Hoot Cakes! Let's cook pancakes and build each one into an owl. This easy recipe is for ages 8 to 14 (grades 3rd–8th), takes about 35 minutes and serves 3. Crumb, our tiny chef, reads every step aloud with a picture, so a child can follow along, and every hot or sharp step is marked for a grown-up.
Ingredients
1 cup flour1 cup (240 ml) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
a pinch salt
1 egg
¾ cup milk (or oat milk)¾ cup (180 ml) milk (or oat milk)
2 tablespoons butter (or oil)
1 banana
1 handful blueberries
1 clementine
Tools
A mixing bowl, Measuring cups, Measuring spoons, A whisk or a fork, A big spoon, A frying pan, The stove (grown-up), A flat spatula, A butter knife, A plate.
Steps
Wash your hands with soap for twenty seconds, then let's make Hoot Cakes!
Whisk 1 cup of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt together in a big bowl.Whisk 1 cup (240 ml) of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt together in a big bowl.
In a jug, crack 1 egg, then whisk in ¾ cup of milk.In a jug, crack 1 egg, then whisk in ¾ cup (180 ml) of milk.
Wash your hands again: raw egg has germs.
Grown-up step: A grown-up melts 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan, then pours it into the egg jug.
Pour the jug into the dry bowl and stir just until no flour shows.
Grown-up step: A grown-up heats the pan and pours one big circle of batter, and two little ones.
Watch for bubbles popping on top: that's the baking powder's gas!
Grown-up step: A grown-up flips each one with a spatula and cooks it one more minute.
Slide the big pancake onto a plate, and sit the two little ones on top for eyes.
Slice 1 banana into coins with a blunt knife, and press one on each eye.
Put a blueberry in the middle of each banana coin.
Press a clementine piece between the eyes, point down, for a beak.
Hoo hoo! Your owl is staring right at you.
Safety notes
Hot! A grown-up does this part.
Contains milk, eggs, wheat. Tap "Allergies?" on the Kitchen's front page and the swaps fill themselves in where there is one.
Squash blueberries a little for little ones under 4.
No tasting raw dough or batter: wait till it's cooked.
A bit messy.
Kitchen science
Baking powder makes tiny gas bubbles when it gets wet and hot, and the bubbles puff the pancakes up.
Make it your own
Stir a pinch of cinnamon into the dry bowl.
Use chocolate chips for the pupils instead of blueberries.