READY… SET… (CHRISTMAS) BAKE!

Oooh the smell of Christmas cookies fills the air. The children are waiting for the freshly baked cookies to cool off.

But hey (the scratchy sound of a LP) You had just forgotten that your have kids standing in line, pulling on the apron insisting on participating in the Christmas baking.

So what do you do…?

You can do like we do, in MILK Family, and find some easy recipes where the kids can join in.

Or at least for a part of it.

Sara - our chief designer - bakes gingerbread with daughters Mynte and Elia and their friend Ally

SARA’S GINGERBREAD

Mynte, 3 years old, loves to bake. She jumps around and claps her hands when I tell her we are going to bake gingerbread this weekend. She insists on inviting her best friend Ally. Little sister Elia also wants to help.

“I actually think it's really nice with children in the kitchen, but baking is not something we get done as often as I would like, as it takes a little longer with two children who want to be involved in everything ;-)”

While the Christmas music creates a little extra Christmas atmosphere, they are completely engrossed in rolling out dough, and especially sticking out the figures. There is also a lot of cookie dough that gets eaten during the day, but then on the other hand, there is less to bake.

The result is 2 whole plates with Christmas figures and the excitement is great when the cakes come out of the oven.

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

360 grams of wheat flour
200 grams of honey
90 grams of sugar
1 eeg
1 tsp. crushed cinnamon
1 tsp. crushed cloves
1 tsp. crushed ginger
1 tsp. baking soda

Procedure:

Put honey in a saucepan and heat while stirring until melted.
Put the sugar in a bowl and pour the hot honey over while stirring. Let it cool.
Whisk the egg together and stir it into the honey / sugar mass together with the spices, baking-soda and flour.
Knead the dough together.
Roll out the dough into approx. ½ cm thickness and make the different shapes.
Place the figures on a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Baking time:

10-12 minutes in a 175 degrees celsius preheated oven (hot air 165 degrees celsius)

NOTE: Keep an eye on the cakes as they can be burnt quickly. Let the cakes cool on a baking sheet.

SIGNE'S SPICE CAKE

My Daughter Vilma, 1½ years old, is super curious and wants to help out in the kitchen. Or at least for 3-5 minutes.

For this spice cake (which by the way smells exactly like Christmas) she helps by stirring the dough. She is constantly asking “what this?” so I have to patiently tell what everything is, eggs, cookie dough and baking weight. This Sunday, she runs off as soon as the dough is stirred together.

I would recommend this recipe for coffee visits from friends and family throughout the Christmas season. You can make it quickly as easily – and sometimes it just have to go fast in a house with children.

A good tip: Don’t hold back on the spices, the more spices you use – the more like Christmas it will taste.

Signe - who is responsible for sourcing and products at MILK - has baked spice cake with her daughter Vilma.

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

3 eegs
250 grams of sugar
75 grams of butter
250 grams of wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cardamom, crushed
1 tsp. cinnamon, crushed
0.5 tsp. cloves, crushed
0.5 tsp. ginger, crushed
1 DL. buttermilk

Procedure:

Eggs and sugar are whipped, the butter is stirred in. Flour, baking powder and spices are stirred in alternately with the milk.
The dough is filled into a greased form (approx. 1½l).

Baking time:

Approx. one hour at 175 degrees C.

Pia - MILK communication and marketing - has baked Shortbread with the children Maya and Albert

PIA'S SHORTBREAD

In my home we only have to see or hear the first sign of Christmas before my daughter Maya, 12 years, asks: “Mooom, when are we baking shortbread? It is the best in the world!”

This type of cake is thankfully so easy to bake, and honestly, cinnamon fits just perfectly at this time of year.

Albert at 9 would also like to join, and that's just before there is total assembly line work in it, until they find out that they both would rather be the ones sticking out cakes.

But after a bit of comments back and forth like "aaarh Albert, now you've made your circle on top of my star cake"… they quickly find the beat and we get to bake the approx. 80 cookies in relative peace and quiet.

And the scent, uhmmmmm.

And of course, the kids need a glass of milk.

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

250 grams of wheat flour
5 tsp. Ammonium bicarbonate
150 grams of butter
100 grams of sugar
1 eeg

Brushing:

1 eeg

Decoration:

Cinnamon
Crushed sugar
Almonds, slipped (here you can also just buy almond chips / chopped almonds)

Procedure:

Flour and Ammonium bicarbonate are mixed.
The fat crumbles in it. Sugar is mixed in. The dough is kneaded together with the egg.
Then the dough rests cold for a few hours.
Roll out the dough thinly, roll out with cake tins, brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and chopped almonds in the middle.

Baking time:

Approx. 5 min at 200 degrees in ordinary oven. (180 degrees in hot air)

To be honest, we were a little apprehensive before embarking on the Christmas baking project. It is not every day that one manages to be a little bit extra and disregard the fact that a huge clean-up awaits afterwards, which the kids funnily enough won’t help out with.

And if it's one of those days, just like we all do... buy the classic Christmas cookies at the supermarkets or at the bakery.