baking with 2yo - biscuit or cookie recipes that work, anyone?

[NumptyMum]

I've just attempted baking with DS, but am not v taken with the biscuit recipe (mainly flour and butter, with a bit of sugar and vanilla essence).

Does anyone have good recipes they've used when cooking with a small, not very interested toddler assistant?

Biscuits in oven just now, hopefully they'll turn out better than I think... and hopefully DS will take more interest in them once cooked .

Banana Bread, get toddler to mash the banana's.

My dd 2.5yo loves doing this.

She also greases the pan and pours the ingredients into the bowl from the scales.

I use
1oz sugar
2oz butter
3oz plain flour (gas 4 10min)
with 2yo dd, but the main draw for her is the rolling and cutting (which these are fab for) - the biscuits aren't the world's most exciting to eat.

Thanks both. Mrs Badger - this is v similar to the recipe I was using (which was double quanties so I've just put half of it aside in fridge for tomorrow). The biscuits were OK, DS liked them anyway.

I guess the main point is to get him interested in baking/what I'm doing in the kitchen, but at the mo he's not joining in very much. He liked the cutters, but I think the rolling pin was too big. I'm not sure he'd have dexterity or strength to mash bananas!

I'm still trying to figure out what he's able to join in with, and how to stop him wandering off and putting baking hands all over everything... he's not displayed a particular interest in baking/cooking, but I'm trying to do other things than just go to the swing park or out on expeditions.

the ikea kid-size rolling pin is good btu tbh I think making and then playing with playdough is a kitchen activity-for-the-sake-of-activity

has he a teaset? an easel and chalks? both have been recent hits with dd

DD quite liked basic sponge cake recipes at this age (lots of tipping, mixing, eating adding raisins/blueberries/chopped fruit/choc chips) although I had to stop her trying to add the eggs herself or tasting the mix too often. Works for buns/fairy cakes too, then you can ice them.

Am just about to try this out with 22m DS

Sadly I don't tend to do messy things with him because he distracts after a couple of minutes, so I'm put off by the thought of putting stuff out/him playing a few mins/chasing him as he wanders off with messy hands/clearing up after, and we have a very small space that's hard to messy-proof. Baking at least seems less hazardous for permanence of mess.

Teaset might be an idea... He likes helping me make a cup of tea. I'm getting him into training early .

Will check out toy/kids kitchen stuff next time we go to Ikea, thanks for the tip.

or even a makeshift teaset - dd loves getting out all the plastic plates and cups etc from the 'safe' kitchen cupboard

painting in the garden in just a nappy -
wash in a bucket outside before lettign them back in the houses

when we were last at PIL's MIL stood dd on a chair to help her make welshcakes and wash up - for some reason I'd never thought to do this and had kept dd sitting at the kitchen table in the tripp trapp to roll / cut etc, which is much less exciting for her

nigella's blueberry muffins were great. (although use half the blueberries/rasps/whatever). it's really just blobbing flour, ego, melted butter, milk, yoghurt and fruit, mixing a couple of times and then spooning into cases. dd liked the fruit bit, some stirring and being In Charge Of Paper Cases.

Not a cookie/biscuit recipe, but 2 year old DD and I like making pizza for lunch.
Sieving the flour is DD;s job, and she also helps knead / bash dough about.

Waiting for an hour for dough to rise means we can have a 'break' from cooking. Then more dough bashing and rolling before putting bits on pizza.

Inevitably, DD;s pizza is never as good looking or flat as mine, but I'm trying to teach her not to be competitive about it, and prctice makes perfect

Aitch... I'm guessing you meant egg, rather than ego? Although with Nigella, I think there's a fair bit of that in her cooking too . Sounds very nice, will google to see if I can get the recipe. And it would be nice if DS can help mix.

MrsBadger - Welshcakes sound interesting. Ds has helped me do the washing up (needs to change after, he's so wet!). But as we are in 2nd floor flat, garden isn't very easy for activities (and it's not usually very warm where we live... well, at least I don't find it very warm).

TheWorstWitch - what sort of dough do you make for pizza? proper stuff with yeast? Is it fairly easy? I've always chickened out, last time I tried it with scone base but it was very squidgy.

Better go, think I'm being called for...

Thanks for all replies so far .

here you go

oooh - lovely. Thanks very much! That will be tomorrow's project, and will use up the old eggs I've got too .

and your ego. please don't put as much fruit in as she says, they don't want to come out of the cases if you do. and the yog/milk thing works brilliantly.

Her recipe doesn't mention yogurt (though I may have missed it). Would you just substitute natural yogurt for some of the milk?

Will have to track down some cups though, my scales are rubbish.

8oz strong plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp quick yeast
Olive oil
warm water

It's very easy and we don;t even bother using scales. Just count out 8 tbsps for flour.
DD helps by sieving flour all over the kitchen table for me while I knead.

The key is to bash out the air once dough has risen. It's delicious.

even better, the recipe i have uses buttermilk or half and half milk and yog. this new recipe looks like even less faff. i melt the butter in a jug in the micro and leave it lying around, then mix in the egg and milk (and yog in my case) and then add that to the dry goods. so it's no washing up.

225g softened butter
110g caster sugar
275g plain flour
chocolate chips or other flavouring bits

Use food processor to mix ingredients then roll walnut shaped pieces out put on baking tray no need to grease.

Flatten down each with damp fork.

Gas Mark 3/170c 13-15 mins.

Always worked for me very easy holds dd1s attention (23mo)

Can stick Smarties on when they've just come out of the oven.

Great - thanks very much everyone, some good ideas and recipes here. Will try not to coat the floor in flour tomorrow... esp if DS is sieving. He usually uses the sieve as kendo-type face mask.

Incidentally, DS did ask for 'biscuit' at bedtime tonight, so the original biscuit recipe must have been OK in his opinion...