One item on my summer bucket list was to spend more time teaching Claire how to bake. She’s ten years old, which is a great age to start giving her a little more ownership in the kitchen. She knows how to make scrambled eggs, macaroni and cheese, and some other basic recipes.
To give her the opportunity to bake more independently, we added a convection toaster oven to our kitchen. This weekend we rolled up our sleeves, tied on our aprons, and made some peanut butter cookies.
This post was sponsored by PPL Electric Utilities as part of their Project Envolve Ambassador program. All opinions expressed in my post are my own. This post also includes affiliate links.
Why do we love baking with our toaster oven?
Easier & Safer for Kids
Does anyone remember Easy Bake ovens? It’s the same idea. I love the size of a toaster oven, it’s small enough for the kids to use independently and it gets the job done. Also, since our toaster oven sits at a counter level, it’s easy for Claire to use without much help from me.
Plus, she can easily see her cookies through the glass. A 9×13 pan fits perfectly into our toaster oven, and it works great for most recipes.
Energy Efficient
Baking smaller items with a convection toaster oven uses 1/3 – 1/2 less energy than a conventional electric oven. It takes less time to heat up and does a great job, ours fits a 9×13″ pan so we can bake a tray of cookies or a frozen pizza easily!
Doesn’t heat up the house!
According to energy.gov, the average U.S. household spends $875 or more a year on heating and cooling. When I turn on our regular oven it makes our first floor heat up quite a bit and the last thing I want to do is turn up the AC to cool down the house. When we use smaller appliances, like a toaster oven, we’re not only conserving tons of energy, but we’re keeping our homes cooler and saving AC in the process.
Convection Oven Option
We had a convection oven when living in Ireland and I loved it! Our convection oven didn’t take as much time to heat up and it baked really evenly. I found a toaster oven with a convection option so I was sold! I feel like our bacon and cookies cook much better in the convection mode.
To remind our children how to be safe in the kitchen I created this FREE PRINTABLE poster that you can post in your kitchen.
Download your FREE Printable Poster Now!
For moms, sometimes kitchen work can be a bore, but for kids, it’s new and exciting. Especially when the final product is cookies! If you’re overwhelmed by using your full-sized oven to cook and are looking for a fun way to teach your kids to bake try using a toaster oven. Not only is it easier to manage but you’ll save energy too!
Want to try it yourself? Click here to see what toaster oven we use, and don’t forget to visit the Project Envolve website or Pinterest account for more energy-saving tips that you can apply to your homes.
Krystal herrera
Definitely, true! This is why I prefer baking in toasters. Anyways, lovely blog Donna!