Cooking with kids is a tradition in many families. There’s something special about mixing the flour and butter for cookies, begging to lick bowl and learning a little bit about patience while waiting for that bit of yummy to come out of the oven. Everyday Kitchen with Kids by Jennifer Low is a great book to use to kick start that tradition. This cookbook is designed for kids with basic language, simple instructions and smaller portions. Actually, this would be a good book even for a college kid who hasn’t set foot in the kitchen because the recipes make 2-4 portions.
Jennifer Low is a mom who knows that kids love to bake sweets, so that is why there are many wholesome but yummy treats in this book. And the recipes are all made designed so that kids can create them from beginning to end without using a hot stove element, sharp knife or other motorized kitchen equipment. Simple tools, simple but good food, and lots of great results to help build kids confidence in the kitchen.
There is a great glossary in the front that explains cooking & baking utensils and basic methods with reminders on each recipe too. I gave the book to my daughter (7) and encouraged her to flip through it and pick some things to make. As her mother’s daughter she of course opted for the desserts and we ended up making the chocolate mint brownies, sugar cookies, the mini donuts muffins, chibatta and the chocolate Spackle cookies. All the recipes were easy to make and the results were perfect. I really liked that there wasn’t a huge yield because I usually end up eating the leftovers – my kids are more interested in the process (i.e. batter) than the finished product.
There was a big gluten free focus. Some of the recipes had instructions on how to make them gluten free while others were entirely gluten free, including some of the baking. There is a small drawback, however in that some of the recipes are gluten free versions referenced from a previous cookbook. It caused a bit of disappointment when my kids chose a recipe that we couldn’t make because I don’t know how to translate the gluten free ingredients back into an amount of flour. If you have the gluten free ingredients on hand, however, you will be happy with the results.
Another great feature of this book was the stunning photography. Not only were the pictures bright, fresh and modern but they really popped out off the pages and totally appealed to the kids.
If your looking for a fun way to connect the kids with the kitchen, then this is a great start!
