Photo: Shopping Diva / Flickr

When you’re cooking with younger kids, you might want to leave the oven out of the process entirely, keeping them safe and focusing on other easy kitchen lessons like the melting, mixing and stirring processes. Waiting for the cookies to cool requires some patience, but a spoonful or two of mixture should help the time pass quicker. Even if you end up doing most of the making, the kids will love these tasty treats – and so will you.

Chocolate Rice Krispie treats

Microwave a quarter cup of butter, 330g chocolate chips and 280g marshmallows for two to three minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the Rice Krispies to the mixture, then spread out in a buttered dish. Chill until firm, then slice up and enjoy.

Rocky Road

Photo: Shopping Diva / Flickr

Heat 125g of butter, 300g dark chocolate, and 3 tablespoons of golden syrup in a pot over a gentle heat until combined. Let the kids help crush 200g of biscuits in a plastic bag using a rolling pin – but be careful of little fingers! Put the biscuit pieces into the chocolate mixture, then add marshmallows and stir, and pour into a buttered dish. Smooth over and cool overnight, then dust with icing sugar before slicing.

Oat and cranberry cereal bars

Melt four tablespoons of unsalted butter on medium heat with 300g of marshmallows and a pinch of salt until the marshmallows have melted, then stir in a cup of dried cranberries. Next, stir in two cups of oats, and spread out into a buttered dish and leave to cool until set. This is a great recipe for adding extra nuts and dried fruit according to your preferences, but be sure to adjust the amount of marshmallow mixture accordingly. Easy, full of the goodness of cranberries, and tasty – what more could you ask for?

Tags: baking, kids recipes