Weekend Cooking Projects: Freezer Cookies and Banana Bread Recipes

Now that kids have the basics down of cooking, it's time to start some weekend cooking projects. Holidays are the best times for cooking projects with the kids. Gather the cooking and baking supplies and let's get cooking.

Freezer Box Cookies

Most kids love cookies. Freezer box cookies have versatility and are easy to make. Make freezer box cookies for an easy and quick weekend cooking project.

What You’ll Need:

• Butter 2 sticks
• Sugar 1 cup
• Eggs 2 large size
• Flour 3 cups
• Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
• Salt ½ teaspoon

Mix and cream the butter and sugar together in a medium bowl. The best way is to use a hand mixer or stand mixer. Add in the eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Then add in the vanilla extract and salt. Slowly add in the flour, about a cup at a time. Mix after each cup until all the flour has been added.

Have kids add food coloring to the mix. Add it after all ingredients have been added. The kids can also add other extracts such as cinnamon, orange, lemon or peppermint to add flavor to the cookies.

Put the mixture, bowl and all, in the refrigerator for thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, pull out the mixture. Lay a sheet of wax paper on a surface and put the cookie dough on it. Wrap the dough in the wax paper into a log shape. Then, wrap the log with aluminum foil. Place the dough log back into the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, take out the cookie dough, unwrap and slice the dough into thin pieces. Let the kids place the slices on a cookie sheet. Cook them for about ten minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. This recipe makes about two dozen cookies.

The kids can layer several colors of dough together and roll them into each other to create a swirl cookie. Mix and match colors and even flavors. The beauty of these cookies is that you can freeze them once you've made them to bake at a later date. Just wrap them in more aluminum foil to protect them from freezer burn or put the wrapped dough into a freezer bag. Before you use them, thaw them out until the dough can be sliced, about thirty minutes.

Quick Breads

Quick breads don’t use yeast like regular breads. They contain baking powder and often baking soda too as well as many fruit and nuts. Quick breads take about an hour to cook. These type breads are great for a kid's weekend cooking project because they are easy and quick to make. Here's a sample banana quick bread.

What You'll Need:

• Butter 2 sticks room temperature
• Eggs 2
• Bananas 4 ripe
• Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
• Baking powder 1 teaspoon
• Baking soda 1 teaspoon
• Sugar 1 cup
• Flour 2 and ½ cups

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 inch loaf pans. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder together. Have the kids measure and pour the flour through a sifter or fine meshed strainer. This will get rid of lumps. Add the baking soda and baking powder to the flour. Set aside for later use.

In a mixer or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Then add the bananas. Add the vanilla extract. Then slowly add the flour mix to the batter. Continue mixing until thoroughly combined.

Pour the batter evenly into the two 9 inch loaf pans. Gently tap the pans to ensure there are no bubbles that might cause uneven cooking later. Put in the oven for one hour and fifteen minutes or until a butter knife or toothpick placed in the bread comes out clean. Set on a wire rack or counter for ten to fifteen minutes while it cools.

These quick breads can be frozen and refrigerated. Wrap them in parchment paper or wax paper. Then wrap in aluminum foil. They will keep for several months in the freezer. The quick breads keep in the refrigerator for about two weeks.

Gift Giving

Do these weekend cooking projects with the kids during the holiday season. Wrap a few freezer box cookie logs and quick bread loaves up in aluminum foil. Ask the kids to tie a bow around them and give them as gifts. They're gifts that are sure to get great responses.