Holiday Cookbooks for Kids - Three of the Best for Your Kitchen Shelf

Cooking with preschoolers is a way to create memorable holiday traditions. Instead of scanning through the same cookbook you use for Thursday night dinners to find new holiday recipes, why not check out a cookbook designed with kids and holidays in mind? Whether you’re looking for a baking guide, food gift ideas, or a cookbook covering every holiday of the year, one of these three cookbooks will do the job.

Baking With Kids, by Linda Collister

This is the second kids' cookbook and latest offering from Linda Collister, a veteran author of cookbooks on baking, chocolate, and bread. It is a solid and sophisticated cookbook that will appeal to both preschoolers and adults in the family. With both holiday and everyday baking ideas, you and your preschooler will use this cookbook all year long. Seasonal highlights include a decorated Yule log and holiday cookies. The long list of everyday baking recipes goes on to provide ideas for dinner meals like tostadas and chili, snacks like homemade granola bars, basic breads, and plenty of desserts. So get in the kitchen with your preschooler, knead some dough, get flour on your clothes, and make some smiles and memories.  

Chocolate and Sweets to Make (Usborne Activities)

If you are looking for homemade treats for your preschooler to give as gifts, this is the book for you. Choose from over a dozen recipes to create eye-catching gems – try delicate cubes of ‘creamy coconut ice,’ cute-as-can-be ‘chocolate bugs,’ or traditional favorites like chocolate-dipped fruit and chocolate fudge. And the cookbook goes one step further. Use the book’s wrapping ideas and sparkling gift tags to complete the package. Teachers, grandparents, friends and neighbors will enjoy getting these gifts from the heart and home.

To Every Season: A Family Holiday Cookbook, by Jane Breskin Zalben

Don’t let a holiday pass this coming year without cooking something special with your preschooler. To Every Season contains a selection of recipes and a background story for each of sixteen holidays. For Christmas, try Santa's Elves' Eggless Eggnog, Spiced and Iced Gingerbread Animals, or Candy Cane Hot Chocolate. For Chanukah, try Pearl's Potato Latkes and Bubbe's Baked Apples. For Kwanzaa, try Buttermilk Corn Bread and Sweet Potato Pudding. Need last minute ideas for holiday's that creep up? Go to the Mother's Day, Father's Day, or Valentine's Day sections. This book places a high value on sharing food and cooking with children - “Cooking is a way for the generations to connect.”

by Kati Chevaux

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