamon + sugar, jam, salted butter). 
9. Cinnamon rolls: Looking for a brunch treat? This cinnamon roll recipe has been in the family for decades and are SO good. Don’t skip the cream cheese frosting.