The most child friendly cookies ever!

I've adapted this from an American 'cookie mix-in-a-jar' recipe, so you'll need an American 1/2 cup measure. It's so simple, the 5 year old made these pretty much all by himself, filling and scooping with the cup. They were a big hit with the kids, although I'm not sure personally about the rice crispies! Next time I might try raisins instead!

1. Preheat oven to 180C

2. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup of margarine/butter until fluffy.
Add 1 egg and beat.

3. Next add:
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup soft dark brown sugar
1/2 cup rice crispies
1/2 cup porridge oats
1 1/2 cups of plain flour
1/2 cup white chocolate chips/chunks
1/2 cup milk or plain chocolate chips/chunks
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

4. Mix it all together!

5. Drop heaped teaspoons of the mix onto ungreased baking sheets, leaving 5cm between each cookie, as they spread out when cooking. We got about 20 from this mix.

6. Bake at 180 for 10-12 minutes.

7. Leave to cool on trays for 10 minutes or so, then transfer to a cooling rack.

8. Watch the kids gobble them up!

Herman the German Friendship cake

We have really enjoyed watching Herman grow; feeding him and stirring him and stirring him some more. Finally the time came to bake him, and he turned out quite well. I'm not sure I'd necessarily say he was worth the 10 day wait, but it was fun to try nevertheless!

Should you be on the receiving end of a small, baby pot of Herman, follow these instructions and watch him grow!
Needless to say, the little cook enjoyed it immensely!

-German Friendship Cake

I am a sourdough cake named Herman.
Put me in a mixing bowl and cover me with a tea towel, and sit me on your worktop.
You cannot put me in the fridge or I will die.
If I stop bubbling I am dead.

Day 1: stir well
Day 2: stir well
Day 3: stir well
Day 4: I am hungry! Feed me 1 cup of plain flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk. Stir well
Day 5: stir well
Day 6: stir well
Day 7: stir well
Day 8: stir well
Day 9: I am hungry again! Feed me the same amount as day 4. Stir me well, then divide me into 4 portions. Keep 1 portion for yourself and give 3 portions away to friends with a copy of these instructions.
Day 10: I am VERY hungry! Feed me 1 cup of sugar, half a tsp salt, 2 cups of plain flour, 2/3 cup sunflower oil, 2 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 cooking apples cut into 1cm chunks, 1 cup of raisins, 3 tsp cinnamon, 3 tsp baking powder.

Mix everything together and then pour into a large, shallow, greased baking tin. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of butter and 1/4 cup of brown sugar.

Bake for 45 minutes at 170-180C

When cold cut into fingers.
I freeze well and am delicious warm with ice cream!-

Falafel burgers

These burgers are light, extremely easy and quick to make and taste great! I imagine additions like parmesan, chilli flakes or crushed nuts could add another twist! The little cook enjoyed them, the littlest cook loved crumbling them everywhere, and the critic liked them *almost* as much as the beef version I made for him! (which incidentally follows the same recipe, but swaps the chickpeas for 500g organic beef mince, omitting the lemon juice.)

Ingredients:
1 x carton chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 onion
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
Handful fresh coriander
Roughly 60g brown bread (1-2 slices)
1 egg, beaten
1 tblsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Method: preheat oven to 190-200C

1. Dice the onion finely. Heat a glug of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Fry the onion for 5 minutes or until softened without colouring too much. While the onions are cooking:

2. Blitz the bread in a food processor and empty onto a plate.

3. Blitz the chickpeas in the food processor until coarse and empty into a large mixing bowl.

4. Blitz the fresh coriander in the food processor until roughly chopped. Empty into bowl with chickpeas.

5. Add the spices, half the breadcrumbs, half the egg, lemon juice and the onions to the chickpeas.

6. Put a drizzle of olive oil onto a baking tray and place in the oven to heat up.

7. Season the mix, then mix together with your hands. If its dry, add a little more egg. Then form into 4 burgers. Pat each burger into the remaining breadcrumbs on both sides. (The burgers can now be wrapped in clingfilm and chilled until you are ready to cook them, up to 24 hours in advance)

8. Take the hot baking tray out of the oven, and CAREFULLY place the burgers onto the hot tray.

9. Place back into the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, turning once.

Serve with hummus, salad and home-made potato wedges for a yummy alternative to burger and chips!