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kid-friendly recipes

Bake your own Äppelpaj! In Swedish, Äppel means apple and paj means pie. Put them together and you have a scrumptious Swedish dessert. This pie is so simple, you don’t even need to make a crust! (The Skåne region, in the south of Sweden, is famous for growing yummy apples.)

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First, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Then put the apple slices in the pie dish.

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Combine ¼ cup (50 g) of the sugar, along with the cinnamon and cardamom (if using), and sprinkle it over the apples. Gently toss the apples to coat them evenly in sugar and spice. (Cardamom is a very popular spice in Sweden, where it is called kardemumma.)

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Put the butter in a medium-sized bowl and have a grownup help melt it in the microwave.

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Take the melted butter out of the microwave and add the remaining cup of sugar and the flour. Stir to combine, and then mix in the egg.

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Pour the mixture into the pie pan. Use the back of a spoon to spread the mixture over the apples.

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Bake for 45 minutes. That’s it! Äppelpaj is delicious warm or cold. For a special treat, top a slice with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Yum!

oven

pie dish

4–5 medium apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

1 ¼ cup (250 g) sugar

2 teaspoons (5 g) cinnamon

dash of cardamom (optional)

¾ cup (170 g) butter

1 cup (128 g) flour

1 egg

Swedish Apple Pie

cooking for kids

food science

sweet snacks

Normally, a cake would take an hour or more to make in an oven, but with a microwave oven, you can make one in minutes! Microwave ovens use waves of energy called – you guessed it – microwaves to cook food quickly. The microwaves go into the food and make water molecules inside move around really fast. The movement creates heat which cooks the food. But the microwave is just one part of this scientific process. First, you need to mix up ingredients. Two of the ingredients are key to making a tasty mug cake! Baking powder will make your cake spongy because it produces gas bubbles that get trapped in the batter as it cooks. The egg will help your cake rise because it has proteins that create a strong structure. Without these ingredients, your cake will look like soup! Experiment with the other ingredients to customize your mug cake. What will you add to give it a whole new flavor?!Want to explore more kitchen science experiments? Explore the tastier side of learning with <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/science-of-cooking-bread-butter-project-kit/5463" target="_self">Science of Cooking: Bread &amp; Butter </a>from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo Store</a>!

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Place the 2 teaspoons butter into the microwave-safe mug and melt it in your microwave for 20 seconds or until butter is completely melted.

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To the mug, add 1/4 cup flour, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons white sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, and 2 tablespoons cocoa powder. Mix with a whisk or a fork until you get a smooth batter.

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Microwave the mixture for 60 seconds. At this point. the top should be firm. If it's not, then microwave the cake in 5 second intervals until it is done. Use a spoon to eat the cake straight out of the mug! If you liked this recipe, you can make more mug cake and experiment by adding different ingredients like peanut butter, cinnamon or mashed bananas.

2 teaspoons butter

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoon white sugar

1 tablespoon milk or water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons cocoa powder or chocolate chips

small whisk or fork

microwave-safe mug

microwave

Magic Mug Cake

You may remember hearing about curds and whey from the old nursery rhyme about Little Miss Muffet. Well, this kitchen science experiment will teach you what curds and whey are, and you’ll even make some yourself! Curds and whey are a product of cheesemaking! Milk is made up of proteins, sugars, fat, minerals, vitamins, and enzymes. When you add an acid like lemon juice to warm milk, it causes molecules of one of the proteins in milk to bond to one another. That forms a solid lump of protein which is also known as a cheese curd (the leftover liquid is called whey.) You can eat cheese curds on their own (they taste like ricotta cheese) or top with honey or fruit for an awesome treat.Want to explore more kitchen science experiments? Explore the tastier side of learning with<a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/science-of-cooking-ice-cream-project-kit/5461" target="_self"> Science of Cooking: Ice Cream</a> from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo Store</a>!

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Put the milk in the saucepan and cook over medium heat until it’s steamy and foamy, stirring all the time. Don’t let the milk boil.

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Remove the milk from the heat and stir in the ⅛ cup lemon juice.The milk should curdle, separating into little lumps (curds) and a thin liquid (whey).

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Set the strainer over a bowl or measuring cup. Spoon the curds into the strainer, letting the liquid (whey) collect in the container.

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Pour the strained cheese into the other small bowl. Serve with honey or fruit and enjoy!

1 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice, pineapple juice, or vinegar

pinch of salt

saucepan

fine mesh strainer

2 small bowls

Turn Milk into Cheese

cookies

I love baking with my kids, but am always struggling to find healthy recipes to make together. This one gets the kids hands-on in the kitchen and is a healthy snack that everyone loves! I just love when that happens.

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I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and my daughter grabbed a large mixing bowl. We gathered the ingredients and got to work.

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She peeled the bananas and started mashing them with a potato masher. She loves this part! You want them to be mashed very well.

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Once the bananas were mashed, we added all the other ingredients except for the chocolate bar. She mixed and mixed while I chopped the chocolate bar into small pieces.

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We added in the bits of chocolate and gave the batter another quick mix. 

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We dropped tablespoon-sized cookies onto a baking sheet and placed in the oven for about 20 minutes or until slightly golden on the bottom.

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She could hardly wait for these to cool! Yum! The best healthy cookie ever!

2 bananas

1 TBSP coconut oil

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup flax seed meal

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1/4 TBSP cinnamon

1 TSP baking powder

1 dark chocolate bar (chopped)

Super Healthy Cookie

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This recipe for cloud dough is a treat to squish around and smells so good! 

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My daughter LOVES sensory play! Try this quirky-feeling cloud dough by adding one box of baking soda to a bowl. We added it to her designated sensory bin. You can make one too, out of a plastic container that has a tight-fitting or snapping lid.

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Next, pour in one packet of Kool-Aid drink mix. Any color and flavor will do -- pick your favorite! My daughter wanted pink lemonade!

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Give the baking soda and drink mix a good stir.

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Next, slowly add in some water and mix. Be careful not to add too much water or the cloud dough will be runny and too liquid. Add a little water at a time until it feels "mold-able".

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Have fun exploring your cloud dough and smelling it! My daughter loved the pink color!

baking soda (1 box)

kool-aid

water

bowl

spoon

Cloud Dough

Thanksgiving

Did you know that you can make pumpkin cookies without baking them?We love fall, but not the warm weather that sticks around for most of the season, making baking unenjoyable. These tasty, tiny no-bake treats are perfect for kids to prepare and enjoy.&nbsp;&nbsp;These no-bake pumpkin cookies are super easy to make and don't require an oven. Get your kids involved and turn no-bake pumpkin cookies into a fun family activity!

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First, we added added the oats, raisins, sugar, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and chocolate chips into a bowl. My oldest (5) liked to do all the measuring of the ingredients, and my daughter (3) liked to do all the "dumping."

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Once the dry ingredients were mixed, we added the pumpkin puree and vanilla. Then we mixed everything together. 

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Next for the fun part! We used a spoon to scoop up about a small handful of dough and rolled the scoops into balls. My son loved this part since his hands got to get dirty. My dainty daughter passed on this step...

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While the kids were busy rolling the balls, I whipped together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and whipping cream to create a little topping for the cookies. (This step is totally optional but, in my opinion, there is nothing better than pumpkin and cream cheese...) I put the creamy mixture into small plastic bags and snipped off the corners.

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Then the kids squeezed the cream topping onto the cookies. This was my daughter's favorite part, since it was mess free and "artsy." 

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We enjoyed our cookies right away, but you could also pop them in the fridge for a few hours. (This will firm them up a bit more and make them cool and refreshing.) The kids adore this recipe. And since the cookies are loaded with pumpkin, oats, and raisins, they're a great go-to after-school snack that makes everyone happy. 

canned pumpkin (1/2 cup)

oats (1 cup)

raisins (1/4 cup)

sugar (1/4 cup)

vanilla (1 tsp.)

nutmeg (1/2 tsp)

ginger (1/2 tsp.)

mini chocolate chips (1/4 cup; optional)

salt (1/4 tsp.)

cream cheese (1/2 cup)

powdered sugar (1/8 cup)

whipping cream (1 Tbsp)

No-Bake Pumpkin Cookies

These healthy treats are fun to make and add a little magic to any meal.

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We washed our grapes and berries and sliced our watermelon in half. My daughter was thrilled to see that our watermelon was of the pink variety. She chose the ribbon colors. I gave her large and small cookies cutters shaped like stars and hearts.

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I sliced the watermelon into 1 to 1 1/2 inch slices and she went to work with cookie cutters.  

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We put all of our watermelon cut-outs onto a plate and I set up a workstation for her to put them together.

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Starting with the pointy end of the skewer, she slid the star or heart shape up to the top, then began adding grapes and berries.

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Younger children might need help with this part. The smaller berries were tricky to get on there. 

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Tip:  If you're doing this project with very young kids, you can snip off the sharp end of the skewer. The fruit slides on just fine without it.

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She chose a piece of ribbon and cut it off the roll.

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I helped her tie the ribbons underneath the fruit and curl the edges of the ribbon with the scissor blade.

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Tada! Fruit magic wands.  These were a great dessert for a cookout. The kids could grab one after they finished their meals while the adults were still eating and chatting. 

48 cool kid friendly recipes projects for kids

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