Sharing a Recipe
Sharing a recipe – Clever Tortoise Bakers!!!!
A recipe book for interdependent children – raising interdependent thinkers!
Dedicated to my wonderful Aunty Mary, Mary always has the best table with plates and plates of delicious treats, all baked lovingly and specifically for those at the table. Baking is her language of love.
To Felix – my favourite person to bake with, with a whisk, some melted chocolate and some mischief, Saturday mornings can fly by. By lunch time we have learned a little more about communication, problem solving, emotions and that when a piping bag explodes it really can go everywhere!
Introduction
Home made treats was all I ever knew growing up, Granny’s apple tarts, Mary’s chocolate chip cookies, scones, bread, meringues, sticky buns and chocolate layered cakes for birthdays. Fighting with my brothers over whose turn it was to lick the spatula. My mum had a Kenwood mixer that had been bought with her very first pay cheque, the hinge wouldn’t stay down anymore so she would rest her elbow on the top as it whisked up something sweet. I know I know she could have replaced it or had it fixed but where is the fun in that, also while she was resting her elbow we could chat, or if it was a week night be quizzed on times tables or spellings ahead of Fridays test. Baking brought us to the kitchen, brought us together, brought us to the table. It was the same in every house in our family, sharing recipes and ideas, cutting recipes out of the newspaper and copying them into a brown leather diary to be tried out.
Through baking we learned about measurement, weight, temperature, patience, following instructions, problem solving and communication, this wasn’t conscious learning, it just happened. There was experimentation and failed attempts and fun and mess and more often than not delicious treats to share with friends and family.
Sharing a recipe has grown out of this idea, what if through baking a child could learn all of the above skills and create for themselves an opportunity to share and chat with friends and family. What if they could become independent thinkers, or even better interdependent thinkers – knowing when they needed help and when they could do it all by themselves. If they could bake a biscuit or a cookie they could then share it or show it to their grandparents or aunts and uncles and have a means to join a social occasion that may otherwise have been tricky. They could feel safe at a table to chat and share their ideas. A child can learn to make a mistake and a mess and clean up and start again.
All of the recipes in this book have minimal ingredients, the regular stuff found in most baking cupboards or in the local shop, most recipes can be adapted to be gluten free using a flour alternative.
Sharing a recipe is sharing space and time, a time to chat and learn and have fun.
Rocky Road Bites
Ingredients
200g of digestive biscuit
300g of chocolate – split into two equal batches
2 – 3 tbsp of golden syrup
135g of butter
100g of mini marshmallows
50g of chopped nuts
Things I will need
A brownie pan
Baking paper
zip lock bag
A medium sized bowl
A small bowl
Tablespoon
Wooden spoon
spatula
pot
(little dishes to weigh out ingredients)
Instructions
1. Scrub Hands and Pop on an apron.
2. Grown up Alert!
Keep a grown up nearby to help measure out
Weigh out the ingredients one by one, half the chocolate (150g) goes into the pot and the other half into a small bowl
Top Tip – measure the 200g of biscuits in the zip lock bag.
3. Lay out all the ingredients on the table
4. Using the wooden spoon bish bash bosh the biscuits until they are crushed into small bits.
5. Pop the butter chocolate and syrup into a pot
6. Grown up Alert!
Call the grown up to melt together the butter chocolate and syrup till it is bubbly
• You can watch and look out for bubbles- it is hot and sticky so you need a grown up!
Grown up will pour the sticky yummy mixture into a medium sized bowl.
7. Pour in the biscuits, marshmallows and nuts and mix mix mix!!!!!
8. Get your brownie pan, line with baking paper
Top tip scrunch up the baking paper to help it sit in the pan
9. Pour the mixture into the pan and squish it all in as evenly as possible with a spatula
10. Pop in the fridge to set
Clever Bakers time to lick the spoon and clean the kitchen!
All spoons, bowls, pots need to be put in the sink or dishwasher! You bake You clean!
11. When the cake has been in the fridge a few hours and the kitchen is clean ….melt the 2nd bowl of chocolate
(can be in a microwave or with the help of a grown up in a bain marie) …
12. Spread the melting chocolate on the cake and pop back in the fridge to set.
13. Grown up Alert
Grown up can help you cut the cake into pieces.
14. Share the cake with friends and family
Aunty Mary’s Yummy Oat Cookies
Ingredients
75g of self raising flour
75g of oats
75g of sugar
75g of butter
1 tablepoon of honey
1 tablespoon of milk
Things I need
Scales
A bowl
Tablespoon
Baking tray
Baking paper
Instructions
1. Scrub Hands and Pop on an apron.
15. Grown up Alert!
Keep a grown up nearby to help measure out
Weigh out the ingredients one by one
2. Lay out all the ingredients on the table
3. All ingredients into a bowl and mix mix mix!
Top tip – with clean hands you can mix it together with your hands
4. Take some mixture and roll into little balls
5. Spread out the balls on a baking tray
6. Grown up Alert!
Pop the tray in an oven at 180c
7. Set the timer for 12 minutes
8. Clever Bakers time to lick the spoon and clean the kitchen!
All spoons, bowls, pots need to be put in the sink or dishwasher! You bake You clean!
9. Timer goes off and let cool before sharing with friends and family!
Snack Balls
Ingredients
3tbsp of peanut butter or almond butter
1 tbsp of chia seeds
2 tbsp of coconut flakes
100grams of dried fruit
100 grams of almond flour
50 g of chocolate
Things I need
Scales
A bowl
Tablespoon
Baking tray
Baking paper
Instructions
1. Scrub Hands and Pop on an apron.
10. 2. Grown up Alert!
Keep a grown up nearby to help measure out
Weigh out the ingredients one by one
2. Lay out all the ingredients on the table
3. All ingredients into a bowl and mix mix mix!
Top tip – with clean hands you can mix it together with your hands
4. Take some mixture and roll into little balls
5. Spread out the balls on a baking tray
6. Pop in the fridge to set
7. Clever Bakers time to lick the spoon and clean the kitchen!
All spoons, bowls, pots need to be put in the sink or dishwasher! You bake You clean!
8. When the cake has been in the fridge a few hours and the kitchen is clean ….melt the bowl of chocolate
(can be in a microwave or with the help of a grown up in a bain marie) …
9. Cover each ball in chocolate and pop back in the fridge to set
10. Share with friends and family
Halloween Baking Fun
Spider Cookies
Ingredients
125g butter
125g of sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
200g self raising flour (can be gluten free)
1 tsp baking powder
100 g of chocolate chips split up equally 50 grams and 50 grams
1 bag of giant chocolate buttons
Some edible candy eyes
Things I need
Scales
A bowl
Whisk
Tablespoon
Baking tray
Baking paper
Small zip lock for piping chocolate
Instructions
1. Scrub Hands and Pop on an apron and turn on the oven at 180c (don’t forget to ask a grown up)
2. Grown up Alert!
Keep a grown up nearby to help measure out
Weigh out the ingredients one by one
3. Lay out all the ingredients on the table
4. Line a baking tray with baking paper
5. Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl
*This can be tricky, it helps to soften the butter and to have a grown up to take turns or with our friends.
6. Add in the vanilla essence – mix and mix and mix
7. Add in the flour, baking powder and chocolate chips
8. Mix and mix and mix
9. With clean hands roll the mixture into balls
10. Grown up Alert
Pop in the oven with a grown ups help
Set the timer for 12 minutes
11. Clever Bakers time to lick the spoon and clean the kitchen!
All spoons, bowls, pots need to be put in the sink or dishwasher! You bake You clean!
12. Timer goes off! Grown up takes cookies out of the oven, leave to cool for 3 -4 minutes and then pop a button in the centre of each cookie
13. Stick on your eyes
14. .melt the bowl of chocolate
(can be in a microwave or with the help of a grown up in a bain marie) …
15. With grown up help out melted chocolate into small zip lock bag, cut a tiny hole in the corner and use the melted chocolate to draw on wibbly wobbly legs
16. Leave to set and share with friends
*Chocolate chip recipe is yum with or with out the spider details so recipe not just for Halloween
* if gluten free flour is used best to remember that they will spread out a lot to make giant cookies so can be contained on a smaller tray
Playdate Baking
Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
225 grams unsalted butter
225grams caster sugar
1 tsp of vanilla essence
1 egg
2tsp baking powder
330grams of plain flour. Extra for dusting
What I need
Scales
Mixing bowl
Scales
A whisk
Baking tray
Baking paper
Spoons
Rolling pin
Instructions
1. Scrub Hands and Pop on an apron and turn on the oven at 180c (don’t forget to ask a grown up)
2. 2. Grown up Alert!
Keep a grown up nearby to help measure out
Weigh out the ingredients one by one
3. Lay out all the ingredients on the table
4. Line a baking tray with baking paper
5. Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl
*This can be tricky, it helps to soften the butter and to have a grown up to take turns or with our friends.
6. Add in the vanilla essence and egg – mix and mix and mix
7. Add in the flour and baking powder
8. Mix and mix and mix
9. Bring it all together in a dough
10. Spread out some flour on the surface table and tip out the dough
11. Roll out – you can cut into circles/use any cutters you have at home
12. Spread out on the baking tray
13. Grown up Alert
Pop in the oven with a grown ups help
Set the timer for 12 minutes
14. Clever Bakers time to lick the spoon and clean the kitchen!
All spoons, bowls, pots need to be put in the sink or dishwasher! You bake You clean!
15. Leave to cool and decorate
Sugar cookies are the best, you can cover them in chocolate/icing/eat them plain/ sandwich them together with jam, great activity for a playdate or birthday party.
- Grown ups you can make this dough ahead of a playdate and let the bakers do the rolling and cutting and decorating part.
Sofia’s Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
100grams of salted butter
3 tbsp golden syrup
100g of dark muscovado sugar
½ tbsp bicarbonate of soda
1 ½ tbsp of ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
225g of plain flour (can be gluten free)
Icing – 50g of icing sugar
2tbsp of water
Things I will need
Scales
Spoons
Bowls
Pot
Baking tray
Baking paper
Cutters or a small glass
Instructions
1. Scrub Hands and Pop on an apron.
2. Grown up Alert!
Keep a grown up nearby to help measure out
Weigh out the ingredients one by one
3. Lay out all the ingredients on the table
4. Pop the butter sugar and syrup into a pot
5. Grown up Alert!
Call the grown up to melt together the butter chocolate and syrup till it is bubbly
• You can watch and look out for bubbles- it is hot and sticky so you need a grown up!
Grown up will pour the sticky yummy mixture into a medium sized bowl.
6. Add in the flour, baking soda and spices
7. Mix mix mix – best to mix with clean hands
8. Bring it all together in a dough
9. Spread out some flour on the surface table and tip out the dough
10. The dough needs to rest so wrap up in a bowl with a cover or cling wrap and pop in the fridge.
11. Spread out some flour on the surface table and tip out the dough
12. Roll out – you can cut into circles/use any cutters you have at home
13. Spread out on the baking tray
14. Grown up Alert
Pop in the oven with a grown ups help
Set the timer for 12 minutes
15. Clever Bakers time to lick the spoon and clean the kitchen!
All spoons, bowls, pots need to be put in the sink or dishwasher! You bake You clean!
16. Leave to cool
17. Icing time
18. Weigh out the icing sugar and add the water
19. Spread icing on your cold cookies
20. share with friends