Am going to bake with the toddler tomorrow - any simple recipes?

[BumgrapesofWrath]

Been googling recipes for baking with children, but none of them seem basic enough! Just want something we can chuck in a bowl, stir and bake! Any recipes suggestions gratefully received!!

Cupcakes are pretty easy - good foolproof recipe in recipes session and they will love decorating them too.

Donna Hay blueberry muffins- just google. Super easy!
Or fish cakes (mash made in advance, flaked poached/tinned salmon, egg to bind, crushed cornflakes or breadcrumbs)
Pancakes
Jelly or trifle
Crumble

Sorry, just seen was only baking. In which case Donna Hay blueberry muffins!

Really simple are chocolate crispies - very messy but they all love them & you don't have to wait for baking time & I do them in a Pyrex in the microwave so even quicker
Melt small knob of butter, add 3-4 tblsp golden syrup & 1 tblsp cocoa, heat some more & chuck in rice crispies or cornflakes before spooning into cake cases.

Cupcakes

125g Self raising flour
125g Caster Sugar
125g butter/margarine
2 eggs
Vanilla essence

Pre-heat oven 180c
Chuck in a bowl if you are using All-in-one method, mix.
Bung in cupcake cases and bake for around 15 mins at 180c

Hey presto cool them down then eat or add icing or melted chocolate and sprinkles if you are feeling adventurous

Buttecream
175g icing sugar sifted
75g butter softened
Splash milk
Vanilla essence
Mix, then pipe or spread

Gingerbread is a favourite in our house. You can usually make the mixture in advance and then the toddler just uses it like playdo to make shapes that go on the tray and in the oven. It also doesn't have eggs so if any mixture accidently goes astray into little mouths it isn't a worry....

Oaty biscuits:

100g butter
50g sugar
100g oats
50g plain flour

Cream the butter and sugar, add the oats and flour, make into a dough then roll out and use biscuit cutters. Bake for about 20mins at 170.

Dead easy and v tasty :)

Muffins are good (the American kind) as you don't need to mix the batter too thoroughly, in fact it's better if you don't.

I have a recipe on my blog somewhere for dried apple & cinnamon muffins which are lovely.

Just made some gingerbread this afternoon. The rolling and cutting out went down well

DD liked making fairy cakes - particularly spooning the mixture into the cases. She wandered in and out a bit while we made the batter (in a mixer). The bits she helped with were chopping up the butter a bit, putting spoonfuls of sugar into a bowl to weigh it (obviously I controlled it to get the right weight), cracking the eggs (had to fish a few bits of shell out), pouring the eggs in, sieving the flour I weighed into the bowl and mixing in the flour. I found it quite a hair-raising experience (as I am a bit of a baking control freak). She also likes choosing the colour for the icing, spooning on icing and sprinkling sprinkles over the top.

Fairy cake recipes are pretty much all the same, so any should be ok. You could always get a packet mix if you really do just want to chuck it in a bowl and stir.

Pumpkin....that is exactly my easiest recipe too! My 7 yo ds knows it off by heart!

Btw OP at toddler age my ds just wanted to make a bowl of slop to play with while I made cakes! My advice would be to get her/him a separate bowl and double up on ingredients!

If you add lemon zest to pumpkin's recipe you get lovely lemon cupcakes. I made them this evening, literally threw the ingredients in a bowl, mixed and cooked. Perfect.

Another vote here for fairy cakes. Ds is two and loves making them, and is particularly obsessed with eggs - he loves breaking them open. He loves all the mixing as well ( not so keen on waiting for them to cool though!)

Our easy recipe is

1. weigh two eggs
2. weigh out the same weight in butter and sugar, and cream them together
3. weight out the same weight in flour, add flour and eggs to the mixture
4. add any extras, eg vanilla essence, choc chips, currants, food colouring etc
5. put in bun cases and cook for about 15 mins at 180.

Have fun!

Shortbread is super easy - you can jazz things up with different cutters or icing. The recipe is

6oz plain flour
4oz butter
2oz sugar

That's it! Just mix it all together (I use the blender) then roll out, prick with a fork, sprinkle with sugar and bake.

You could refridgerate the dough for half an hour or so but I never do and the turn out fine.

I think about 15 mins at 180 but just keep an eye on them.

We make pancakes and then LO will sit for ages and watch me cook them, and eat them whilst she watches.

Also flapjacks are dead easy.

I make these banana banana biscuits with my 21 month old. Easy to make and without refined sugar so good for toddlers to eat too!