Baking, Giving and Learning with Kids

By Phoebe Farag Mikhail

We had new neighbors, and I wanted to welcome them with homemade cookies. But I was also having a carpal tunnel syndrome flare up, and could not stir batter without my hands going numb.

A week later and a four-toddler play date, and I had a big box of cookies to give, plus plenty to nibble on at home, too. Baking with my kids is becoming my new favorite pastime.

The last time I baked so many cookies, it was last Christmas, and I made a batch for everyone on our block. My toddler came with me to distribute them, permanently associating baking cookies with giving gifts. So there was very little protest when I removed over half of the cookies he (and three other toddlers) had creamed, mixed, and folded into a box to give away to the neighbors. They were not just giving away their sweets, they were giving away their time and effort – and they were ok with that.

There are other benefits to baking with kids. They can learn so much through baking – reading, counting, fractions, telling time – and even science lessons about how cakes rise and why eggs (or fruit) keep cookies together. 

But when one of our elderly neighbors said hello to my son, and he asked me later if we could bake cookies to give to her, I knew the lesson in giving was the most important one he got from baking together. 

Baking with my toddler has lessons for me, too—lessons that can be applied not just to parents, but also to teamwork and organizations. Toddlers stirring sugar and flour and butter and cocoa and eggs will spill some of it. They will lick their raw egg batter covered fingers. They will dump all the buttermilk into the flour mixture instead of alternating between the two. They will create cookies shaped like trapezoids and blobs. Here are the lessons I have learned from this:

1- Patience, flexibility, and forgiveness. It took me longer to bake when my helpers were much smaller than me and needed step by step instructions. Yelling at them when they spill some flour or lick the batter took away from the fun of the process and risked losing them as kitchen helpers in the future. Besides, I’ve spilled stuff too while baking – so let me take the "plank" out of my own eye first!

My son stirring batter. (c) Phoebe Farag Mikhail, 2013

2- There is a cost to not including the kids – they will need attention anyway, so if I did all the baking myself, I would have been constantly interrupted by their needs and demands, and spent the time fighting them off instead of working together. 

3- The perfect is the enemy of the good. What is perfect, anyway? Cookies shaped like blobs taste just as good as perfectly round cookies. Who cares? My neighbors loved the cookies, and it turned out they had a little boy my son's age, who was so excited to eat cookies made in part by his toddler neighbor.

On our next rainy or snowy day, I’m baking these cookies with my toddler.

What have you learned from doing things with children lately?

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (and a Few Food Blogs)

By Phoebe Farag Mikhail

Vegan chocolate chip cookies: Pumpkin variation

No, this is not a food blog – but when I made these cookies last week, I could not help but share them. Food blogs, after all, are what introduced me to the blogging world. They’re like our surrogate parents and grandparents when neither are available to call for a recipe. They also form these wonderful online communities as people share recipes, meal ideas, and valuable information about food in general. I love food bloggers that not only share recipes, but also teach me new things. The first food blogger I started following is Heba Saleh’s My Life in a Pyramid. Her blog not only includes exciting, healthy recipes (like this creamy 10 minute chocolate pudding with avocados), but also shares valuable information about organic and healthy eating.

Cooking and baking can be processes of reflection and community. I have a friend who meditates on how the process of baking her holiday sugar cookies reflects her faith as she bakes, and has shared these reflections with me in addition to a delicious box of cookies. The holidays in particular bring about the communal aspect of food, not just because we gather together to enjoy our meals and share our sweets, but also because we are often cooking and baking traditional recipes from generations before us, linking us not just to each other, but to our pasts. 

This is why I love MidEats, a blog full of amazing recipes, instructions, and histories for traditional Middle Eastern foods, some with variations to make them more healthful, such as this healthier Egyptian Koshary recipe. Faith Gorsky also shares some amazing Middle Eastern and fusion recipes on An Edible Mosaic, such as this pumpkin and cheese spiced bread. Eating healthy can get expensive, which is why I follow Stacy Makes Cents, who posts about eating good food on a budget, as well as other ways of saving money. I love her slow-cooker recipes, such as (believe it or not), this Crock-Pot Honey Spiced Latte.

Vegan cookies: Double chocolate pumpkin

 Now, the recipe, which I got from Eating Bird Food, at http://www.eatingbirdfood.com/2012/09/vegan-pumpkin-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/. I made them first exactly as the recipe described, and I found them tasty but a little bit too chewy. My toddler did not like them much the first time, but loved them at the second, third, and fourth try (described below). My husband preferred the banana variation.

Vegan chocolate chip cookies: banana variation

The best part about this recipe are its healthy ingredients: pumpkin (or banana), ground flaxseed, coconut oil, old-fashioned oats, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, chocolate chips – all of these foods have wonderful health properties. I’ve linked them to some articles and blog posts that further describe their benefits. These cookies are not a health food, but because the recipe includes whole grains and fruit, one or two are quite satisfying. So you’ll enjoy a treat and yet not wipe out the whole cookie jar. The second best part is that they are very easy to make. My toddler helped me bake them. Tell me what you think!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup of whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat, but you can use all purpose flour as well)

½ cup old fashioned oats (3/4 cup if you are using the banana variation)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon sea salt (if you do not have any, a little bit less table salt will do)

Pinch of ground nutmeg

4 tablespoons cocoa powder (for double chocolate version)

¾ cup of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling. If using the banana variation, use ¾ cups mashed bananas)

1 cup sugar (3/4 cup for the banana variation)(I used organic, pure cane sugar. I don’t suggest using a liquid form of sugar like maple syrup or molasses – the cookies were too gooey when I tried them that way)

¼ cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted (add extra if using the double chocolate pumpkin variation)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup (or more) vegan chocolate chips

Instructions

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2.       Stir together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cocoa powder for double chocolate pumpkin variation)

3.       Mix together wet ingredients (pumpkin, coconut oil, flaxseed and vanilla) in a separate mixing bowl.

4.       Combine wet and dry ingredients.

5.       Stir in chocolate chips and mix well.

6.       Drop rounded tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet (or roll them with your hands if you are baking the pumpkin or double chocolate pumpkin variation)

7.       Bake for 25-30 minutes (oven times will vary)

8.       Completely cool before eating.