One of the great joys and responsibilities of having children is teaching them life skills. Cooking is a great life skill to have, as it allows you to eat cheaper and healthier homemade foods, rather than relying on takeout all the time. Here’s three family friendly baking projects to try.
Once your children are old enough to safely help out in the kitchen, then baking is a fun way to teach them this essential skill and to encourage them to get involved more often. After all, cake and other delicious baked goods are the perfect incentives for little ones.
Cookies
Everyone loves cookies, although your favorite cookie might vary. Chocolate chip cookies tend to go down a treat with most children (and grown-ups!), and they’re really easy to make as well. Even better, you probably have most of the ingredients at home. The only thing you might have to go to the store for is the chocolate chips, although chopped-up chocolate bars work well too.
Simply cream butter and sugar, then mix in eggs and vanilla extract. Then, add the flour, salt, and baking agent (if using) and combine. Finally, add your chocolate and bake. For soft, chewy cookies, bake for only about seven minutes or so. If you prefer more of a crunch, give them a few more minutes.
Of course, there are plenty of other cookie options out there. Other popular options include oatmeal cookies, ginger cookies, and shortbread cookies, but feel free to experiment and find your favorite.
Traybakes
Another easy option would be the traybake. These are great because you don’t have to shape anything, simply mix the ingredients and bake directly in a tray, as the name suggests. Once it’s cooked, you can let it cool and slice it into pieces. There are so many options of traybake out there.
One of the most well-known traybake recipes is the classic brownie, which is essentially a rich chocolate cake served in squares. You can make brownies as decadent or as simple as you like, by adding chopped chocolate or chips to the mixture and cooking it for less time for a rich and gooey experience.
But the best thing about traybakes is that you can adjust any cake recipe to work, making it far simpler to impress a crowd.
Red Velvet Cake
Speaking of impressing a crowd, a red velvet cake might be the idea for more advanced children who want to try something special and just a bit cool. First off, what is red velvet cake?
Traditionally, red velvet cake was a light chocolate cake with buttermilk and vinegar mixed into the batter. The vinegar reacts with baking soda, the raising agent, to create the quintessential red color of the cake. It’s paired with plenty of cream cheese frosting, both on the outside and throughout.
Nowadays, many people either omit the cocoa powder to lighten the color or add a touch of red food coloring to make it more dramatic. In any case, it’s a dramatic and impressive cake which tops off any celebration.
