Baking is such a great activity for children to do with their parents and they can feel a real sense of accomplishment from it. What’s great is that you can start baking with your children from the time they can hold a measuring spoon!

Baking connects children with the act of preparing food, of identifying ingredients, learning new vocabulary, learning numbers and the concept of measurement.

Here’s a delicious homemade Thanksgiving treat that you and your child can make together.  It's Tini's favorite!

Pumpkin Muffins Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups all purpose (organic) flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup canned (organic) pumpkin
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 large (organic) eggs
  • 1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
  • 1.25 cups of sugar + 1 tbs
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Parent: Place oven rack in centre & preheat to 350F

Both: Measure out & mix 1tbs of sugar and 1tsp of cinnamon in a very small bowl and set aside.

Both: Measure out the flour and baking powder into a small bowl & mix with a wire whisk. (rather than having kids pour flour into a measuring cup, have them scoop it out of a bag or separate bowl with a wide opening)

TIP:

Place a small square of rubbery drawer liner under your bowl to prevent it from slipping all over the counter when mixing.

Both: Measure out the pumpkin, oil, pie spice, sugar, baking soda, salt and crack the eggs into a large bowl. Use a wire whisk or wooden spoon to mix the ingredients together. (so that they know when they’ve mixed enough, I tell them to stir until everything is one colour)

Both: Carefully add small amounts of flour into the pumpkin mixture and stir until combined.

Both: Divide batter into a greased muffin tin, approximately 3/4 full. (Or you can line the tin with paper cups.) This step can be messy when the children are very little, so a parent might want to do this step or help guide their hands so that the majority of the batter ends up in the muffin cup!

Both: With a teaspoon, sprinkle the sugar/cinnamon mixture over the muffin cups.

Parent: Bake for approximately 30 minutes or golden brown or when a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes, transfer to a cooling rack until room temperature. Both: Enjoy a special treat made by special little hands! Happy Thanksgiving! PS.  Don't forget to sign up to enter to win a Coco & Tini gift basket!  The draw takes place October 31!