The Panera Bread Bakers In Training Program Is A Deliciously Good Time

One of my goals as a mom of boys is to make sure they know how to cook and bake. After all, I want to make sure they can take complete care of themselves and their significant others when they get older. My husband came into marriage with the ability to barely boil water. He has come leaps and bounds since (thank you youtube!)–making sure that my boys know how to cook/bake is a PRIORITY as a parent.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to host friends and family for a fun Bakers In Training Class at Panera Bread. The Bakers In Training program is a great way to introduce children to kitchen essentials and the fundamentals of baking. Available nationwide, the program is designed for 5-12 year olds and can accommodate up to 20 children. For a small fee per child, the kids get a wonderful social cooking experience that the kids won’t forget!

Tasting/Baking Bread

When all the kids arrived they started by using all five senses to identify how they felt about a piece of sliced bread. The manager of our location, Jessica, was SO good with the kids. She helped them identify the ingredients of bread and how it’s made. She’s my hero alone because she was able to command a room full of 5-8 year olds with little effort.

Each child got the chance to make cuts in their own baguettes with a plastic knife. The children came up individually and had one on one assistance from Jessica as they learned how to slice dough.

Cookie baking

Once they were done with the bread, Jessica whisked the bread to the back for baking and came back with already rounded cookie dough. She wrote the names of the kids (from MEMORY!!) and they had the fun job of decorating the cookies with candy! You bet they were eating more than they were decorating with!

Cinnamon Rolls

After that the kids got cinnamon rolls and cups of icing to decorate them with. My eldest child Josh may or may not have been eating the icing by the spoonful, but we won’t talk about that.

Backstage Tour

The kids were all so excited to get a mini tour of the back area of the Panera Bread restaurant. Now I’m no food inspector but the back room area was SPOTLESS. Crazy clean! The kids got to see where their bread was baking and where the fridge was located. They managed to keep their hands to themselves, it was quite a sight to see!

The Bakers In Training class was a really fun experience for the kids, and the adults alike! When I asked Josh how did he like it his response was “You don’t even understand how great this was”. It was great because the kids got to go home with their baguettes, cookies, cinnamon rolls and even got a free cookie coupon!

The Bakers In Training class at Panera Bread went way above my expectations, from the amazing class instructor, Jessica, to the high quality of food the kids got to enjoy, to the really incredible baking lessons the kids got to experience. Top notch! Thank you so much to Panera Bread for hosting my family and friends.

A Fun Kids #BakersInTraining Class @PaneraBread! Check out what these little chefs created! Click to Tweet

Made for groups of 10–15, this is a great activity for classes, scout groups and birthday parties. While registration is normally $20 per child, the Bakers-in-Training program at Panera Bread locations owned by Doherty Enterprises on Long Island, Staten Island, Queens and Brooklyn are offered at no cost!

Owned and operated by Doherty Enterprises, Panera Bread locations offering the Bakers-in-Training program on Long Island include: Bay Shore, Bohemia, Bridgehampton, Carle Place, East Meadow, East Northport, Farmingdale, Garden City, Hauppauge, Hampton Bays, Hicksville, Huntington Station, Huntington Village, Island Park, Lake Grove, Lake Ronkonkoma, Lawrence, Little Neck, Massapequa, Mineola, New Hyde Park, North Babylon, Plainview, Port Jefferson, Riverhead, Rockville Centre, Syosset, Valley Stream and West Babylon. In Brooklyn include: Adams Street, Gateway Center and Kings Plaza. Queens locations include: Bayside, Glendale, Long Island City and Rego Park. Staten Island locations include: South Shore Commons and Staten Island Mall.

Do you frequent Panera Bread? Have you heard about the Bakers In Training program? Do you let your littles in the kitchen with you?