For his birthday, Sweet Tooth Luc had one request: a smores cake. There’s nothing that kid loves more than roasting marshmallows and smashing them between chocolate and graham crackers.
Continue readingLuc’s Smores Camping Cake!
Category Archives: cooking
Cooking with Kids: Boba Tea!
We love boba tea! Have you tried it? The boba, or bubbles, are made of large tapioca pearls, usually a dark color due to caramel coloring. You can add them to any drink for a bit of chewy texture, but we’re purists and always have ours with tea.
Continue readingEasy Date & Nut Energy Balls
Looking for another nut and fruit snack? Try these nut & fruit bars!
My kids love store-bought date & nut energy balls. I’ve never bought any, BUT some of our play-date regulars often have plenty to share. 
Since these treats have such a simple ingredient list, I thought it’d be fun to try making some at home. Turns out they are super easy to make and easily customizable. I hope you enjoy these energy-packed snacks as much as we do.
Continue readingPlan a Dandelion Feast!
We have a great summer dinner for you. It features dandelions for the appetizer, salad, main dish, and dessert, and is the perfect summer feast to celebrate the start of summer!
Continue readingGingerbread Bird House
We first published this post last year, but we’re sharing it again now because we love it that much… and because I bet we all have a long evening or two that we’re looking to fill with some holiday fun minus the extra calories.
I love a fully decked out gingerbread house with their Candyland-like sweets. But, last year I had the urge to create a more natural looking gingerbread house, and that’s when we came up with this nutty treat for the birds. Continue reading
Cooking with Kids : Banana Pancakes
Our Cooking with Kids post are taking a major step forward this week in that there are no parents involved! We’re going to have to change to name of this series to Kids Cooking. And I’m 100% A-OK with that.
Both boys love to help with meal prep, but 7 y.o. Alex was really itching to make a meal (that required the stove) completely on his own. And it couldn’t be something as a simple as an over-easy or scrambled eggs. He wanted it to be more complex, so we gave it a thought a came up with banana pancakes!
These are nothing new, and I’m sure most parents of toddlers are familiar with this tasty two-ingredient recipe (four ingredients if you count the salt and butter!). Anyway, we realized that not only is this dish a great early food for your baby, it’s also a great “first recipe” for your budding chef.
Banana Pancakes
- 1 ripe banana
- 2 eggs
- butter
- salt
Peel and mash the banana. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs. Add the mashed banana and mix well.
Warm a frying pan over medium heat. Add a tab of butter and let it coat the bottom of the pan. Pour in the appropriate amount of batter to make a pancake that’s a “flippable” size for your kiddo. We found that having a smaller ladle for pouring the batter into the pan helped with this task and with keeping the pancake size consistent.
After the pancake has cooked on one side, flip it and allow the other size to cook. We determine doneness based upon color and how well the pancake sticks together (it can fall apart if you try to flip it too soon).
Add a sprinkle of salt and then serve! We don’t add any additional condiments, like maple syrup, but you’re welcome to cross that sticky bridge if you’re feeling courageous.
Additional Tips
You know your kids and their skill level best, but here are a few things that we found helpful.
- Teach the kids how to use the burner and be specific about where the knob should be facing for the best cooking temp. We helped Alex learn the trick to turn the burner to high at first and then turn it down to the best temp for the burner he commonly uses. You could even add a tiny sticker to the knob area to identify where the knob should be pointing.
- Having designated tools for the job really helps kids to tackle the task without your help. As I mentioned above, we have a specific ladle that he uses which helps to keep the pancakes consistent. He also has two different pans that he’s comfortable cooking on. Neither of them are non-stick (one is cast iron and the other aluminum), but he’s become comfortable using either.
- Rather than using hot pads, we really like these pan handle covers. They stay on the pan well while he’s cooking so he doesn’t absentmindedly grab a hot handle and there’s no risk of them getting too close to the burner and catching fire.
- Get a good metal spatula. This is one of our favorites and it’s make in the USA! I find that the thin metal spatulas make lifting the edge of pancakes and flipping them easier than trying to wiggle a thick spatula underneath. I also like that you don’t have to worry about the end of the spatula getting banged up or misshapen from the heat.
- Your kids will be so excited to make a meal for the family. You can make it an extra fun experience by letting younger kids wait on you. They can take your order and deliver the dishes to the table.
Cooking with Kids: Dandelion Cake
ETA: This was a previously-scheduled post that we forgot to delay in the midst of our shared national turmoil. By all means, if you need a bit of comfort and distraction, bake this cake. But at this time, we still think that finding your lane and taking action is important. xo
If you haven’t introduced your kids to eating dandelions yet, this cake is a great place to start! And if YOU haven’t eaten dandelions yet, well then this will be a truly beautiful treat for everyone.
Start by sending the kids out to pick a bowl full of open dandelion flowers.
Cooking with Kids: Make a Silly Cake!
Cooking with Kids is an ongoing series where we share recipes that are easy enough to make with a two-year-old. If you’re new to the series, our first post that provides our detailed tips for cooking with little ones.
I hear that all of this time at home is leading to more baking. We’re definitely in that boat, and no one’s complaining that there’s too much cake in the house (yet!). If you’re in the !bake-more-cakes! camp, we’re sharing our favorite banana cake recipe below. The cake is great, but what really sets it apart is the frosting extremely exquisite decorations. Continue reading
Unicorn or Narwhal?
PLEASE tell me that you stocked up on ice cream and milk during the great TP hoarding of 2020. Because if you did, you could make milkshakes. BUT if you also have some icicles hanging around, then you can make something magical. Continue reading
Cooking with Kids : Pumpkin Cookies
{This post was first published in 2015. We’re reposting it again today because there’s nothing better than a pumpkin cookie on a cold November day.}
Pumpkin is our ingredient of the season. So far we’ve used it to make some pumpkin butter, pumpkin popsicles, and a quick weeknight pasta.
Welcome back to our new Cooking with Kids series, where Alex is the true star, and these pumpkin cookies are the runner up. If you haven’t seen our first Cooking with Kids post, it’s worth a glance, especially if you’re just starting out on this whole kids-in-the-kitchen adventure. Today’s post will not go into as much detail about how to make the cooking fun for your little one, instead, I’m just putting all of our past tips into practice and sharing a few ideas related specifically to this recipe and baking cookies in general. As a point of reference for any moms out there, Alex helped with these cookies when he was 29 months old (just shy of 2 1/2 years).
This is a recipe that I first saw on Design Mom. I made a batch for a party last fall, and predicted then that they would become a fall favorite. This year’s batch turned out just as delicious and well-received by everyone in the house, that they’ve retained their position as “favorite fall cookie”. The cookies are delicious little fluffy cakes of pumpkin, and if kept in an airtight container, they will stay moist for at least two weeks (surprisingly a few cookies made it that long in our house!). The original recipe includes instructions for a glaze, I didn’t make it this year, opting for a plain cookie, but made it last year and loved it. I’ll include it below in case you’re craving the extra touch of sweetness.