‘Barefoot Contessa’: Make Ina Garten’s Ooey Gooey Cookies With Your Kids
Any time is a great time to bake with your kids. If you’re looking for a way to spend time with your children and keep them occupied, you won’t find a better way than baking with your little ones.
Ina Garten posted recently on her social media a comforting, delicious, and fun-to-make cookie recipe.
The best part is you can make them today with items you probably already have in your pantry.
Garten’s idea for parents looking to keep their kids busy
At this point, everyone is hunkering down everywhere during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Pulling kids away from their devices and screens to the tactile, and even therapeutic, process of baking is a great way to spend time together and make some yummy goodies.
Garten posted on her Instagram account this week about baking easy-to-make cookies with your kids and even pointed out the educational aspect of the project.
“Need something fun to do with your kids? Making Jam Thumbprints is great for teaching them math and cooking at the same time – and then you have sweet rewards for them when they get an A+.”
Garten says children are the perfect assistants for this baked good
The Food Network star noted that little fingers are the optimal-sized tools for this particular recipe, because Jam Thumbprint cookies require a finger to press into each ball of dough to make space for the sticky jam (that’s the fun part!).
“Little fingers are perfect for making the thumbprints!, Garten said.”
“If you don’t have coconut, you can skip it and any kind of jam is just fine. Recipe in the link in my profile. #staysafe#havefun”
Garten’s Jam Thumbprint Cookie recipe
With clean hands and an adult supervising the process, kids could participate in just about every part of this cookie recipe.
The Food Network star’s cookie recipe yields 32 cookies and requires butter, sugar, vanilla extract, flour, salt, an egg, whatever flavor jam you have on hand or prefer, and coconut flakes, which Garten says are entirely optional.
After creaming the butter and sugar, the Hamptons resident calls for adding the vanilla. Then, in a separate bowl, the flour and salt need to be sifted.
Using a mixer on low speed, the dry ingredients are then added to the creamy sugar and butter mixture and combined until a dough starts to make an appearance.
This is the point where the Cooking for Jeffrey author says those little fingers will come in handy to get the dough onto a floured board and rolled into a flat circle. An adult can get some plastic wrap to blanket the dough up and place it in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
After the chilling time is up, have your kids roll the dough into 1-inch to 1-1/4-inch balls. Beat your egg and dip each dough ball into the egg wash. Then, roll each dough ball in the coconut flakes, if you’re using them.
Have your kids place each dough ball on an ungreased cookie sheet, and press one finger into the top of each ball. Then, you can spoon a 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each finger space on the dough balls.
Bake them for 25 minutes, and enjoy this treat from Ina Garten!
Read more: ‘Barefoot Contessa’: Why Ina Garten Always Wears Blue Shirts
