I'd been feeling a little guilty that I never got around to making cut-out cookies with Pippo this Christmas. I kept meaning to, but it somehow just never happened. And while I'm not opposed to eating cookies at other times/any time of the year, I was feeling virtuous the other day (my self control around sweets is not all it could be lately/always), so I thought we'd try something different.
Plus, we needed snack that day, not dessert.
So we made cheddar cheese crackers (Smitten Kitchen's version of goldfish crackers) instead. Because of course, clearly self control is not an issue around what essentially amounts to cheesy pie crust. Right.
You can find the recipe through that link above, and I really don't have much to add except to report that these are quite tasty, not at all finicky, and generally very cooking-with-a-toddler friendly. They come together very quickly in the food processor, so Pippo could be legitimately useful the whole way through – pressing the button to grate the cheese, helping me dump in all the rest of the ingredients, and then pushing the button again to mix it all together.
(When you first start processing, it looks very crumbly and like it won't make a dough at all, but if you keep going, it will form a ball just like she promises.)
Then it's just a matter of rolling it out and cutting out your crackers, which is excellent work for little helpers. We didn't chill the dough before starting, and it didn't seem to suffer, though we did roll it in three batches, sticking the rest in the fridge while we worked.
They mix up, bake, and are ready to eat quickly: all very gratifying.
We cut out mostly letters at first, and had quite a few casualties when Pippo tried to alphabetize them after they were already on the pan. (He also proved to be very demanding about who was allowed to eat which letters, making his father justify each one “Well, G is for Grams, and Grams is my mom, so I can eat the G.”) After a while, we switched over to steam engines to make things go a little faster, and because you can't go wrong with trains around here.
Of course, now I wish we had some cookies in the house, so we need to mix up some of those as well. (Lent starts next week! Must eat all the cookies!!) But I'm glad these are in our repertoire. It's good to have a few options when you're staring down yet another cold winter day, don't you think?
Becky says
I never manage to cook with my children leaving that as a grandparent treat. 😉 I think it will come at some point because there is no way I’m letting my children exit my care not knowing how to bake a loaf of bread, a batch of chocolate chip cookies and a pan of lasagna. But, right now the main thing the children seem to learn from the experience is about mommy’s immense capacity to swear under her breath. This is true no matter how simple the recipe, how well prepped the ingredients, and how well rested I am. However, I am in the camp that is totally fine with glitter, playdough, glue, and tape with periodic forays into water colors and finger paints. It’s all about knowing which type of mess you embrace. 🙂
Rosie says
I don’t have any glitter in my house. 🙂
Kathy@9peas says
Great idea, and we never got around to making cut out/decorate cookies this year either.
Joanie says
Ooooh. I have been wanting to make those cheese crackers for a while. My little boy’o and girlie woild love this I bet. Yum! Love the train cookie cutter.
Donna L. says
Must eat all the cookies! Oh, I love *that* part! We made cinnamon swirly bread and a tiny batch of brownies in the last few days for the same reason…
Thank you for a fun baking project that we can do during Lent!
God bless you and your whole family~
Tamara says
I love that Pippo was alphabetizing the crackers. That is too funny! I just might give this a try. I have two helpers plus a baby so itll be 2-3 times the fun 🙂
Virginia says
You must be supermom! I have a newborn and a toddler right now and it’s all I can do to cook meals and dish out the grahams. Maybe I’ll give it a shot–my older daughter would probably love doing this and maybe baby would be content in the bouncy chair… well, at least I can dream : ) I think it’s great that you’re teaching Pippo about cooking, he seems like a sweetheart.
Rosie says
Supermom I’m most definitely not! This sort of thing counts as our activity for the afternoon when we do it – it’s not *necessary* baking, and I already had dinner worked out. So there was no rush.
Celine says
Yes, we MUST eat all the cookies. Thank you for permission! And thank you for the link–I have a train-loving four-year old who is ever at my elbow whenever I’m working in the kitchen. Pippo is a CUTIE.
www.eshlove.blogspot.com says
Wow! Looks like lots of fun! Love the letters.
Lindsey says
I’m having a lot of trouble making this without a food processor! I’ve been using my electric mixer but it is proving impossible to turn it into anything that will stick together like dough should. Any suggestions??
Lindsey says
I ended up adding some water and working it with my hands till I got a dough going. The end result was delicious. 🙂 I’m going to have to hide these from my husband!