Category Archives: Cooking with Kids

3-Ingredient Sugar Cookies

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Makes 24

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups All-purpose flour

Optional

  • 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • Festive Sprinkles

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with barking parchment or a silicone baking mat
  2. Add your butter with sugar into a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk for a few minutes until combines and fluffy. (If you’re using vanilla extract add at this point)
  3. Add in your flour and beat again until combined. The dough will be crumblier that typical cookie dough
  4. Break off/ scoop walnut sizes pieces and roll in your hands*
  5. Place the cookies balls onto the prepared tray and using a flat-bottomed glass press down to flatten to ¼ to ½ inch thickness. You can press some sprinkles into the tops at this point
  6. Bake in your preheated oven for between 14-16 minutes, until the edges are just turning golden-brown
  7. Cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move to a rack to cool completely

*You can roll them in some additional granulated sugar at this point if you like

Edible Gingerbread Cookie Dough

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, heat treated*
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 3 Tablespoons fancy molasses
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons milk
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ cup white chocolate chips
  • Festive sprinkles, or nonpareils

Method

  1. In the bowl of stand mixer combine the butter, both sugars, salt, fancy molasses and whip together until pale and fluffy, about 10 minutes
  2. Mix in the milk and the vanilla extract until combined
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Add in the flour mixture by ¼ cupful, beating between until combined, until all the flour mixture has been added
  4. Fold in the chocolate chips. Add sprinkles, or nonpareils, to your liking
  5. Scoop, or spoon, into sterilised mason, or kilner, jars and add some more sprinkles for that extra festive touch. Wrap as you like if you’re gifting to someone- I usually bow and tag the jars with festive ribbon
  6. Cookie dough is best eaten at room temperature

How To Store: Keep this Edible Gingerbread Cookie Dough in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Eat it up within 2 weeks!

* To heat treat your flour for safety, place it in a bowl and microwave it in 30-second intervals until the flour temperature reaches 165 F (74 C). Mix with a spoon between intervals. Mine usually takes around 3 bursts. Allow to cool before using. Or you can bake it for 7-8 minutes in a preheated oven at 350°F

Edible Cookie Dough Christmas Trees

If you’re not gifting this edible cookie dough (how could you not? It’s the Season of Giving!) a fantastic way of using this delicious treat are these adorable Edible Cookie Dough Christmas Trees. Fun and easy to make, you can also get some little helping hands involved too!

Ingredients

  • Additional waffle/ sugar cones 
  • White, or semi-sweet chocolate, melted
  • Festive sprinkles

Method

  1. Line a baking tray with baking parchment or foil, and set aside until needed
  2. If your edible cookie dough is still soft enough, fill a place in a piping bag and snip the end off.
  3. Pipe the cookie dough into your cones. (If the edible cookie dough is a bit too stiff to pipe, you can use a butter knife, or small spoon, to fill the cone instead)
  4. Coat the outside of your filled comes with the melted chocolate, either by dipping in a deep bowl, or coating using a spoon
  5. Place on your prepared baking tray and let the chocolate set for a minute or two (this will help the sprinkle stick better). Add festive sprinkles to finish your Christmas trees off and allow for the chocolate to fully set
  6. To serve/ eat, push a popsicle stick into the cookie dough, for ease of holding and enjoy! 

Chocolate Vinegar Cake

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Now don’t raise your eyebrows like that! No, I it’s not a typo- there is indeed vinegar listed in this cake. Going by it’s other moniker “Depression Chocolate Cake”, this may well be one of those recipes that probably everyone’s baking inclined grandparent would probably have in their repertoire. Dating from a time of the Great Depression, when things like eggs, milk, butter and sugar were really expensive and scarce, this recipe keeps them to a minimum. So much that with it’s absence of eggs and dairy the sponge itself can be considered vegan. If you want to finish to completion with it’s delectable ganache topping and still remain vegan-friendly, I’ve included some recommendations at the end of the recipe.

Another bonus with this recipe? Minimal washing up! In fact if you choose to cake it the classic way as a sheet cake to be eaten from the pan, you can save on that singular, additional bowl for clean up. Just make sure to omit the baking parchment lining and use a non-stick pan. Dump everything in the pan, exert a bit more restraint when mixing together and away you go! No bowl, all-in-one sheet cake.

Finishing with chocolate ganache is entirely optional. Some people prefer just a simple dusting of powdered sugar, others prefer just to leave it completely naked and bask in the unadulterated chocolatiness of the sponge itself. Whatever way you decide to finish it, I’m pretty sure you wont be making it just the once!

Chocolate Vinegar Cake #recipe

Ingredients

Makes 1 no. 9” x 12” sheet cake

Chocolate Vinegar Cake

  • 2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • ¾ cup canola oil
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ teaspoons white vinegar

Chocolate Ganache topping*

  • 1 cup heavy cream, or whipping cream*
  • 8oz semi-sweet chocolate, in small pieces

Method

  1. For the ganache topping, place the chocolate pieces in a medium heatproof bowl
  2. Heat the heavy cream/ whipping cream, in a small pan over a medium heat until just below boiling (look for small bubbles at the edge of the cream in the pan)
  3. Remove the cream from the heat and gently pour the warmed cream over the chocolate pieces in the bowl. Leave to rest for 5 minutes
  4. After 5 minutes, gently stir the chocolate/ cream mixture with a whisk to emulsify it. It will appear mottled and speckled at first but continue gently stirring until it thickens and is uniform in color
  5. Once fully smooth and uniform in color, set aside and leave to fully cool before spreading (usually takes about 2 hours at room temperature). The mixture will thicken to spreadable consistency after this time
  6. Preheat your oven to 350F
  7. Prepare a 9” x 12” baking pan by greasing and lining with baking parchment
  8. In a large bowl combine all the cake ingredients- the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, water, canola oil, vanilla extract, and vinegar
  9. Whisk until fully combined, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to avoid any dry ingredient residue. Continue mixing until fully blended and smooth
  10. Pour into your prepared pan. If needed gently tilt the pan to allow the cake batter to flow into the corners
  11. Bake in your preheated oven for between 20-25minutesm or until a cake tester, or skewer, comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Remove the cake from the oven allow to cool in tin for 5 minutes in a rack
  12. After allowing to cool for 5 minutes, invert the cake onto a cooling rack lined with baking parchment
  13. Remove the tin and lining baking parchment paper and allow the cake to cool fully below finishing with your chocolate ganache topping
  14. Once your cake has fully cooled, pour your chocolate ganache topping over the surface and spread with an offset spatula to cover the cake
  15. Slice however you like and enjoy!

*Whilst the cake sponge in this recipe is vegan, the chocolate ganache isn’t. If you want a complete vegan friendly cake substitute 1 cup full-fat coconut milk (Make sure to fully shake it before using). Also make sure that your chocolate that your using is vegan-friendly.

#Recipe #Pumpkin Patch Cookies

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Following up on my previous post with three delicious ways to use this season’s favourite, the pumpkin, here a couple of other recipes in the form of the humble “cookie”. Snickerdoodles are everyone’s favourite. The addition of pumpkin elevates them to another level of seasonal Fall goodness.  Autumn in a cookie! With the oatmeal cookies you a a much more rustic baked treat. These are a handful (literally!) and you’ll be all the better for it! The combination of soft-baked oats, pumpkin and Autumnal spices just begs for a tall glass of milk!

The recipes are ideal for baking with the little ones, however as always leave the oven work to the grown-ups. Get them rolling, scooping, drizzling and in no time at all you’ll have some very happy little tummies.

I hope you have fun baking and wish you and your families a very happy Halloween full of spooky, fun-filled goodness!

Snickerdoodle Cookies

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Cookie Dough

Makes 36

  • 3 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
  • 3 1/2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground mixed spice
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (make sure it’s 100%)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Sugar Crust Coating

  • 1/4 cup fine (caster) sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

  • In a bowl combine the flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and mixed spice. Mix until well combined
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer (with paddle attachment), cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until combined. Periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl
  • Mix in egg yolk, followed by pumpkin puree and vanilla extract.
  • On a low speed,  add in dry ingredients (I usually do it a couple of heaped tablespoons at a time) then mix until combined.
  • Remove the dough from the bowl, wrap in cling warp and chill in the refrigerator for 30- 60 minutes
  • After the chilling time, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie baking sheets with baking parchment
  • In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
  • Scoop dough out 2 tablespoons at a time and shape into a ball
  • Roll the dough ball in cinnamon sugar mixture to evenly coat then transfer to prepared cookie sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart.
  • Bake in preheated oven 14-16 minutes
  • Remove and leave cool on baking sheet about 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

For the cookies:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup Quick Oats
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 sticks  unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cups pumpkin purée (make sure it’s 100%)

For the glaze:

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 2 tablespoons Ice-wine syrup (optional)

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie baking sheets with baking parchment paper
  2. In a bowl combine the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and nutmeg and mix until well combined
  3. Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until lightened in color and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl
  4. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium until incorporated
  5. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour/oats mixture and mix until incorporated. Add half of the pumpkin puree and mix until incorporated. Repeat with the remaining flour/oats mixture and pumpkin puree
  6. Using a 1/4 cup, drop scoops per baking sheet (approximately 6-8) spacing them 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Reserve the remaining dough until needed
  7. Place both sheets in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back and continue baking until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom and around the edges, about 12 minutes more
  8. When baked remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Using a flat spatula, transfer the cookies to the wire racks to cool completely.
  9. Repeat with the remaining dough (you can use the same parchment paper). Leave all the cookies to cool completely before glazing

 

For the glaze:

  1. Place all of the glaze ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth
  2. Place all of the cooled cookies on the baking parchment. Drizzle the glaze over the cookies in a pattern of your liking
  3. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the glaze has set, about 20 minutes

#Recipe Baking with kids…not literally!

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Montage

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)

pic 4

 

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

pic 3

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)

pic 2

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

pic 5

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

pic 12

Ingredients

500g Bread flour

12g fast action yeast

10g salt

40ml light olive oil

320ml warm water

pic 10

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.

pic 9

  • 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 servepic 8

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.