Pat-a-cake Pat-a-cake

My boy loves to bake & despite the exercise being messy I am not complaining. Infact I take his interest as an opportunity for various things-listing a few of them below (Yes, I agree I am in love with organizing anything & everything neatly. Borderline OCD..!! Well Kinda)

• It gets them to learn something new, something they are interested in.
• They get an insight into what all is going into their food. So the next time they throw a tantrum seeing eggs for breakfast, remind them what went into the cake they gobbled up with glee. 
• Baking teaches kids math by using measurements & counting in a fun way. 
• It gives children a drift of how to follow directions.
• Kids learn coordination while rolling out dough or cutting cookies using a cookie cutter.
• Their visual, perceptual and spatial perceptual skills are honed while they pour & fit cookies biscuits on a tray.
• They learn to be patient while waiting for the final result.
• Baking teaches children that creating a mess can be fun & is no harm as long as they clean up.
• And most important of all, it gives the parent & child ample time to bond.

Tell me which parent wouldn’t love something with so many incentives.  Here is a simple recipe that Z & I do & we both absolutely love it. Hope you guys like it too.

Animal shaped Butter cookies (Yum butter cookies-Mrs. Elley, Mr. Lion & the Cheeky monkey)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 Egg
• 2 2/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt
• Various food colours
• Animal Cookie Cutters

Animal shaped Butter cookies

 

Yum butter cookies-Mrs. Elley, Mr. Lion & the Cheeky monkey

Method:

• Cream together butter and white sugar until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the egg. Add vanilla extract & food colour. ( You can divide the dough into parts & add different colours to each)  
• Add flour and salt into the sugar mixture. 
• Rest the dough in the refrigerator one hour. 
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 
• Roll out dough using a rolling pin. Use animal cookie cutters to cut cookies out. 
• Place the cookies on an ungreased baking tray. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. 
• Decorate as desired.