Baking and Teaching
Baking cookies is one of my favorite things. To be included as a “Favorite thing” however, cookies must include chocolate. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about why I love cooking with my kids. For one thing, it is a great lesson in patience. One I need often. It is also a super fun way to teach math! I like to have the kids practice counting and I always give a quick lesson about fractions (hoping one day the lesson will stick). Baking is also a great way to teach cooking skills in a safe environment. I handle the oven part, but there are lots of measuring, stirring, pouring opportunities for the kids.
I’m listening to a great book that stressed how important it is to teach our kids something, then give them the opportunity to figure it out (remember the patience lesson I talked about. here it is!!). Yes there will be messes and mess ups, and the process will be slow, BUT letting them do it themselves builds their confidence and problem solving skills!
My favorite part about baking together is of course, eating together at the end!
This Oatmeal Chocolate Chip recipe is one of our favorites. It just so happens to be the recipe on the back of the bags of Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Oats. This recipe is also gluten free. HORRAY!! As a happy accident, I didn’t have enough sugar for the recipe so I substituted maple syrup. BOY OH BOY was it delish and perfect for FALL paired with the oats and peanut butter in this recipe!! I hope you enjoy these as much as we do.
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tps vanilla
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup natural peanut butter
3 cups Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Oats
6 oz (I prefer 8 oz) chocolate chips
(optional) 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350. Line your baking sheets with parchment. In a large bowl or your stand-up mixer combine syrup, brown sugar, and butter. Beat until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, and baking soda and mix well. Add peanut butter and mix well, we love Trader Joe’s creamy peanut butter best! Stir in oats and chocolate chips (nut too if adding). Use a small cookie scoop or spoon to scoop tablespoons full of dough about 2 inches apart on your parchment. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges. These cookies with flatten out a lot as they cool, but let them cool a bit before you gobble them up. Makes approximately 48 cookies.
