A Recipe for Developing Independence

So many of us envisioned motherhood as baking fresh   cookies to be served with a cold glass of frothy milk to our kids as an   afterschool snack. It’s a classic.  Preparing and serving a lovely   snack may make us feel like we’re being a good parent, but once the children   reach a certain age, shouldn’t we be encouraging them to develop the skills   they will need to be independent? When my son reached the “tween” years and I   realized he was still relying on me for everything, I began to take some   steps toward teaching him independence and resilience.  He was ready to   make his own special snack.  He’s   learning some cooking skills and, most importantly, he loves being able to do   it himself.

At first, I purchased pre-made, pre-rolled cookie   dough in packages.  My son loved being able to “make” them himself   by placing them onto a cookie sheet and popping into a preheated oven, then   watching the timer.  This was great, but it quickly got expensive.    I knew he wasn’t ready to use a printed recipe and mix up 10 or 12   ingredients to make the dough.  Enter Cookie Kits.  

I located 5 pretty glass canning jars in my   cupboards, just waiting to be put into service.  Then, I carefully   recalculated the measurements of my recipe (in this case, the one on the back   of the chocolate chips bag) to make small-sized batches which fit easily in   each jar.  I used a double recipe and then divided the amounts by 5 for   the 5 jars I wanted to dedicate to the project.  Each one makes about 10   large cookies, which will last for several days.

Preparing the jars to have on hand is easy to do.   Using your favorite cookie or brownie recipe, work through the math to   recalculate the quantities for the size jars you have available and the size   batches you want them to produce.  

When preparing the jars, there’s no need to mix   ingredients. Just go in the order you think might look attractive, layering   them until the jars are nearly full.  And if you save your   calculations, you only have to do the math once.  (i.e., 2 cups of flour   per the recipe, times 2 is 4 cups, divided by 5 = just over ¾ of a cup per   jar).  My recipe calls for gluten free flour as the first layer, then   baking soda and salt, brown sugar, white sugar, and chocolate chips.  A   neatly printed index card attached to each jar reminds the child the other   ingredients that need to be added (softened butter, vanilla, and an egg), and   the steps he or she needs to take (preheat oven, mix everything well in a   large bowl, spoon dollops onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet, etc.).    

Depending upon your child’s age and level of   independence, you can be doing other things in the same room or elsewhere in   the house while the baking takes place.  Now he or she can have   their warm cookies and milk while developing essential skills at the same   time!