by Ruth Storkel
Cooking with kids is an exciting adventure, oftentimes challenging for people who have not spent time in the kitchen with these eager young “chefs.”
My granddaughter, Chloe, was in a ten-week cooking class as a 6th grader this past year. “Was that a Home Ec class?” I asked.
“It was Culinary Arts,” she replied. (Of course! The term “Home Ec class” came from the prehistoric days).
The teacher was teaching “novices,” and she needed to find simple, quick recipes the students could make in a 60-minute period. (Not an easy task for inexperienced young cooks!)
One of the recipes was for “Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies.” On one day, the teacher demonstrated the recipe; another day, she “turned them loose” to bake a batch of their own.
The students gathered in groups of 3-4, donned aprons, hurriedly assembling utensils and ingredients to make their cookies. They opened the cake mix, added the eggs
and oil, stirred thoroughly, dumped in the chocolate chips, and were soon ready to spoon the batter out onto the cookie sheets. Watching the clock, they hurried through every step, and finally, the cookies were in the oven baking. With just a short time left before the class ended, the cookies were removed from the oven and set out to cool briefly.
At least some of the groups could complete the entire process within an hour. “But,” said Chloe, “one group took too long, and when the bell rang, their cookies were not done. ” These went into the trash as the teacher scooted this group out the door to their next class! (Too bad!)
Thankfully most of our cooking experiences with kids are not limited to a one-hour time slot. But starting with simple recipes is a good plan (don’t do “Creme Brulee” or “Baked Alaska” in the first few cooking lessons!)
If you are looking for an easy recipe to use with your new
“cookie chef,” here is the recipe the teacher used in the school Culinary Arts class. It requires minimum time and ingredients and is a tasty sweet treat to make on the “spur of the moment”. Enjoy!
Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 C. vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups chocolate chips
STEPS:
Mix cake mix, eggs, and oil in a large mixing bowl.
Stir well, then pour in chocolate chips.
Drop batter by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.
Sprinkle tops with more chocolate chips and pop into oven.
Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
Using a pot holder, remove from oven to cooling rack.
Cool and serve.
(Makes 22 large cookies.)
