Cooking activities

A great way to have fun with the children is by cooking together! Therefore, we’ve come up with three simple recipes that you can make with the children.

Makes: 10 fruit skewers

What you’ll need:

• 1 can of pineapple chunks in pineapple juice
• 2 kiwis
• 2 bananas
• 1 mango
• 200g (7oz) dark chocolate
• 200ml (¾ cup) double cream

What to do:

First of all, remember to wash your hands!

• Drain the pineapple chunks
• Peel the kiwis and cut into large pieces
• Peel the bananas and cut into large pieces
• Peel the mango and cut into large cubes
• Alternate the order of the fruit pieces by threading first the kiwi, then the banana, then the mango onto the skewers
• Place the skewers onto a plate for later
• Heat the heavy cream on a low heat and break the chocolate into pieces
• Melt the pieces of chocolate in the cream to create a chocolate sauce, then take off the heat

Turn off the stove!

• Pour the sauce over the skewers
• Pop the skewers in the fridge to chill so that the chocolate can harden
• Clear away the clutter!

Children absolutely love these sausage rolls as they are easy, and most importantly, fast to make!

Makes: 20 sausage rolls

What you’ll need

• 20 mini frankfurters
• 5 sheets of puff pastry

What to do:

Get ready! Remember to wash your hands!

• Preheat the oven to 200 °C
• Cut the puff pastry in pieces that are large enough to wrap around the frankfurters
• Wrap the pieces of puff pastry around each frankfurter (don’t cover the ends of the frankfurters!)
• Pop the sausage rolls into the oven and take out when the pastry turns golden brown
• Leave to the sausage rolls to cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

Try out this simple shortbread cookie recipe with the children that you are babysitting for a fun activity with yummy results! Keep things playful by trying out different cookie shapes or adding bits or raisins or chocolate to the dough for an extra treat. It may also be fun for the children to try their hand at decorating by adding some icing or melted chocolate on top for a twist to a traditional and well-loved recipe.

Makes: 20 cookies

What you’ll need:

• 1 egg
• 100g brown sugar
• 150g unsalted butter
• 200g flour
• Teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• Pinch of salt

What to do:

• Separate the egg yolk into a mixing bowl
• Cut up the butter into small cubes (so that it’s easier to mix)
• Add all the ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix together with your hands until the cookie dough has a crumbly structure
• Roll the cookie dough into a ball and wrap with cling film
• Pop the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes

Preheat the oven to 175°C

• Dust your countertop with some flour and roll out the dough to about 3-4 mm thickness
• Use a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass to cut out the cookies from the dough
• Line up the cookies onto a sheet of parchment paper
• Place the tray of cookies onto the middle shelf of the oven and bake for around 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned
• Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes
• Decorate and enjoy!