Shannen’s Holiday Baking Tips

Christmas is my by far my favorite holiday. I love decorating my house for the holidays, shopping for gifts (but I hate wrapping them), and of course baking all kinds of holiday treats.

While I might not always be the best baker, I do enjoy it. My kids and I spent most of Sunday baking all of our holiday treats (and of course had football games on in the background, so we wouldn’t miss a minute of the Packer game!)

Here are a few of my holiday baking tips to make your holidays just a litter brighter this season.

1. Involve your kids

• I have my kids help out with about anything except actually putting things in the oven. Even though, this often takes a bit longer and makes an even bigger mess, I love that they love to help out.

2. Buy name brand

• My grandmother has been baking and decorating cakes for much of her life, and my aunt bakes the best sugar cookies. They both say to buy brand name ingredients especially when it comes to buying flour, sugar, baking soda, and cake mixes. I have to agree, for whatever reason, cookies and cakes that are made name brand ingredients just turn out better than when I use store brands.

3. Measure

• When I make things for my family, I usually follow a recipe, but I don’t always measure things exactly as the recipe says. If it tastes good, I’ve added enough. However, when it comes to baking, I always measure exactly as the recipe says.

4. Make one big mess

• When I do my holiday baking, I prefer to spend most of the day making one big mess. When I’m finished, the bowls, measuring cups, and baking trays are overflowing in my kitchen sink. I have cookies, pretzels, and Chex Mix everywhere, but I only have on mess to clean up! I hate cleaning up, so if I only have to do it once it’s not quite so bad!

Holiday baking is one of my favorite holiday traditions. We may not always have the best decorated gingerbread house or the perfectly frosted sugar cookies, but we do have a great time together, and to me that’s what’s most important.