Cooking with Boys...Chocolate Peanut Squares

I am so glad I committed to cooking with my boys more. They are becoming ever present fixtures in the kitchen. I've been teaching them different cooking techniques, we've been learning about fractions, but most of all, we've been enjoying each others company.

This week we made Chocolate Peanut Squares. I found the recipe here but you can click here to get an easy-to-read printable version. Of course, I'll be providing it for you too. There is no baking required so it is the perfect treat to make when you don't want to heat up your kitchen during these hot summer months.

Ingredients
Foundation:
2 c confectioner's sugar
3/4 c creamy peanut butter
2/3 c graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c butter; melted

Topping:
2/3 c semisweet chocolate chips
4 1/2 t creamy peanut butter
1/2 t butter


Directions:

Begin by lining a 9 in, square pan with foil and butter the foil; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients listed under "foundation".

Magnus did a great job crushing the graham crackers.

Thane measured and dumped the graham crackers into the bowl.

Magnus measured the peanut butter and added it to the bowl.

Thane stirred all the "foundation" ingredients together.

Magnus had the messy job of packing the "foundation" into the prepared 9-in, square pan.

Next, we made the "topping".
Combine all of the ingredients under "topping" in a microwave safe bowl; heat until melted. Spread it over the peanut butter layer.

Thane measured the chocolate chips and ate the ones that somehow "fell" out.

After all of the "topping" ingredients were in the bowl, the boys were in charge of melting and mixing them all together. They took this job very seriously.

Thane spread the "topping" on top of the "foundation" and placed it in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes.

Once it was cooled, we lifted the foil out of the pan, cut it into little squares, and filled our tummys!

The boys agree that when we make them again, we should double the "topping" part. We really like chocolate!

Cooking with Boys...Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

This recipe came from allrecipes.com. I cut the recipe in half because I didn't *need* 96 bars. 96 bars would not look good on my hips. I don't think it made 48 bars either, unless you cut them really small.

Ingredients (Already halved for you! That's the kind of girl I am!)
1 c butter, softened
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1t vanilla extract
1/2t water
2 1/4 c all purpose flour
1t baking soda
3/4t salt
2c semisweet chocolate chips (we used 3)


Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add eggs, vanilla and water; beat until smooth. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a smaller bowl; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips and eat the ones that don't make it into the bowl for some reason. Press into a greased 15-in. x 10-in 1 1-in. baking pan. To tell you the truth, I don't have a clue as to the size of my pan, but I think it was close to that. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Thane is very precise about setting the temperature correctly.

We don't have a 3/4 c measuring cup so we had a quick lesson on fractions. The boys picked up on in quickly. Math...check!

Magnus is packing the brown sugar. Wanna know why you pack brown sugar and not white? Me too! So I googled it.

Here is what I found...

"Brown sugar is refined white sugar with molasses added to it. The same weight of brown sugar and white sugar has the same amount of sweetness. Because white sugar is denser than brown sugar, to get equal sweetness you have to pack the brown sugar."

Yeah. I still don't get it. Oh well, on with the show.

I just thought this was a cool shot. Still learning how to use my camera.

This, however, is not a cool shot. One thing to keep in mind when Cooking With Boys is, "Messes happen." What I am saying? Messes happen when I cook without the boys too!

In case you are wondering, I did not put the "oops" egg in the mixture. Tempted, but nah.

Chocolate chips are being folded! Er, mixed, actually.

Magnus is being very careful. Do you think he likes wearing the pink pot holders? Ask me if I care. In a house full of testosterone, I get to have pink pot holders.

Mmmmmmmmm...

Gooey goodness!

Cooking With Boys...Muffins That Taste Like Donuts

Donuts. Mmmmmm. I love donuts!

I came across this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's cooking blog, The Tasty Kitchen and thought it would be a great thing for Thane and I to cook this week.

We gathered all of our ingredients in one place. I have found it is a good idea to do this when cooking with the boys for 3 reasons:

1. You can make sure you have everything you need before you get started. No emergency trips to the store in the middle of preparation.

2. Everything is within arms reach and searching for ingredients in the cupboards is not done during preparation.

3. It makes for a nice picture to begin the blog post with.


Last week when we baked my Mother-In-Law's recipe for Kentucky Apple Cake, Thane learned about leveling off dry ingredients with a knife. This week, he was surprised to see the baking powder container had a "leveler" built in! No wasting of the powder because it drops right back into the container.

This is all of our dry ingredients. Thane figured out to measure all of the dry ingredients into a smaller bowl and the wet ingredients into a larger bowl because we were going to add the dry to the wet. Critical thinking skills at work!


During another time of baking, we learned the hard way about cracking eggs individually into a separate bowl and not directly into the bowl the rest of your ingredients are in. Rotten eggs are icky.

Thane is mixing the dry ingredients into the wet. The batter was pretty thick.

This was Thane's first time dividing up the batter into the muffin pan. He did a great job!

While the muffins were cooking, we prepared the mixture for the topping. Thane and I examined the butter stick for the correct amount. He thought it was cool that all we had to do was cut it and not place it in a measuring cup.

These were yummy!

Cooking with Boys...Kentucky Apple Cake

As I have mentioned before, my boys love to cook. Especially Thane. He wants to be a Pastry Chef when he grows up. I want to nurture their love and enthusiasm for cooking/baking so I let them help me in the kitchen often. I've tossed around the idea of creating something with them, once a week, and blogging about it, but you know what they say about good intentions and I am not about to go "there". We'll see how it goes.

Collin's Mom (Hi Janie!) makes the most delicious apple cake with rich cream cheese frosting. I was so excited when she shared the recipe with me and I hope YOU will be excited that I am sharing the recipe with YOU!

Kentucky Apple Cake

Beat: 2 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
Set aside

Sift: 2 cups flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
Add to egg mixture slowly

Mix 1 can Wilderness Apple Pie Filling to batter
Pour batter into a 9x12 or 9x13 pan that has been greased & floured.
Bake at 345 degrees 40 minutes or until done. If you use a glass pan
lower temp to 325.

These are all of the ingredients you will need.

This is the first part of the recipe before it is beaten.

Thane is beating it. Such concentration!

Thane learned the reason for sifting flour and how to do it.

He just added the cinnamon without sifting it. No harm done.

After we slowly added the sifted dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat it, this is what it looked like. It was REALLY thick. I mean REALLY thick. Made me a bit nervous.

One of the privileges of being a cook!

Next, Thane added the can of apple pie filling. We couldn't find the Wilderness brand, so we used Comstock (210z.). He figured out that by using the spatula, he could get the majority of the filling out of the can and not waste it! Lots of learning going on.

Not sure if we were to beat the apple pie filling in, but we did. Now it was looking more like batter. I felt better.

While the cake was in the oven doing its thing, we made the cream cheese frosting.

Kentucky Apple Cake Cream Cheese Frosting

Mix: 2 3oz packages of cream cheese (room temp)

1 tsp soft butter (room temp)
2 cups powdered sugar (you may need to sift this)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix with a hand mixer and spread on cooled cake.

These are the ingredients needed for the most yummy frosting.

Thane learned about "leveling off" the dry ingredients in the measuring cups.

Mixing up the ingredients.

Good stuff! Seriously good stuff.

Cake Challenge Our Way

While we were visiting my family in IA, the boys got hooked on watching The Food Network Challenge Show and Cupcake Wars. Thane has wanted to be a chef since he was 5 but now he has narrowed it down to becoming a Pastry Chef. He also wants to compete on the shows for a chance to win the $10,000 prize. What better way to practice your skills than to have your won challenge at home!

Meet the contestants...

Chef Thane and Chef Magnus

Each Chef was in charge of mixing up a box of cake batter and distributing it into the proper pans. Thane made 2 9 in. round cakes and Magnus made 12 cupcakes and 2 small bundt cakes.

Each Chef was then given the same supplies...

...and access the all of this yummy goodness for decorating...

The competition was a close one...

Magnus filled his cupcakes.

Thane topped his cakes with lots of candy.

We even had some things go wrong...

Creative minds were at work...

And in the end...

...the mess was worth it!