Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Little Kitchens - Interactive Baking for Children





Welcome to the first edition of Little Kitchens. I hope to make this a new feature that we can have at least once per month. What is Little Kitchens?


Number one this is simply a chance to bond with your child. Sometimes we might get caught up in everyday life and it’s always nice to fully focus on your child while doing something you love at the same time.


Number two is teaching, we are our children’s number one teacher. Why not move that to the kitchen? And so Little Kitchens is born.







Let’s get interactive, let’s forget perfection and bake our little hearts out.


Let’s measure flour, sugar, butter, and chocolate chips…and eat the evidence.


Let’s color, glue, cut, and place our art from Little Kitchens on the fridge.





Let’s teach our kids how to cook – Lets bake cookies and roast vegetables.


Today we are going to bake Oreo Pudding Cookies. There are a few things you as the parent will need to print out before we get started.







INGREDIENTS 4 Little Kitchens


Cookie Print Out
Ingredients Print Out
Crayons
Glue Stick
Scissors (to cut out the Baking Items and cookie)

*Print out the 2 items above, carefully cut out ingredients for your child to color & glue*






INGREDIENTS 4 Oreo Pudding Cookies
Delightfully borrowed, slightly altered from The Girl Who Ate Everything



1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 (4.2 ounce) package instant Oreo Pudding mix
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Hershey's Cookies N Cream Large Candy
1 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips







DIRECTIONS


Mom or Dad, Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.


Let’s get out our measuring utensils. I like to go over the different measurements with Indigo. For each measurements I filled the cup and let her pour the ingredient in to the bowl. I placed Indy right on the counter, that’s right girls butt all up on the counter..live a little.







First pour the flour into a bowl.







Next measure out the baking soda, and salt and let your child pour over your flour. Hand over the whisk and let your little one stir gently.







Cream together butter and sugars. We used a hand mixer, I let Indigo hold on and help. Remember to let your little one count measurements with you.







Beat in pudding mix until blended. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix to combine. Stir in cookies n' cream pieces and chocolate chips. Now taste the dough together, good habits start early.







Using a cookie dough scooper, place golf ball sized dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.







Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cookie stays a very light color, not brown at all. They stay quite “puffed” too. Place on a wire rack to cool.







Now while the cookies are in the oven, we can make art. I covered my table with some white paper, and placed the cookie and ingredients on it.


Me & Indigo talked about the ingredients while she colored each one and then glued them on to her large cookie.







Presto – Little Kitchen art.


I hope you enjoyed your time, I know me & Indigo sure did. It only takes an hour to have a very special moment with your child. One she or he will never forget. Let me know if you try this out 


PS. This is Indigo pre-face plant on the cement

PPS. I will be on vacation next week.

PPPS. Love ya’ll, don't party too hard while I'm gone...because I would be jealous.



44 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ohh sooo sweet.. :) Love your lil' ones pics and the oreo pudding cookies look awesome.. :)

Kris @ everywhereorange.com said...

i love this idea!!! i will be doing this with my son! thank you :)

Unknown said...

Love her sweet little fingernails!

I'm planning a complete kid takeover on my blog too. I'm going to link up to this if you don't mind.

Unknown said...

Feel free to link up, I am happy she finally sits for longer then 3 minutes for polish to dry!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A great way to bond with your child. Indigo is such a sweetie. She looks like she enjoyed baking with you. Lovely cookies.

Cheers,

Rosa

sherri lynn said...

What a cutie pie! She looks like a great helper! I love the times in the kitchen with my niece :)

Sarah said...

I look forward to you Little Kitchen posts. I am giving a Kids Cooking Camp for a week this summer and would love to see your ideas.

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

I cook/bake almost every day with a little one sitting on the kitchen counter. Most days it is with the little girl I babysit, but grandchildren always want to bake too. Ella (age 4) has learned so much and is a great helper. Just today WE made homemade dinner rolls and a new lemonade recipe.

Your Little Kitchen posts are a GREAT idea :)

Angie A said...

She is so precious! Love that she helped with the cookies. I bet that made them taste even better!

Zoe said...

The little kitchen art is so cute. Your little one is very creative! Just like mummy...

Barbara said...

Great idea!!
That little darling looks like she's having a blast. She did a super job.

Jess @ Sugar High said...

What a great feature! Indigo is such a doll :)
The cookies look delicious, I love how thick they are! Thanks for sharing :)

Rick said...

Not only are those cookies amazing, your daughter is so effing cute!

Yammie said...

Aww, your little girl is such a sweetie!

I have that same plate only with red dots. Target?

Unknown said...

Love the idea...and the milk in the champagne glass :)

Unknown said...

Aw I love the Little Kitchens idea! Darling!

Angie's Recipes said...

I love the idea! You are a super mom ;-)) Those cookies look terrific!

The Cilantropist said...

Has it been that long since I have been here, or when did I miss your great new site redesign?!! It looks fabulous! And I love the direction you are taking things with this post, the Little Kitchens idea is fantastic. :)

Brenda said...

Indigo is so adorable. She looks like the perfect little helper!

btw, the cookies look great!

Kristen said...

she is just the cutest kid ever to grace the blog world. I mean it!! love the recipe, and the milk in the champagne glass. great new feature.

have a blast on vaca!!

Anonymous said...

She is just as gorgeous as can be!! and you r SSSSOOOOOO right, if we don't teach our kids to cook - no one will - good for you!!
Mary

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh, that is so cute!! Jen, those pictures make me want kids so I can cook with them!!! :)

Katrina (Betty Ray) said...

This is a great feature. Can't wait for more! I love working with my kiddos in the kitchen. They always eat more (and healthier) when they have helped prepare it.

Unknown said...

This is the sweetest post ever! I ♥ it. I definitley need to quit being such a perfectionist and let my girls help me in the kitchen more. I do let them every once in awhile, but I need to more often. These cookies sound so yummy!

art is in the kitchen said...

All parents should see this post. It is indeed the best way to teach your princess to eat good food by making it with her. Sadly, i was not allowed in the kitchen when I was that young. Bravissima to you for doing this!

Lori said...

I love having the kids bake with me- especially for cookies or doggie treats. (We make peanut butter treats for her). I like your idea with the ingredients. Super cute and educational.

Have a great time while away.

Val said...

I love this idea and you have the cutest little helper. How fun.

Jane said...

Great idea for Little Kitchens! And Indigo simply couldn't be cuter if she tried. I love that photo of her little hand going into the bowl of ingredients. :)

Cathy said...

What a wonderful idea. How great to have a little helper in the kitchen. I'm always looking for new ideas so I can entertain my grandkids when they come to visit.

beauty be told said...

Awesome idea!!! love it! have a great vaca

aipi said...

I see a budding foodie here ~ You are the sweetest mom n Indigo is the cutest little girl! I enjoy cooking with my little princess in the kitchen as well :)
US Masala

Mary said...

What a great idea! My nephew is almost 3, so this is something we could do together.

Patty Price said...

Such a sweet idea to go with a sweet little girl, I think art and baking together are a natural;-)

Unknown said...

I love everything about this! A great idea and beautiful photos! She is such a blessed little girl! Enjoy vacation! XO

Diana said...

So cute!!! Such a great idea!! I want to try this with my niece, my little guy will probably look at the food cut outs, laugh run away and color on my walls instead. Have a great vacay!!!

Unknown said...

I do like her fingernails:) she is so cute :)
have a nice day!
Barbara

Sue said...

I LOVE this! Making sweets with your little sweetie! Many of my fondest memories involving my children are baking related. My son could crack an egg(no shells) by the time he was five:)

Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking said...

What a great new feature for parents and kids, Jen! This is so creative. Even though I don't have a little helper, I would LOVE to make these cookies too! Thanks for sharing. :)

Kristen said...

What a fun idea for a series. Indigo is the perfect assistant and those cookies sound scrumptious!

Xinmei @ Pudding Pie Lane said...

This is so cute, I especially love the kitchen art. I wish my mum did this with me when I was little!

Alessandra said...

Too adorable!!!! Indigo is too adorable! (and the cookies too :-)

ciao
Alessandra

teresa said...

yeah, this will definitely keep us busy over the summer, LOVE these cookies. indigo is such a cutie.

hope you're having a lovely trip!

Katrina said...

Yum to the cookies, great idea to use Oreo pudding. And that little assistant of yours---so cute!

Unknown said...

What a great idea! Little Butt loves to bake with me in the kitchen. I'll have to make these with her soon.