Kids Can Cook: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Compliments of our kids- I had nothing to do with the beautiful display!

Throughout the years of our homeschooling journey, I've discovered educating our children is about more than just academics.  It's about developing godly character and preparing our children for adult life.  In preparing them for adult life, one area I've really spent time with them on is being confident in the kitchen.

One day, when our littles move out of the house, I hope they'll be able to open a cookbook and prepare a wonderful, healthy meal for themselves or others.

A recipe they have mastered is Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Each one of them can make a delicious, mouth watering batch of cookies in less than a half hour.

I truly believe in order to make cooking and baking inviting to children a parent needs to:

• Allow children to experiment.  Not every recipe will turn out, but most will.  I think the averages are higher for success than failure!  Just read the recipe ahead of time, make sure you have the ingredients and get to cooking!  Mom and dad, stand back, guide the kids, but don't do it all for them.
• Make cookbooks and recipes available and accessible.  Make trips to the local library, bookstore or check out Amazon for great cookbooks finds. Sit around and look at the books marking recipes they want to try.
• Be okay with a mess.  The best, most productive kitchens make a lot of dirty dishes.  Don't stress over dirty dishes.
• Let your kids bless others with their creations.  A plate of warm cookies to a neighbor blesses them and your child will experience the blessing of giving.
• Allow your child to be part of the whole process: shopping, preparing, and clean-up.  If they're involved in all facets they take ownership in the process and develop independence in the kitchen.
• Let your children know you believe in them.  Praise them in the kitchen!

As shown in the photo above, our children have mastered beautiful Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I no longer help them at all in the baking of their all-time favorite.  Our youngest still needs help getting the cookie sheets in and out of the oven, but other than that she's completely independent in the process.

We use our recipe so often we have it taped inside the cupboard door above our Kitchen Aid mixer.  This way, all the kids need to do is open the cupboard and there they find their favorite recipe.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, melted (2 cubes)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Mix butter and sugars until combined.  Add egg and vanilla, mix well.  Add dry ingredients.  

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.  

De-Lish!

 

French Toast Night

Time to wander in stores is a rarity in this homeschool mom's life, but a necessary errand to the Apple Store to check on the iPad our son ordered put us in close vicinity to the local Crate and Barrel.  Crate and Barrel...dreamy!  Since the kids were with me, we took this opportunity to check out the latest in kitchen gadgets and decor.  It was as informative as a kitchen focused field trip.  Since we do a lot of cooking in our homeschool routine they were just about as excited as I was.  There were so many wonderful finds at reasonable prices. 

One gadget we came home with was a Powdered Sugar Spoon.  At our house, powdered sugar is a must on French Toast and I find it such a hassle to have to take out the large sifter for such a small task.  The best sifter we have is an antique, and I try not to use it because the paint continues to chip off.  I'd like to preserve that treasure.  The new sifter we picked up at Target is a piece of junk, if I say so myself.  It doesn't work well.  The sifting apparatus jams regularly and it causes more frustration that it is worth.  Often we just use a very large strainer type sifter for making frosting, but for our French Toast, this little spoon looked very appealing.

The Powdered Sugar Spoon

After buying a number of small items like this we decided to put our little spoon to work.  I told the kids they could have French Toast for dinner.  They were so excited!  Here's our method of making French Toast.

French Toast

Gather ingredients. 

3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
egg bread or other hearty white bread (about 6-8 slices)
cinnamon and sugar mixture
pie plate for mixing

I keep cinnamon and sugar mixture in shaker for everyday use

Crack eggs in pie plate.  Add 1/4 cup of milk.

Beat eggs and milk with fork

Soak a piece of bread in egg mixture, just to coat each side. Don't over soak as bread is like a sponge and will be soggy if over soaked.

Place coated bread on griddle.  Sprinkle each piece of bread with cinnamon and sugar.

We have a non-stick griddle.  If using a pan, a little butter in the bottom of the pan makes the bread so tasty!

Cook for a minute or so until golden brown.  Flip over and let other side cook.

Place cooked French Toast on plate, butter, and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.  If using a little Powdered Sugar Spoon like we bought, it helps if you just put a little on the spoon so it doesn't fall from the sides.  Our daughter informed me she likes the big lumps of powdered sugar.  Of course she does!

Enjoy!