Little Chef: Banana Date Oat Bars

So, are you getting the impression that the girl pictured above enjoys baking? You would be correct.

We were back in the kitchen recently trying out a new simple recipe: Banana Date Oat Bars.

Simple indeed.
First mashing:

What three year old doesn't enjoy mashing bananas?

Then pouring:

First time I've ever used dates in anything. They're a bit ugly, but tasty.

Pan Prep:

It's fun letting her get hands-on.

Bake, cut into squares:

Mmm, oaty goodness. Tiny Buddah approves.

and enjoy:

Unfortunately, Jellybean didn't love the end results. I liked them more than she did. It was still a fun, easy baking project. The recipe could probably use a little more spice and may have benefitted from some nuts. (We are tree nut free in our house)

Oh and look, I'm even wearing my matching apron!

You've got to love a selfie.

Try it out, tweak it, see how you and your little chef enjoy it.

Banana Date Oat Bars

Ingredients

2 large, very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla 
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1/4 cup pitted, chopped dried dates 
Grated nutmeg or cinnamon 

Method

Heat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9x9-inch square baking dish with olive oil or butter.

Peel the bananas and mash their flesh in a medium mixing bowl. Mash very thoroughly until no large chunks remain; the bananas should be essentially liquid. (You will have between 1 cup and 1 1/4 cup.) Stir in the vanilla. Add the oats and stir them in. Stir in the salt and dates.

Pat the thick mixture evenly into the baking pan. If desired, sprinkle the top lightly with nutmeg or cinnamon. Bake for 30 minutes or unti the edges just begin to crisp up.

Place the baking pan on a rack to cool. When the pan is mostly cool, cut into bars and enjoy.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Little Chef: Sopapillas

While, these aren't the genuine article when it comes to Sopapillas, this is a similar idea, great to do with a three year old, and very delicious. Not all kitchen adventures have to be complicated.

Thaw some frozen puff pastry (such as Pepperidge Farms). Cut into squares and bake according to package directions.

Get the cinnamon sugar and honey ready. Feel free to hug the honey bear.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar right out of the oven.

Drizzle with honey.  Even Buddy got in on the action.

Enjoy!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Little Chef: Strawberry Pie

I've been trying to make a recipe a week with Jellybean. She really enjoys being in the kitchen so I'm trying to continually give her opportunities. Shortly after the baby came home, she decided that she wanted to make a strawberry pie. As luck would have it, my mother had a pretty good recipe that I thought Jellybean could help a lot with. So we got to work.

We needed to make a graham cracker crust first. We could have gone store bought, but what three year old doesn't enjoy crushing up graham crackers?  I put some in a bag, handed the rolling pin to her and let her go to town.

I helped a little, but she did a pretty fine job of making graham cracker crumbs. It was also a good way of working on rolling with the pin.
Then we worked on stirring. I poured in the melted butter and sugar while she stirred.

Then I let her press the crumbs into the pie plate. I put the crust into the oven and then got distracted and didn't hear the timer go off (a very common problem lately). No real harm done, the crust was mighty tough though. I wouldn't recommend an over-baked crust unless you have a jack-hammer on hand.

While the crust cooled, I whipped up some Dream Whip and cream cheese and then I helped Jellybean cut up some strawberries. This was my first attempt at letting her use a knife. A butter knife was sufficient for cutting the strawberries and appropriate for her age. We talked a lot about knife safety and about keeping fingers away from the blade. Also, about the difference between this knife and Mommy's knives in the drawer that she isn't allowed to use.

Once the strawberries were all cut up, I filled the shell with the Dream Whip mixture and let her line the top with the strawberries. She was pretty proud of herself.

Last step, Danish Dessert. I couldn't find any in the store, so I settled for a Lighthouse Strawberry Glaze. It was essentially the same thing. I dolloped the glaze on the pie and Jellybean spread it around.

After a little decoration, the pie was complete.

This was a perfect recipe to put together with my Little Chef. She was able to help with almost every step. The pie was delicious (better the next day after the over-baked crust had softened a bit).  Such a fun, simple recipe, too.

Here's the recipe to try with your little chef:

Strawberry Pie

Ingredients:
1 Graham Cracker crust (store bought or homemade)
1 Box Dream Whip
1 1/4 Cup Sugar (and a little extra to sprinkle on strawberries)
1 Cup Cold Milk
2 tsp. Vanilla
Cream Cheese (softened)
Strawberries (halved)
Strawberry Danish Dessert or Pre-packaged Strawberry Glaze

Method:
Whip two envelopes Dream Whip with sugar, milk and vanilla. Then incorporate the softened cream cheese.  Pour mixture into cooled graham cracker crust.
Halve strawberries and sprinkle with sugar. Top pie with strawberries. Glaze top with cooled Danish Dessert or strawberry glaze. Add more whipped topping and strawberries if desired.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Little Chef

I'm sure I've mentioned before that Jellybean is my little helper around the house. She wants to help with everything from cleaning to cooking. I'm really excited to see how that plays out with her new baby brother. He'll be here any day now.
For her birthday, my mom gave her a jr. cooking set and made her the sweetest apron. Even better, my mom made me a matching apron as well. I can't wait to have this baby and be able to wear our aprons together.

Look at that perfect little apron. She even has room to grow into it. Note: you will not see me wearing mine until my belly no longer sticks out a mile.

Because Jellybean is so interested in helping me in the kitchen, I've been making some forays into cooking and baking with her. It isn't easy and frankly pretty frustrating, but it's fun to see her light up. She clearly enjoys it.
She is 3, so I don't let her do a ton yet, but Sunday she donned her new apron and we got busy talking about measuring, pouring and mixing. Together we put together a batch of Original Toll House cookies (best recipe, still haven't found one that challenges it).

Looking pretty serious.

Last week, I let her help me pour all the ingredients into the hot pan and help stir the pasta sauce I was making (having her stir over a hot pan was nerve wracking, but she did very well and I of course hovered the entire time making sure that she kept her hand and arm away from the pan and stove.)

Mixing the dry ingredients with her whisk.

I'd like to start her on cutting with a butter knife (i.e. cutting chunks of banana or butter), but D is against her using any type of knife even a blunt one.  I feel like she has a pretty firm understanding about staying away from "Mama's" knives. (I yelled at her and scared her pretty badly when she decided to be helpful and opened my knife drawer. I yell when I'm scared, normal mom response?)

What other cooking skills do you think a 3 year old can be learning right now? I'm a little stumped. I suppose pouring and mixing will probably keep her pretty occupied for now.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ