Tag Archives: cooking with your kids

Cooking with your Kids Lesson Three: Cookies

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12974804_SAre you prepared for the challenge of lesson three in cooking for kids? Cookies provide a great way to get your children comfortable with measuring, mixing, and combining ingredients in the right order. However, you should probably prepare to deal with a very messy kitchen at the completion.

One approach that will help minimize the mess and confusion is a common chef approach – creating a Mise en place – which involves pre-measuring and preparing all of the ingredients. Using small bowls or cups, have your children measure every ingredient and line them up in order. In the case of cookies where the dry ingredients need to be mixed together then added to the mix of wet ingredients, you can sort the smaller containers into wet and dry sections so that it is easier to follow the directions to make the cookie dough.

For a first batch of homemade cookies, choose a simple drop cookie recipe and one that can take a beating such as oatmeal cookies. You may want to use parchment paper under the ingredients during the measuring and assembly process to limit the waste. Parchment paper also keeps cookies from sticking to a cookie sheet and makes clean-up afterwards much easier.

If you’re introducing more than one child to baking, you may want to have each child take turns with measuring and mixing. Think about making cookies that involve simple stirring rather than beating. You may want to assign the oldest to read the recipe so that everyone knows all of the steps.

You may end up finishing the baking once the first batch or two come out of the oven, but it’s worth the time and effort to watch your next generation of bakers in action.

Cooking with your Kids Lesson Two: Pizza

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14452519_SOnce your children are comfortable assembling tacos, salads or other simple meals, the next step is combining ingredients to create a finished product such as pizza.

No, you don’t want your children to imitate the boy in this photo, but they can spread the dough in a pan and put on tomato sauce and toppings.

Many stores carry fresh pizza dough ready to bake. Look for one with few or no preservatives, and possibly a whole wheat crust. Once the toppings are on, most kids won’t notice the difference.

To discourage debates on toppings, have each child select one or two favorites, and make mini-pizzas so everyone gets to make his or her own round dough foundation and top it as they each choose.

As the parent, you are in charge of quality control. Pizza dough can be spread with the fingers, but keep an eye out for unintentional holes or extremely uneven surfaces. This can make one part burn before another section is done. You may also want to monitor the level of toppings, particularly the cheese.

While you want to keep an eye on the things, this is also an opportunity to let your child make a few mistakes and learn from them. Too many toppings may create a pizza that is goopier than preferred. An uneven pizza crust may not be as tasty as expected. Don’t try to make everyone’s pizza perfect; the real goal is to encourage them to have fun and appreciate the process. They can also benefit by learning from any mistakes.

Wrap up the lesson by showing them how to tell when their pizzas are properly baked. Use the light in your oven to show them how to look for bubbling in the middle and browning of the crust on the edges. Individual pizzas provide a great second phase of your cooking lessons.