Quick and easy bake recipes your kids will love

With the weekend around the corner, you might be thinking of fun ways you can spend time with the kids and keep them occupied. Baking is a wonderful way to spend quality time together and get creative in the kitchen. We take a look at four quick and easy bake recipes you can do with your child.

Delicious peanut butter cookies

*Makes 18-20

Ingredients

• 80 g Clover Mooi River butter
• 70 g sugar
• ½ cup (150 g) smooth peanut butter
• 3 tbsp (45 ml) maple or golden syrup
• 1 egg
• 50 g peanuts, roughly chopped
• 1¼ cup (175 g) cake flour
• 1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder

Chocolate drizzle (optional)

• ½ cup (100 g) dark or milk chocolate
• 1 tbsp (15 g) Clover Mooi River butter

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and grease one large or two smaller baking sheets.
2. Mix the butter and sugar together until pale, light, and creamy. Add the peanut butter, syrup, and egg and beat well.
3. Stir in the peanuts and sift the flour and baking powder over the mixture. Mix together and form the mixture into a roll. Cover it in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
4. Slice the dough into ½ cm rounds and place onto baking sheets, about 4 cm apart. Use a fork to gently flatten the tops of the cookies.
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until crispy and cooked. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
6. Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies and allow it to cool completely.

Chocolate drizzle

1. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure that the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Place the mixture into a piping bag and drizzle over the cookies.

Scrumptious giant triple choc chip cookies

*Makes 10-12 man-sized cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup (120 g) Clover Springbok butter
• 80 g sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
• 200 g cake flour, sifted
• 1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder
• 1 cup (175 g) dark chocolate, chips or broken into small chunks
• ½ cup (80 g) milk chocolate, chips or broken into small chunks
• ½ cup (80 g) white chocolate, chips or broken into small chunks

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and grease a baking sheet.
2. Mix the butter and sugar together until pale, light, and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat well.
3. Fold in the flour and the baking powder. Fold in the chocolate chips or chocolate chunks.
4. Drop heaped tablespoons of the mixture, 8 cm apart, onto the baking sheet.
5. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden and cooked. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Variations

• Chocolate and pecan nut cookies: Replace the white chocolate with 60 g roughly chopped pecan nuts.
• White chocolate, macadamia, and cranberry cookies: Replace the dark chocolate with 1 cup of white chocolate chips. Replace the milk chocolate with ½ cup roughly chopped macadamia nuts and a handful of dried cranberries.

Oh-so-yummy cherry-choc brownies

*Makes 10-12 Ingredients

• 1 cup (200 g) dark chocolate
• ½ cup (115 g) Clover Mooi River butter
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup (100 g) sugar
• ½ cup (120 g) soft brown sugar
• ¾ cup (75 g) pecan nuts, roughly chopped
• ½ cup (75 g) dark pitted or glacé cherries
• ½ cup (75 g) cake flour
• ¼ cup (25 g) ground almonds
• 1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder
• ¼ tsp (1 ml) salt

Chocolate sauce (optional)

• ½ cup (100 g) dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• ½ cup (125 ml) Clover fresh cream
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) golden syrup
• 1 tsp (5 ml) coffee granules
• ½ tsp (2.5 ml) vanilla essence

To serve

• 1 tbsp (15 ml) cocoa powder, for dusting
• 1 cup (250 ml) Clover fresh cream, whipped, or vanilla ice cream

Method

1. Grease a 23 x 23 cm baking tin and line it with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
3. Combine the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until the mixture is pale, thick, and creamy. Fold the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture.
4. Carefully fold in the remaining ingredients. Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared tin and bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until nearly set. The centre should still be a little gooey.
5. Remove the tin from the oven and leave it to cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Dust with cocoa powder before serving.
6. For the ultimate chocolate indulgence, serve warm with the chocolate sauce and either whipped cream or ice cream.

Chocolate sauce

Place all the ingredients into a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until the chocolate melts. Simmer for 2 minutes.  

Tangy granadilla and lemon bars

*Makes 16 Ingredients

Base

• ½ cup (115 g) butter, softened
• ¾ cup (100 g) icing sugar
• 1 cup (140 g) cake flour
• ½ tsp (2.5 ml) salt

Filling

• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 x 110 g tin granadilla pulp
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon zest
• 5 tsp (25 ml) cornflour
• 2 tsp (10 ml) cake flour

To serve

• 5 tsp (25 ml) icing sugar
• 1 cup (250 ml) Clover fresh cream, whipped (optional)

Method Base

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Grease a 23 cm square cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
2. Beat the butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy. Sift the flour and salt over the creamed mixture and combine to form a dough.
3. Press the dough into the base of the prepared tin and prick lightly with a fork. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Filling

1. Whisk the sugar and eggs together. Stir in the granadilla pulp, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Sift the cornflour and flour over the mixture fold into the mixture.
2. Pour the filling over the baked base and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the filling has set. Allow to cool, before cutting into bars.
3. Dust with icing sugar before serving. Delicious by itself, or served with softly whipped cream.

*Recipes from Clover Best Bakes, available from leading book stores.