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Baking and Conversation - Raisin Cookies
Today we are making soft, buttery sweet raisin cookies. Baking together is one of the best ways to spend quality bonding time with children. For this baking activity, we will focus on taking turns in conversation to help build those listening, thinking and speaking skills.
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- 2 cups all-purpose flour
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- 4 tablespoons milk (You can substitute with any other milk; soy, oat, rice milk, etc.)
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- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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- 1 large egg (You can substitute with mashed banana)
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- ¾ Cup unsalted butter (You can substitute with any other oil; avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil)
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- ¼ teaspoon salt
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- 2 teaspoon baking powder
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- 1 cup brown sugar
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- 1 cup dark raisins
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- Baking sheet
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- 2 large mixing bowls
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1. Wash the raisins and leave them in a bowl with half a cup water for about 15 minutes. This makes the raisins become softer.
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2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
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3. In one bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
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4. In another bowl beat the butter with hand mixer until it looks creamy and smooth.
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5. Add the brown sugar and then milk and beat it again.
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6. Add the washed raisins to the bowl and mix.
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7. Transfer the first bowl to the second bowl and mix it all together.
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8. For each cookie, drop about one tablespoon of the mixed ingredients onto the baking sheet.
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9. Bake for about 13-15 minutes. Your golden-brown cookies are ready to serve!
Invite your child to create delicious cookies with you. Their involvement in the kitchen can bring them a heightened awareness of the steps it takes to prepare meals. For this baking activity, we will focus conversing with each other to help build your child’s communication skills. Baking activities are full of opportunities to enrich a child’s language but the focus of this activity will be to practice taking turns to go back-and-forth in conversation. This will support your child’s listening, thinking and speaking skills.
Invite your child to help you with measuring, pouring and mixing the ingredients. Ask them questions such as “Do you remember where we went to go buy these ingredients?”, “How do you feel about the flour?”, “What do you think happens when we mix the wet and dry ingredients?”, “How do you feel right now?” or “What’s your favourite part of us baking together?”. Give your child the chance to observe and ask questions too. If your child is more comfortable with simply observing and watching what you do, that’s okay too. Follow your child’s pace and have fun. Baking together can give your child that sense of accomplishment, pride and confidence. Bon Appétit
Tip: Be mindful of your child’s developmental level. Children that are still too young to speak are speaking to us through their facial expressions and body language. You can practice having a back-and-forth conversation with your young child by using songs, simple language, facial expressions and exaggerated body cues. Take turns talking to each other and observe how your child responds to you.
EarlyON