The purpose of this dissertation study is to investigate how a cooking-infused early childhood mathematics program supports preschool students' learning of mathematics and how these students perceive the program. Children's early mathematical knowledge is essential for their later success in school. Recent evidence highlights the importance of early mathematics for elementary school achievement. Although a growing body of research has explored cooking as a tool to help young children conceptualize mathematics in an engaging and meaningful way, we still have a limited understanding of what learning mathematics through cooking would look like in action and how to plan and implement this program effectively in classrooms. This dissertation study aims to design, develop, and refine a program that integrates mathematical thinking into cooking activities for use in pre-kindergarten classrooms. This study employed a design-based research (Reeves, 2000) methodology, first exploring the process of designing the program prototype based on a literature review and then delving into optimizing the program prototype through three cycles of iterative development and testing. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected using interviews, pre- and post-assessment tests, teacher journaling, and video-recordings of cooking-infused math lessons. To unveil how the program supports preschool students' mathematical thinking, the study examined the students' experiences in the program and their perceptions toward the program, focusing on four focal students' experiences in depth. The study also investigated the successes and struggles that the teacher of the program encountered in each stage of its development to document how contextual and individual factors influenced the teacher's experience and the overall program implementation. Findings revealed that the students not only improved their mathematical thinking but also fostered their positive perceptions toward the program. First, nearly all students who participated in the program across the three iterations improved their post-test scores over their pre-test scores. Second, the four focal preschool students were able to accomplish math tasks that required them to utilize more advanced mathematical concepts than their expected levels, and used their intuitive mathematical thinking while doing the tasks. Third, the eight students who participated in the third iteration not only changed their neutral/negative perceptions toward the program into positive ones, but they also were able to see a connection between their mathematics learning and their daily lives. Lastly, the analysis of the teacher's struggles and successes resulted in the emergence of guidelines that can inform other teachers who are interested in implementing the program. Overall, our results suggest that the cooking-infused math program has the potential of providing effective means for math learning through cooking that naturally attracts students' motivation and engagement. This study has implications for researchers and teachers in the field of early childhood mathematics education to help ensure the success of similar curricular development efforts. For example, the findings of this study uncover the development of a rich learning program for enhancing young children's mathematical understanding, which is informed by current research-based learning practices. This study also provides practical suggestions and guidelines on how children explore and practice mathematical activities aligned with the research-based state standards in the context of cooking. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]