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Fun Cooking Activities & Recipes
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Soft
Pretzels
Kids love soft pretzels, and making them is half
the fun. Below we list two different approaches. First is
our version for preschool age kids, using refrigerated breadstick dough.
Version two is modeled on the famous "Annie's Pretzels" and is
suitable for older children to make at home.
Method #1 -- Easy Preschool Version
For this version you'll need a can of ready-made
refrigerated breadstick dough and one egg white. Pre-heat
the oven to 375°F. Carefully unroll dough and separate
it into individual "sticks". Stretch each stick lengthwise
and twist ends into a pretzel shape. Use a pastry brush to
gently brush each pretzel with beaten egg white. Place pretzel on non-stick
cooking sheet (or line sheet with parchment paper) and bake for about 15
minutes or until pretzel turns golden brown. If you
like, before baking sprinkle pretzels lightly with course grind salt.
Note: you may want to experiment with
making the pretzel shapes so that you can show the kids how to do it.
But don't worry if their pretzels don't look perfect. In fact, you
could make this an open-ended activity by allowing them to shape the
dough however they like.
 Method #2 -- Gourmet "Annie's Pretzel" Style Soft Pretzels
For this recipe you'll need to carefully measure the ingredients to get
the proper results. Younger kids, or inexperienced bakers, may
need the adult to measure the ingredients for them, and then hand them
to the kid to dump into the mixing bowl. This recipe works
best when made with a large electric mixer with a dough hook attachment.
A bread maker could also be used for the mixing and kneading -- with the
baking done in an actual oven. Makes about 12 large
pretzels.
To begin, dissolve
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry
yeast into 1 1/2 cup warm water.
Add in 2
tablespoons of sugar and 1 1/8 teaspoon salt, mix well.
Slowly add in 4
cups of flour. Mix and knead well. Dough is
finished when it is smooth and elastic (stretchy). Now
allow dough to sit and rise in a warm location for 30 minutes.
When dough is finished rising you can begin
shaping pieces of the dough, first into a long stick or rope, and
then into a twisty pretzel shape.
If you'd like to make a truly authentic
pretzel, you'll need to dip the shaped pretzel in a solution of:
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
Be sure you've
stirred your baking soda and water mixture well before you begin the
dipping. After you dip each pretzel, place it on a non-stick
cooking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise once again
before baking.
Bake pretzels in
pre-heated oven at 450°F
for 10 minutes.
After baking,
pretzels may be brushed with melted "sweet butter" and sprinkled
with either salt, cinnamon sugar, or parmesan cheese.
Fun with Biscuit Shapes
Kids like homemade
biscuits, but they love festive shaped biscuits, in fun
colors, even better! All you
need is a box of Bisquick baking mix (low fat works great), plus
milk, shaped cookie cutters, and food coloring.
Follow the directions on the box -- adding the food coloring to the
milk, for even distribution, before adding it the Bisquick.
Then roll out the dough on wax paper or pastry
paper. Remember not to roll it too thin or your biscuits will
be small and hard -- instead of moist and fluffy. Cut with the shaped cutters and bake according to Bisquick
box directions.
Bakes up in about 5-9 minutes, and they
look great!
Suggested variations: green
shamrock biscuits, pink heart shaped biscuits, etc.
Edible Peanut Butter Play Dough
Ingredients
1 cup
peanut butter
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup powdered sugar (10x sugar)
3 cups powdered milk
What To Do:
Use a
mixer to combine the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and
corn syrup. It will thicken as you add the powdered milk, so you
will have to knead the final result until it is smooth (either by hand
or with a bread dough mixer).
Peanut Butter Dough Play:
Let children use this dough much as they would
any other play dough, except that the toys they use should be clean and
reasonably sterile as this dough is intended to be eaten as part of the
play. This an especially fun dough to roll and shape in the hands
Please note that some children are extremely
allergic to peanuts and peanut butter. Childcare and preschool
staff are cautioned to double check their children's list of allergy
items before introducing this play item into such settings. Some
children with peanut allergies can have life threatening symptoms if
they even play in the same room in which peanut products are being used
or consumed.
Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 medium egg
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
To begin, preheat the oven to 400°F.
Use a mixer to cream together
the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add in the egg.
Next add in the salt and baking powder to the mixture. When
well mixed begin adding in the flour.
Remove from bowl and wrap in waxed
paper. Chill in the refrigerator for one hour (this makes the
dough less sticky and easier to work with).
When dough is chilled, roll it out on waxed
paper or pastry parchment. Use cookie cutters to cut it
into fun shapes. Remove to baking sheets (may need a spatula),
and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
For added fun, kids can frost the cookies and
decorate with sprinkles and small candies.
CAUTION:
We do not recommend allowing children under
12 years old to use a conventional oven. Toaster
ovens may be a safe alternative for children 9 years old and up.
Close supervision required.
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