Cooking and baking with family members is just one of the many ways to spend quality time together. Even if your children are very young, you can still find recipes that are easy to make so they can get involved, too. Always make it a point to teach your children tips for staying safe in the kitchen, such as how to properly handle different utensils and certain foods. Keep reading to get ideas of what types of things you can make with your family.
Cookies
Cookies are very versatile and well-liked by many people. One of the greatest things about cookies is that they can be very simple to make or you can get creative and make the recipe as unique as you want. There’s really no going wrong with customizing a cookie recipe to make it match your specific tastes. As tempting as it is to let your children sample raw cookie dough, please try to avoid this because it can make them sick.
Granola Bars
Homemade granola bars are so much better than the store-bought ones because it gives you control over the ingredients used. There are many varieties of nutrition bars on the market, but you can also make your own like ones that include peanut butter and pretzel, peanut butter and chocolate, chocolate and cherry, sunflower, cranberry and white chocolate, and blueberry.
Cupcakes
Cupcakes, like cookies, are also very customizable. Decorating them can be very fun, especially with younger children. Children can have fun being able to decorate the cupcakes however they like. These sweet treats are also a fun way of getting excited for the upcoming holidays, such as making glowing eyeball cupcakes for Halloween and peppermint chocolate candy cane cupcakes for Christmas. Other fun cupcake ideas include:
- Chocolate-dipped ice cream cone cupcakes
- Owl cupcakes
- Farm animal cupcakes
- Rainbow cupcakes
- Peanut butter cup chocolate cupcakes
- Sunshine cupcakes with candy corn
- Boston cream cupcakes
- Tie-dye cupcakes
If the idea is for the cupcakes to look a certain way when they’re finished, you can show the picture to your children and have them replicate it in their very own way.
Mini Empanadas
Empanadas are delicious, and making them tiny can make them more appealing to your children and make them fun to prepare. You can choose to bake them or fry them. You can also choose to use pre-made pie crusts or make your own from scratch. They’ll be good either way. Another good thing about empanadas is that you can make them and freeze whatever is leftover. They’re very easy to heat back up. With empanadas, you can use whatever type of meat you like the best, but typically chicken, beef, and pork are what people choose.
Smoothies
Smoothies are fun to make with children and they can make it easier for you to get more fruits and vegetables in your children’s bellies. Always cut away any bruised or damaged areas on the produce before adding it to the blender. You should also make a point to have your children wash the produce very thoroughly before you use it. Some kid-friendly smoothie recipes include:
- PB&J
- Strawberry and peach
- Strawberry and banana
- Chocolate and peanut butter with avocado
- Oatmeal
- Peach and carrot
- Spinach and pears
- Chocolate and cherries
- Coconuts and berries
Kids will love being able to pick out the ingredients for their smoothies and then watching everything get blended up together to make a drink.
Cooking with your children is a good way to teach them about how recipes work and how to follow them. It can also give them a better understanding of what types of foods are good for them, and which ones need to be eaten in moderation.
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