The Princess and The Happy One were invited to a 3rd birthday party two weeks ago. Our birthday gift du jour is an apron and a cookie cutter with any other baking bits for kids I come across in my local kitchen shop Utensils in Tralee.
A kitchen shop would be a good place to start for anyone with nieces and nephews who appear to have everything, from bright pink junior silicone rolling pins to pirate aprons and kids cook books you're sure to find something that will encourage culinary interest.
This time I added a very simple recipe to the gift bag. It's for plain biscuits, and can be memorised as easily as 2 4 6.
2 ozs caster sugar
4 ozs butter cubed
6 ozs plain/cream flour
Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Rub all ingredients together with your finger tips (all the better if you can fit 20 fingers in the bowl!) until it comes together as a dough. Roll out the dough about half cm thick and cut into shapes of your choice. Kids can even mould this dough if they prefer, but the thickness of the shapes needs to be consistent so that they cook through. Put the biscuits on a baking tray (no need to grease) and bake for 10/15 minutes until light golden. Cool on a wire rack, I use an oven shelf.
A few days later when the Birthday Boy arrived to play he presented us with his own home made biscuits. I'm not sure which of us was more delighted with ourselves!
The baking supervisor also deserves great credit as cooking with kids while very rewarding, would test the patience and mess tolerance of Maria Montessori herself! The kitchen floor and table are quickly cleaned, and it's lovely to have something to show for a wet afternoon even if the produce doesn't last long.
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