Baking: Moms and Muffins

Not all culinary instruction your kids receive will be when they are the chef. In fact, chances are, they've absorbed a lot of cooking and baking tips just by watching you work your magic in the kitchen. (Though at my house, it's not always magic. *smirk*) My point is this: encourage a studio audience when you cook or bake. If it's not convenient for them to help, then talk to them about it as you cook.

At my kid's elementary school they have an annual tradition of Moms and Muffins and then later, Dads and Donuts. The premise is that the kid goes to school early with a parent for a muffin or donut and reads with said parent. Well, true confession time – I've been maybe once. Instead, our family tradition is that on those mornings, I make their favorite muffin recipe for breakfast. Second confession: baking muffins on a school morning is an anomaly for me. Usually everyone get's their own bowl of cereal or toast, and lately, the kids eat breakfast across the street at their grandparent's. *spoiled smile* And no, on the Dads and Donuts morning, we don't fry up fresh donuts. . . my husband picks them up for work that afternoon.

I have a 10 year old niece that regularly makes muffins from a mix for breakfast before school. Ironically, my sister is not a breakfast person, but she sure has trained her kids well. My kids have yet to spontaneously volunteer to bake breakfast. . . maybe I should work out a kid swap with my sister! *chuckles*

Back to my muffins. It's not a tricky recipe, but it might be easier for kids to start out on boxed muffin mixes with fewer ingredients and instructions. Then as they watch and listen to you bake from-scratch muffins, they'll start to want to venture out beyond the box. Here is the recipe for my kids' favorite muffins:

Raspberry Cream Muffins

Preheat oven to 375º F.

1/4 cup margarine

1/2 cup sugar

Cream together well.

Add:

2 egg whites (or 1 egg)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Mix well and set aside.

In separate bowl, combine dry ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Add dry ingredients to egg mixture alternately with:

1 cup low-fat milk

Once all is combined, stir in:

3/4 cup vanilla chips

1 cup frozen raspberries

Batter will be thick as frozen berries are mixed in.

Spoon into muffin papers or well-greased muffin tins. Sprinkle each muffin with 1/4 tsp. raw or turbinado sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Makes 12 muffins.