Baking Strawberry Glazed Donuts

Have you ever baked donuts with your little bakers? If not, you totally should! It’s fun, surprisingly easy and totally satisfies that donut craving!

For this Beginner Baker project we used a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. We followed the steps closely but switched out the Greek yogurt for strawberry whole milk yogurt. With a 5 year old and a 2 year old in the kitchen, it took us around 40 minutes to bake and frost the donuts.

Making Donuts with little bakers

P was in the kitchen first and helped me measure and mix the dough. When little brother woke up from his nap he helped make the frosting and added sprinkles. Here are some tips to involve your little baker in making donuts:

5 year+ measure ingredients.
Using color coded measuring cups and spoons can help little bakers more easily identify measuring tools.

2 year + mix ingredients.
Use a whisk for the wet ingredients and switch to a spatula when combining wet and dry ingredients. Careful not to over mix!

3 year + crack the egg.
Any broken pieces of egg shells can easily be scooped out using another broken piece of shell.

5 years + help squeeze the dough into the donut pan.
This is great for small motor skill development. I didn’t get a video of P doing it with me this time but we’re working on a video on how to make piping easier for little hands. This is a great bake to practice with because the donuts end up covered in frosting anyway.

2 years + using toddler safe knives cut the strawberries.

2 years + mix the strawberry purée with powdered sugar.
Start with 1 cup of powdered sugar. Let them add powdered sugar in 1/4 cup increments and watch the consistency change as the puree absorbs the sugar. We added about 2 cups.

3 years + frost the donuts using a brush or dipping into frosting.
I dipped the donuts since I was with both my 2 and 5 yo. If it was just me and my older baker I think she could handle the dipping!

2 year + decorate donuts with sprinkles!

How we baked it

https://videopress.com/v/bZ9xp1DZ?preloadContent=metadata

Recipe link: Strawberry Frosted Donuts

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Berry Cream Tarts

There’s something insanely exciting to my kids about being able to build their own meal. They light up at any chance to help in the kitchen when it involves assembly. These berry cream tarts fit perfectly into that category. The not-too-sweet cream cheese and mascarpone cream balances the buttery graham cracker crust. Top it with berries and you can have a perfect treat for a (virtual) tea party or summer evening.

Baking tips by age

2-4 years can help:

• Smash the graham crackers into little pieces using their hands or a toy hammer.
• Help mix the graham cracker mixture and scoop into the muffin tins.
• Help cut strawberries with toddler safe kitchen knives.
• Topping the tarts with cream and fruit.

5-7 years:

• Smash the graham crackers into little pieces using their hands or a toy hammer.
• Measure and mix ingredients to make crust, they might use their hands to break up any pieces bigger than a penny.
• Scoop crust evenly into muffin pan.
• Cut strawberries with toddler safe kitchen knives.
• Top tarts with cream and fruit.

How we baked it

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Berry Cream Tarts

20 minutes prep | 10 minutes bake + assembly time
Makes about 12 tarts in muffin tin*
Crust adapted from “Magic Cookie Bars” recipe by Samantha Seneviratne

Ingredients

Crust
6 tablespoons of butter, melted and cooled
20 graham crackers, about 2 3/4 cup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg

Cream Topping
8 oz cream cheese softened
2 oz mascarpone
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Strawberries cut into pieces
Blueberries

Directions

1. First prepare the crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).
2. Spray or butter muffin tin.
3. Crumble graham crackers by hand or in food processor until only small pieces remain.
4. Add sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to incorporate.
5. Add butter and egg.
6. Mix well until the graham crackers are moist and small clusters begin to form.
7. Divide into cupcake tin and spread, pressing firmly against the bottom and sides. Form a thin layer of crust around the mold, tarts will rise while baking.
8. Bake tarts for 10-12 minutes or until set. Cool completely before removing.
9. While tart crusts are baking make the cream topping and prepare fruit.
10. Hull and half strawberries and cut into small pieces.
11. Combine cream cheese and mascarpone in bowl and mix on low with an electric mixer.
12. Gradually add heavy cream and increase speed to medium until the mixture begins to thicken.
13. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until fluffy and whipped.
14. Once tarts are cooled remove from muffin tin and top with a scoop of cream and berries.

Notes

Store ingredients in the refrigerator to assemble later. Crust will also fit in a 13×9 inch baking pan and make about 15 bars.

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Strawberry Cake Pie

Penny calls this ‘cake pie’ for obvious reasons. We first made it a couple of summers ago and now whenever I see a bunch of ripe strawberries I immediately think of this recipe. It’s simple, sweet and packed full of strawberry goodness. Penny was excited to be able to cut the berries all by herself. Yes, Penny and Jack have their very own set of kitchen knives. These nylon knives are safe for little hands and work great on fruit. Of course if you don’t have safe knives or your little one isn’t ready to help with this part I would hull and half the strawberries ahead of time.

We got our recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Here’s how we made it with a 5 and 2 year old in the kitchen.

baking tips by age

2-4 years: This is an easy recipe to prepare all the ingredients ahead of time in small bowls and then let your little one do the combining. At this age I would cut the green top off the strawberries first and let them half the fruit. They’ll love helping arrange the strawberries on top of the cake.

5-7 years: Let your little baker haul and half the strawberries if you have kid-safe knives. Try pulling up the green leaves before cutting as close to the top as possible. As always, they can combine and mix ingredients. Arranging the strawberries on top of the cake makes it their own.

how we baked it

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Strawberry Cake Pie

SERVINGS 8-10
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen where it was adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

The Prep

Bring butter to room temperature.
Measure all ingredients into small bowls.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter 10 inch pie pan.
Hull and half strawberries now or with your little baker.

The Directions

1. Prepare strawberries – cut off green tops and then cut in half long ways.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt together in a small bowl and whisk.
3. Beat the room temp butter with 1 cup of sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. This takes about 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Or, if you need to keep a baby napping you can mix by hand for about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in 1 one egg, 1/2 cup of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until combined.
5. Gradually add in dry mixture and stir until smooth.
6. Pour batter into pie pan. Arrange the strawberries on top, cut side down. You can overlap the strawberries or make one layer.
7. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar over the berries.
8. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 50-60 minutes.
9. You’ll know the cake is done when it’s golden brown and a tester comes out without wet batter.
10. Cool before cutting into wedges.

I enjoy mine with fresh whipped cream, Jack likes ice cream and Penny prefers hers with sprinkles because, why not? 🍓

Bugs and kisses,

June Bug Bakers