Lily and I have been using shop-bought pastry so as she can make her own sausage rolls. Lily is two, and loves baking and making anything in the kitchen. When we have time and I’m in the mood to embrace the inevitable mess made when cooking with toddlers, and measuring everything out for her to use herself (Montessori methods for another post, or see some ideas of Zainab’s here), we will make things from scratch. But very often she decides at a moment’s notice that she wants to make something ‘all by herself’. She will want minimal help from me and give me minimal time to prep and this is when my shop- bought pastry comes in so handy.
By keeping shop-bought pastry at the back of the fridge, I have a little head start which she has learnt to work with to make her own sausage rolls.
A few months back when we started doing this together, I would cut the pastry into squares for her. She would then spoon the sausage meat into them. Fast forward to now and she is able to use a knife to cut the squares (mostly by herself). She can spoon in the sausage-meat, fold over the pastry, whisk the eggwash, make sausage roll slits, and brush the egg wash on.
On our last occasion we had leftover pastry we had some extra mature cheddar in the fridge. We made cheese twists for me (I am veggie). Lily practised grating the cheese, cutting strips of pastry for straws, sprinkling the cheese and rolling the twists.
She knows she has to step back whilst I open the oven to put everything in, but is allowed to press the button to turn the timer off when it sounds. The whole making of our lunch becomes such a fun activity! The best part is one of favourite meals to enjoy at the end!
What are your favourite recipes to make with your little ones? Do you use shortcuts or prefer to do everything from scratch? Please share!
Sydney x
P.S. For a sweet puff pastry option, take a look at this delicious recipe shared by Lara!
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