Bringing kids into the kitchen can be a tough challenge.  Sometimes we don’t realize how many steps there are to a recipe until we start saying things like “No! You have to mix before you add the flour!” or things like “Please let me survive this.”

It happens.

My toddler loves to help in the kitchen.  He thinks that running my stand mixer is quite possibly the coolest thing ever.  Now that I let him add the ingredients himself he loves it even more.

It is worth every minute of the clean up afterward.

That said I do try to reduce the amount of steps.  He doesn’t quite get the whole “mix the butter and sugar then add the rest of the ingredients” thing.  So came one step cupcakes.

They are easy.  Throw it all in there, mix, and call it a day.  It is the perfect recipe for beginner cooks, because they won’t get overwhelmed by all of the steps.  Success with simple tasks is the foundation for teaching confidence.  Once they master this recipe they can move on to a normal cupcake recipe.

One Step Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

for the cupcakes

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 stick butter {1/2 cup}, softened
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 3 large eggs

for the frosting

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tbs whole milk
• food coloring gel {optional}

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cupcake pan with wrappers. {This makes 24 cupcakes, so if you have 2 cupcake pans do both at once. If not, no biggie.  Just repeat for the second batch.}

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together all of the ingredients for the cupcakes.  Mix for 4-5 minutes on medium stopping every minute or so to scrape the sides.

3. Using a soup ladle, fill each cupcake liner about halfway with cupcake batter.  Cook in the oven for 30ish minutes.

4.  Once the cupcakes are cool, make the frosting.  In a stand mixer bowl, mix all of the ingredients together using the whisk attachment.  Run on medium-high speed for about 8 minutes or until very well-blended.  Add food coloring if you want.

5.  Let the kids decorate the cupcakes!

*****

Stephanie blogs about home cooking and toddler homeschooling at The Brunette Foodie.

There is a soup that I always associate with Christmas.

Asparagus soup.

Three bowls ready for three hungry boys.

It’s green.  It contains nutmeg.  We have eaten it on several occasions especially when our meals have contained five courses (note:  at my mother-in-law’s house).

But what I love about this soup . . . my kids devour it.  I think it has something to do with the amount of cream and salt.

Ezra is eating his soup by candle light; hence, the blurred photo!

Asparagus Soup

Ingredients

Are you getting ready for a Christmas cookie exchange?  We’re excited to giveaway one (1) Amanda Bennett’s Download N Go – Crispy Cookies Unit Study (1st-4thgrade)!
 Simply leave a comment and share what you / your homeschoolers like to cook during the Christmas Season !

I gave Asher the cookbook and a stack of post-it-notes.  His task was to read the dessert titles to his brothers during snack time.  It sounded  like a good impromptu school activity to me.  I thought that they (being my three handsome boys ) surely would be able to agree on a “few” recipes while I nursed Naomi before her nap.  Not five minutes had passed before my growing baker came upstairs with a recipe book littered with neon pink sticky notes.  His goal was to find something yummy.  His brothers?  Content to let Asher do the cooking . . . and them the eating.

I felt like the story of  The Little Red Hen was being reenacted in my house in some ways.

Asher didn’t mind.  He likes to bake.  Afterall, that is what his name means.  He comes by it honestly.

But he wanted to make all the desserts that afternoon.   Sounds like me when I get on a fermenting kick.

My goal was threefold:

1. create something healthy
2. find a quick recipe that could be done together
3. have the ingredients already in the pantry or at least be able to fudge them

We agreed on one very interesting treat.  I think my Asher gravitated towards it because of a recent kitchen disaster.

You see, we thought that if you used heat to make candy . . . then reheating it and combining a few sweet somethings should result in a new delight that would melt on your tongue.

No.  Not so.  Our concoction made us want to hurl.

So, my precious boy picked a title that implied candy.  I have yet to figure out how these frozen treats resemble candy, but I’m willing to allow my imagination to be stretched because this “candy” is loaded with protein, fiber, and chlorophyll (you know, the green stuff in plants that is high in iron).  The bonus is that it tastes good.

Healthy Candy

You will find the ingredients mixed with the directions for this particular recipe –

Grind the below ingredients in a blender.  (I wouldn’t do more than 1 cup at a time.  Unless you have a workhorse like a  Vitamix.)

• 3 cups peanuts (or 2 1/4 cup of natural peanut butter.  I am sure you could substitute any other nut.)
• 3/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 cup flax seeds

In a seperate bowl, whisk butter and honey together until creamy.  Blend in the protein powder gently so it doesn’t billow up into your nose!

• 1/2 cup of soft butter
• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup of protein powder

If you need to exercise your biceps and triceps, then evenly mix in ground nuts and seeds into the honey butter mixture.  I, however, took the faster approach and dumped the ingredients into my standing mixer.

Divide the mixture in half, so as to make two flavors of “candy.”

The texture of the dough seriously reminded me of this edible peanut butter play dough my mom used to make for me.  I know that back then I didn’t do much playing.  I ate most of what I made . . .

The two flavors I am recommending today?  Cinnamon and chocolate (of course).

Half of the dough will receive anywhere from 2-6 teaspoons of cinnamon.  I used 4 teaspoons and quite honestly would have enjoyed a stronger flavor.

The other bowl acquires my favorite ingredients, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and as much cocoa as you deem necessary.

Mold candy into fun shapes.  God bless your endeavors in this area.  I only succeeded in creating round balls.  This is where youthful hands would have been quite helpful; but they were in bed.  I had to finish our project by myself as we had interrupted our candy making for a birthday party.

Store your artfully shaped, hearty candies in the freezer and bring them out for a dense, protein packed, nutritious snack.