Baking with your little ones!

The aromas of home baking are so distinctive – often these smells are wrapped up in memories of our own childhood. I know that the smell of a sponge cake baking in the oven takes me right back to baking with my own mum. It’s uninterrupted time, set aside, usually with just the two of you to work alongside each other and make something for everyone to share.

We can teach skills such as teamwork and sharing as well as encouraging children to be creative and also practice some patience as the treats bake and then cool before they can be enjoyed.

My own children take delight in rolling up their sleeves and helping me in the kitchen. Baking is great with children because the ingredients required are ambient. They can safely touch everything and be involved in the whole process right up to greasing and lining the tin and pouring in the mixture.  Although having two of them to assist me is a lot harder (more small fingers jabbing at everything!), they relish taking it in turns to crack an egg or spoon in the sugar. We talk about the numbers they recognise on the weighing scales and this is great way for them use their numeracy skills in everyday life.

Baking for seasonal events throughout the year is perhaps another reason why we are able to conjure these fond memories so freely. I’ll never forget raiding the Lego box for people and trees to sit atop the family Christmas cake! One of my kids’ favourite recipes is Chocolate Easter Nests. They make them with Daddy at Easter for the children and grown ups to enjoy at our annual egg hunt.

If your time (and their attention span!) is limited, a quick and easy option is this shortbread recipe by Meg Rivers. Just a few ingredients and about 30 minutes from start to finish. If you’re feeling imaginative it’s a great recipe to customize; perhaps adding in a handful of currants or chocolate drops then you can dust off the favourite cookie cutters to make fun shaped biscuits. With some festive wrapping these make a great homemade gift at Christmas time and children will have a wonderful sense of achievement in giving something they have made with their own hands.

 

Shortbread

Makes 20 biscuits

Preparation Time 15 minutes, Baking time 20 minutes

Ingredients

165g                Salted butter

85g                  Caster sugar

200g                Plain flour

5 tsp                Cornflour        

35g                  Rice flour

Pinch salt

Method

Preheat oven to 170C. Put the butter, which should be firm but not hard, in a large mixing bowl and with a fork, cream together with the sugar. Weigh the plain flour, cornflour and rice flour into another bowl, then add a quarter of the total flours to the butter and sugar mixture, stirring with the fork. Add another quarter of the flours and begin rubbing mixture together using finger tips. Add remaining half of flour, again mixing with fingers. Knead gently into a smooth ball of dough. Or place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or electric stand mixer and blend until it forms a smooth ball of dough. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to about 1cm. Cut into discs or fingers and place about 3 – 4cm apart on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for 20 minutes or until base of biscuits have a golden colour and the tops are almost firm to the touch. Allow biscuits to cool and set on the baking tray before eating or storing. Keep for 7 – 10 days in an airtight container or freeze for up to two months.

 

If your little ones aren’t fond of baking or you’re simply too busy, you’re in luck! Meg Rivers offer biscuits and cakes by post, delivered straight to your front door.