3 Family Fun Recipes to Make with Your Littles

‘Tis the season for holiday baking! Whether you are baking for a special occasion, or to bring the holiday warmth into your own home, these 3 recipes are perfect to bake with your littles. Don’t forget to put on your matching Colorado Aprons! Don’t only bake for fun, but bake in style.

OATMEAL JAM BARS

Just remembered you were supposed to bring something to that holiday party and you have 2 hours to get ready and make something from scratch? We got you! This super quick and easy recipe only takes 30 minutes from start to finish!

How to make these jam-filled bars

• Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 pan with foil or parchment paper (leaving overhang on two sides for easy removal). Spray with nonstick spray.
• Crust/topping mixture: Whisk melted butter, brown sugar and vanilla together. Add flour, oats, salt, and baking soda and stir until you’ve created an oatmeal cookie dough.
• Press it in the pan: Pull out 3/4 of oatmeal mix and set aside (a little less than half) Press the remaining mixture into an 8×8 pan and press into the corners of the pan to create a flat layer. Bake the crust for 10 minutes.
• Add the jam and topping: Remove cooked layer from the oven and carefully spread Alida’s Jam on the top of cookie base. Crumble the reserved oatmeal mixture over the jam and return to the oven for about 15 more minutes or until a light golden brown. Place pan on cooling rack.

Bars will be soft when warm. To firm them up, store them at cool temps or refrigerate until your party! These can be served warm with ice cream on top, room temp for an easy bite, or chilled.

JAM THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Introduce a new heritage to your family by baking these traditional thumbprint cookies, originally made in Sweden! Bring tradition into your home by baking these fun cookies together as a family. Did you know that you literally use your thumbprint to make these cookies?!

How to make these tasty Thumbprint Cookies

• Pre-heat the oven to 350°F and line two or three baking trays with baking paper.
• Mix butter, sugar and vanilla: Let your little to measure the butter (if you forget to put to let your butter soften, put in the microwave for 10 seconds – DON’T LET IT MELT), sugar and vanilla and add to a large mixing bowl.
• Mix together with a wooden spoons until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
• Add the egg: Let your little crack the egg in a small bowl first then add to your mixture, we don’t want any shells sneaking their way into our cookies. Mix together until it is well combined.
• Add the remaining ingredients: Measure the flour, baking powder and salt and add to your biscuit dough. Mix everything together until you have a soft dough.
• Form the cookies: Roll small bits of dough into balls and place on your baking tray. Leave a gap between each cookie as they’ll spread in the oven.
• Gently press your thumb into the centre of each cookie to create a small hollow.
• Add the jam: Spoon a small amount of jam (about ½ tsp) into the centre of each cookie until the hollow is full.
• Bake the thumbprint cookies: Bake in the oven for round 12-15 minutes. They’re ready when they have started to turn golden at the edges. Leave to cool on the baking trays before moving to a wire rack.

Ingredients

• 7/8 cup unsalted, softened butter
• 7/8 cup golden caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 3.5 tbsp Alida’s raspberry jam

Why Alida’s Jam

Here at The Colorado Store, we are proud to be a family owned and operated company and we love supporting other companies like ours. Alida’s Fruits is a family owned and operated farm located in Palisade, Colorado. Farmers Bob and Alida Helmer have spent years working their land, and tending their orchards to produce the freshest fruits for everyone to enjoy.

Whether you’re looking for a tasty Colorado gift idea, or just want to indulge yourself, Alida’s Fruits offers fresh fruits in season and home canned jams, and syrups. You can find our favorites at any of our brick & mortar stores (see below for a list of our locations). While you are there, be sure to shop our hand towels and aprons for the perfect present!

JAM-FILLED DONUTS

Take it to the next level with these jam filled puffy goodness! All you need is a few ingredients, extra little hands, and the patience for clean up afterwards! Just remember, the juicy bite will be well worth the potential mess.

How to make these jam-filled donuts

These puffy bundles of deliciousness are simple to make! First, let your active dry yeast activate with water and milk by heating it to 110 degrees in a small pot. While this is heating, mix your eggs and other ingredients (minus the butter) into a small bowl. Once mixed together well, add your butter. To know if the consistency is correct, stretch your dough apart, if it breaks right away, keep beating; if it becomes translucent, you are good to go! Let the dough rise. Once risen, cut the dough, fill them with jam, and fry them up!

Step by Step Directions

• Heat the water and milk in a small pot until it reaches 105-110 degrees. Pour the yeast into a large bowl attached to a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Pour the warmed milk and water mixture over the yeast and let it activate for 5 minutes. 
• Whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. 
• Whisk the egg into the water, milk, and yeast. 
• Add in the flour mixture, vanilla and almond extracts, and the honey to the bowl and mix until a dough forms.
• Add in the softened butter one tablespoon at a time and only add in the next tablespoon after the previous one has been fully incorporated. 
• Keep kneading until dough becomes translucent when you stretch it. 5-10 minutes. 
• Transfer to a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until it’s doubled in size. 1-2 hours depending on how warm your kitchen is.
• Roll the dough out on a floured surface until it’s 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick. 
• Cut out circles with a 2 inch round cutter and place each donut on its own individual 4×4 square of parchment. 
• Let rise again for 30 minutes. 
• While the dough is rising, add the vegetable oil to a large pot and heat to 375 degrees. 
• Once ready, add 3-4 donuts to the oil and cook on each side for 2-3 minutes or until they are golden in color. 
• Remove from the oil and let cool on a plate lined with a paper towel. Once cooled, roll through sugar and use a small pairing knife to create a hole to pipe in the jam. 
• Using a pastry bag or zip-block bag, pipe Alida’s Jam into the donuts until they are all filled. 

Once cooled, dig in! These donuts should be eaten the day they are made or the next morning to have them as fresh as possible. With all the hard work, the joy you and the kiddos had making them – each bite is a tasty reward!

Ingredients

• 1 package of active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup milk 
• 1/3 cup water 
• 1 egg 
• 2 TBSP sugar 
• 3 TBSP honey 
• 3 TBSP butter softened 
• 1 1/4 all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup bread flour  
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 4-6 cups of vegetable oil

‘Tis the season, and happy baking! We wanna know how each of these recipes worked for you! If you have any other favorite jam traditions, let us know.