No Bake Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

momstown Oakville's monthly Junior Chef program aspires to get kids as young as 18 months in the kitchen and involved in food preparation.  This month, Oakville moms and kids tried out a no bake pumpkin cookie recipe.

To make this quick and easy recipe at home with your Junior Chefs, here is what you need:

1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup oats
1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Topping (optional):
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/8 cup powdered sugar
1 Tsbp whipping cream

Toddlers and preschoolers enjoyed measuring, pouring and mixing the ingredients.

Mix together all the dry ingredients and then add in the vanilla and the pumpkin.  Take a spoonful of dough and roll it into a small ball.  Mix together the three topping ingredients using a hand or stand mixer.  Put a dollop of the topping onto each ball (you can put the topping into a ziploc bag and cut off a corner as a make shift pipping bag if you'd like).

These cookies are ready to eat as soon as the work is done but you can also pop them into the fridge to get them to firm up a bit.  This recipe makes for a great after school snack not just during pumpkin season but any time of year!

momstown Oakville Moms And Kids Use Shapes To Make Yummy Bird Snacks

momstown Oakville's theme for the month of August is birds.  This week Oakville moms and kids got together in the kitchen to create some fun food that matched our theme as part of our Junior Chef program. We started off our morning by reading Owen's Way Home about an owl looking for his house.  After story time, each child got ready to make their own edible owl.

Our owls began by spreading either Nutella or peanut butter (for a nut free option, use WOW Butter or Sun Butter) on bread, then used fruit to make the features. We had lots of circle fruit which we layered to make eyes, like apples, oranges, kiwis, bananas, grapes and blueberries.  We cut pieces of banana into triangles to make beaks, and we used peach slices, or halves of kiwi or oranges or apples to make wings.  Blueberries, grapes and cheerios were added to make the feathers.

Finally, momstown Oakville Junior Chef's sliced up mini cucumbers and used them to make a tree with a pretzel trunk.  After we ate our yummy creations, we wanted to make a snack for the birds outside to enjoy so we spread peanut butter on a toilet paper roll, and then rolled it in birdseed.  The kids took home their birdseed creation to add to their backyard and watch the birds enjoy the snack they'd made for them.

momstown Oakville's theme for September is apples - so many delicious possibilities!  We now offer our Junior Chef program during the week and a working mamas edition in the weekends.  Come and join us - buy your membership here for just $45 a year.  Membership includes a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent magazine too!

Cooking With Kids: No Bake Sand Cake Recipe

momstown Oakville has been exploring all things desert this month and so for our Junior Chef program, Oakville moms and kids made Sand Cake!  This recipe is a great, no bake treat that kids can almost do all themselves.

What You Need:

1 12-ounce box Vanilla Flavoured Wafers
1 8-ounce container Cool Whip
2 3-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 4-ounce package vanilla or chocolate instant pudding mix
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How To Assemble:

Make the "sand" by crushing the Nilla Wafers with a potato masher or in a food processor. Combine the Cool Whip, cream cheese, pudding mix, milk, and vanilla. Layer a fifth of the crumbs in the bottom of a large, clean sand pail. Top with a third of the pudding mixture, then a layer of crumbs. Continue layering, ending with crumbs. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Decorate with the candy shells, if desired.

Kids love getting in the kitchen and this month's group of momstown Oakville Junior Chefs were no different!   Join momstown Oakville to see what cooking events we have coming up - click here for your free trial.

Decadent Cookie Dough Dip Recipe

Last week I attended a pampered chef party hosted by a momstown Oakville member.  In addition to it being a very fun night out, there were also some delicious snacks to enjoy.  One that got my attention, as I hadn't seen anything like it before, was Cookie Dough Dip!  Sound decadent?  It is!  But its perfect for a party and will absolutely be a crowd pleaser.

Photo credit

Decadent Cookie Dough Dip Recipe

4 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter (or Sunbutter or WOW butter for a nut-free version)
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1.5 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 cup Oats (regular or quick)
1/2 cup Plain regular or mini sized M&Ms
1/2 cup Miniature Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Mix cream cheese, butter, vanilla and peanut butter until smooth.  Stir in brown sugar and powdered sugar, mixing well. Next fold in oats, M&Ms and chocolate chips.

Serve with something sturdy to scoop the dip like graham crackers, pretzels or pita chips.  This recipe is easily doubled if you have a large crowd.

momstown Oakville Junior Chef No Bake Snowball Cookie Recipe

Yesterday momstown Oakville Junior Chefs got together to make two snacks - polar bear rice cakes and no bake snowball cookies.  Our theme for the month is Polar Animals so these two recipes were perfect!  After being busy in the kitchen, the kids got a chance to get some exercise with the Sports Training Junior Academy and Miss Carly.

The first recipe we made was the polar bear rice cakes.  The recipe can be found on the momstown meals website, click here.  We used cream cheese for the white face and chocolate oat cereal o's for the eyes. When the polar bears were done, we talked about the climate that polar bears live in and so of course snowball cookies would be a perfect compliment!

Snowball cookies are a great no bake recipe.  Here is the recipe we used:

Ingredients


2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons peanut butter or sunbutter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the oats, sugar and cocoa. With clean hands, mix in the water, vanilla, butter and peanut butter/sunbutter to form a dough.

Wash hands, then roll the dough into balls 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Roll balls in confectioners’ sugar until thickly coated.

Chill 20 minutes before serving.

Finished products:  Polar Bear Rice Cakes and No Bake Snowballs

While the Snowballs were chilling in the fridge, the kids got a chance to get some exercise with Miss Carly who runs the Multi Sport Program for kids at the Junior Academy.

Oakville moms and kids had a great morning and were happy to take home some tasty snacks. momstown's theme for next month is Space.  I wonder what food creations our junior chefs will come up with for that theme!  Want to join us?  Sign up here for your free trial or purchase your membership here.  The Junior Chef program is just one of the many programs included in your yearly membership for just $45 and you'll also get a BONUS 12 month subscription to Today's Parent for all memberships purchased in 2013!