#Recipe Baking with kids…not literally!

We’ve now been resident here in Toronto for 5 months and things have pretty much settled. My husband has found his pace with his job, our kids have made a smooth transition to a new school, heck we even seemed to have navigated the whole “Daylight saving hours” thing without too much trouble. The only fly in the ointment is me trying to start Mr. Mom’s from scratch again. Whilst a brand new audience awaits from my take on baked goods, it also means a whole bunch of people who no NOTHING about you. And that’s an uphill climb! (If you do happen to work in the foodie sector and would like a food writer, or baker to work with please do check out my Collaborations page here.)

Anyhoo I digress! As I mentioned above, our kids have (surprisingly) takenthe move to a new country in their stride with little or no tears and tantrums. This week had them on their “March Break” from school- seems to be the equivalent to a UK mid-term break. As well as taking them to the obligatory art galleries and museums (I don’t know who enjoyed it more!) I decided to introduce them to the world of baking. Now I’m not talking anything major- they’re not quiet ready for the cook’s torch or bain maire yet! However you’d be amazed how some simple stirring, cutting, and participation can ignite eagerness.

Here are some of the recipes that took place in Mr. Mom’s kitchen this week. Whilst they range from the sweet to the savory, they are all big on fun, flavour and involvement from little flour-caked hands. I’ve also included some tips on getting kids involved in the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong- I’m not including this because I consider myself some kind of childcare expert and these are rules by which you should abide. They’re simply meant from the point of my being a dad who wanted to get his children involved in baking and these ways worked for me. I’ve left where to get your kids involved to your discretion as you know them best after all.

Some tips/tricks:

Put on some music. Not loud enough that you have to shout over it but loud enough for background. It helps to have something to pass lengthy tasks like kneading or blending. Also think sing-along or random exclamations of “Knead to the beat!”
Get the children to find and fetch the ingredients. Framed as a “Baking Treasure Hunt” I’ve seen it help reading skills and memory.
Weighing is a surprisingly enticing activity which always draws willing volunteers. If they overshoot the mark when pouring, it’s no biggie (despite their possible panic!)

So now on to the fun stuff- the recipes! These are a selection of what ended up on the cooling rack…

No Bake Chocolate Cookies

Pumpkin Bread

Sugar Cookies

Simple White Loaf ( and how this can be used to make Pizza)

Mud Puddles (aka No Bake Chocolate Cookies)

Ingredients

200g caster sugar

125ml semi-skimmed milk

115g salted butter

4 tablespoons cocoa, unsweetened

1 tablespoon good quality vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

120g gram crunchy peanut butter

225g Jumbo Oats

225g Quick Oats

Method

Line baking sheets with baking parchment
Bring the sugar, milk, butter and cocoa to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, then keep on a rolling boil for 1 minute
Remove from the heat. Add the oats, peanut butter, vanilla and salt, and stir to combine
Drop spaced tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet
Leave to cool at room temperature for min 1 hour. After this they’ve set enough tp pick up and eat. I find they usually taste better and are easier to handle the next day
These can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

250g all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

400g caster sugar

170g unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs

1 can (425g) pumpkin (make sure it’s 100% pumpkin puree)

Method

Preheat your oven to 160c or 325F.
Prepare two 1lb loaf tines with cake release or grease with butter
In a bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices
In a stand mixer combine the sugar, butter and eggs and mix for at least 10 mins
Add in the pumpkin puree and mix on slow until just combined
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add in the flour mixture by heaped tablespoon at a time. Keep the mixer going until just combined – make sure there are no white flour pockets
Remove the bowl, pour the mixture equally between the prepared tins and level the top
Bake in the oven for 60-70mins until a skewer comes out clean
Remove from the oven, remove from tins and leave to cool on a wire rack. When cool wrap in clingfilm until needed.
These loaves get better over time. After a couple of days wrapped they develop a fudgy, sticky texture which goes really with the warming spicy flavor (similar to McVities Jamaican Ginger Cake for those of you who know it?)

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

350g unsalted butter, softened

400g caster sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract

620g all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Icing sugar for dusting and rolling

Method

Preheat oven to 200C or 400F
Line cookie sheets with baking parchment
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl
In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth (mix for at least 10 mins)
Beat in eggs, one at a time,and vanilla
With the mixer on a slow speed, stir in the flour mixture one heaped tablespoon at a time until well combined and a dough formed
Tip the dough onto clingfilm and wrap tightly
Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight)
Dust a surface with icing sugar, sprinkle the dough with icing sugar and roll out the dough to a thickness of apx 5mm (*use icing sugar to prevent sticking to surface and rolling-pin)
Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and transfer to prepared baking sheets
Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 mins
Remove and use a wide spatula or palette knife to transfer the soft cookies to wire rack to cool. They’ll firm up upon further cooling.

* I made 50/50 blend of vanilla and chocolate sugar cookie by removing half the dough when refrigerating it and leaving half in the bowl. To this I added 50g unsweetened cocoa powder and 100g unsweetened chocolate chips. Mix until well combined then refrigerate and make as per the rest of the recipe.

Simple White Loaf

Ingredients

500g Bread flour

12g fast action yeast

10g salt

40ml light olive oil

320ml warm water

Method

In a bowl combine the flour, yeast (to one side) and salt (to opposite side)
In bowl combine olive oil and water
Pour the water/oil mixture into the flour bowl in a steady stream
With your hand in a “Claw” shape mix from outside of the bowl towards to centre. Continue until all the mixture comes together into a dough ball and the bowl sides are clean
Lightly oil a surface with olive oil and tip out the dough onto it
Knead the dough for 10 mins until it becomes smooth and elastic
Transfer the kneaded dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with some lightly oiled cling film. Leave to rise until doubled in size
Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and dust with bread flour
Again lightly oil a surface and tip out the risen dough
Punch and knead the dough, for about 5 mins, until all the air has been expelled from it (called “Knocking Back”)
Shape with your hands into a long oval shape and transfer to the prepared baking sheet
Cover loosely with some damp kitchen paper or oiled cling film and leave for 40-60 mins until risen
Preheat your oven to 225c or 435F
Once the dough has risen, lightly spray with water, slash the top of the loaf, dust with all-purpose flour and place it in the preheated oven. After doing this place a dish filled with 1 pint of water in the bottom of the oven (this creates a crust)
Bake for 25mins, at which point reduce the temperature to 200c or 390F and continue to bake for a further 15-20mins
Remove the loaf from the oven (careful of the steam!) and leave to cool

Pizza adaptation

I’ve also used this recipe to make pizzas which the kids absolutely go crazy for. I’m not sure that it’s as much for the taste of it as it is for the whole “I’ve made this!” boost to their confidence. To use this for pizza making follow the steps until the “Knocking Back” stage.

After knocking back the dough divide into equal pieces (I usually get 4-5 good size pizzas from this quantity of dough).
Preheat your oven to 250C or 475F (with baking sheets or pizza stones in)
Sprinkle a surface with a 50/50 combination of all-purpose flour and semolina
Dust the dough with some of the flour/semolina mixture. Flatten and stretch the dough until thin into which ever shape works best for you- circle, oval or rectangular. It just depends on what fits with your oven
Dress to your (and your kids!) taste with toppings. All of the following are good- tomato passata (as sauce); cheese shreds; bacon; tuna; pepperoni; chicken; fresh herbs; fresh mozzarella; thinly sliced figs…thre list can go on!
Carefully remove and dust your baking sheets or pizza stone with flour/ semolina mixture
Transfer your pizza(s) to baking sheets or pizza stone and bake for 10-12 mins until ready
Remove from oven, brush the exposed sides with extra virgin olive oil and serve

So there’s a brief selection of some o the tasty goods from my kitchen. I hope you enjoy baking them, getting your kids to pitch in and tasting them as much as we have.