What kid doesn’t like Chocolate Chip Cookies? What kid doesn’t like taking part in MAKING those cookies!
Well, Elisabeth, age 4, and I made Chocolate Chip Cookies last night and I had a blast! I think she enjoyed herself too. (Michael, age 1, was always nearby in a rolling office chair, happily babbling about the joys that are his fingers.)
Sure, we could have made cookies from some ultra-convenient Toll House tube of dough or “break and make” cookie kit but, when you’re a kid isn’t it much more fun to do it from scratch? That’s what we did!
I pre-measured the flour, Splenda (why sugar a kid up before bedtime?) and baking soda so that when Elisabeth arrived, we could get right down to business. The butter was already softened, so Elisabeth’s first task was scooping the goop into a 1 Cup measure. (I specifically showed her the “1 C-U-P” on the measure and she was kind enough to spell the word “cup” back to me without even looking at it! After the butter was added, Elisabeth stirred for a while, keeping most of it in the bowl. Then we added the eggs! I used the first egg to show her how to crack it open and she did the second one all by herself. Her fingers got a little “slimy”, as she put it, but we cleaned the up quick enough so that it was still fun. Michael stayed pretty busy watching my dogs run by him as they went in and out of the back door.
While I stirred the dough, Elisabeth did another very important task: buttering the pans. Of course, we could have used a spray like “Pam” (I do have some in the cupboard.) But who can resist playing with soft butter and a pastry brush? She did a marvelous job of both pans and by the time I was done mixing, she was done buttering. Michael was still getting a kick out of the floor show.
Now…how to form the cookies…
Using two spoons to form the ball of dough requires a bit more dexterity than the average four-year-old has (not that Elisabeth is average by ANY means). Luckily for us, I had a mechanical dough scoop that Elisabeth mastered immediately! (Squeeze the handle and the perfectly formed ball of dough just “bloops out”, as Elisabeth put it. So I packed the dough into the scoop and she dropped it into the pans. She just dropped them anywhere on the pans and then we spaced the cookies right before baking. It was a great team effort. Meanwhile, Michael had discovered something absolutely hysterical about his fingers.
Then came the waiting… Elisabeth admitted that sometimes she’s not very patient, so we played with Michael a bit to pass the time. By the time the cookies were ready to come out of the oven, our neighbors had asked Elisabeth to come out and play. So Elisabeth went next door to play while the cookies cooled. By the time she came back in, had a bath and changed into her pajamas, the cookies were cooled and the milk was poured. Of course, you don’t drink the milk, you dip your cookies in it!
All in all, it was a great kitchen adventure and Elisabeth made some super cookies!