We happened upon our 6th baking day by accident. We were having a lazy morning, it was that grey that only the end of February can be and we just couldn’t motivate to do much. After lunch I suggested we all get ready to outside, then we looked out the window and it was pouring. Not raining, literally sheets of cold Vermont rain were streaming from the sky. It was like someone had left on the shower. At the suggestion of the 8 year old we decided to switch gears and choose a new recipe.
We got out out new book, 100 cookies by Sarah Kieffer ( https://www.thevanillabeanblog.com/100-cookies seriously, go buy it, you can thank me later) and thumbed through it. We finally settled on Cinnamon Roll Blondies and WOW!!!!! While they took some time (which was fine with us because of the aforementioned rain) and were a few extra steps they were SO worth it! Soft, chewy, and bursting with cinnamon flavor, we will certainly add these into our regular rotation.
For these beauties we needed to brown some butter so unlike a lot of the recipes I use with the kids we had to use the stove top. My oldest has some experience here as she likes to help make hot chocolate (I’m going to add my hot chocolate recipe to this post because it’s so yummy it doesn’t make sense not to share) and often helps with dinner. My youngest on the other hand has only worked on the stovetop a handful of times so I took this opportunity to get her a little more comfortable and talk about some safety. She stood by the pot while we melted the butter and kept a close eye on it, then helped to add the sugars and stir them in the pot, all the while I’m talking casually about how to be safe, where to hold the pot, what is ok to touch and what will burn her. I don’t know about your kids but if I make a big deal about it they turn off, so I just keep it casual and keep repeating as we chat along the way.
Once we had the butter browned and the sugars mixed in we had to let that mixture come down to room temperature. We took this down time to get to work on the additions to make these cinnamon roll blondies, mixing up the cream cheese mixture and the cinnamon mixture.
After we got it all mixed together we dropped the additions all around the top of the blondie mixture. The kids did this entirely alone and while it wasn’t as neat and tidy as I would do it they did it, and in the end they tasted great. I think it’s so important to take the focus off of what your baked goods look like when you’re baking with kids. They lack the fine motor skills to make things as delicate as an adult, but most of the time it doesn’t affect the taste of the end product. They swirled the additions into the batter (again, not perfect but special because they could own it entirely) and we put them in the oven. They were AMAZING! Such a treat to have something a little different. We so often add chocolate or fruit to our baking, cinnamon is seriously underutilized…well, was. It won’t be anymore!
Share with us your favorite cinnamon dessert and maybe we can make it one day! Visit us on Facebook or Instagram at 100 days of baking with kids.
Now, here’s that hot chocolate recipe I promised:
VERMONT HOT CHOCOLATE
This makes approximately 6 cups of hot chocolate. I’ve altered this recipe to make more or less, just keep the proportions the same.
6 cups of milk (I use whole milk, it makes for a much richer cup)
4-6 tablespoons of Pure Vermont Maple Syrup (my family likes it less sweet so I usually do 4)
4 tablespoons cocoa powder (THE QUALITY HERE MATTERS. Our favorite cocoa powder is from -drumroll please- KING ARTHUR BAKING! https://www.kingarthurbaking.com we LOVE their Triple Cocoa Powder for all things, but especially for hot cocoa)
Put all the ingredients in a pot on the stove and slowly whisk together over medium heat. Once it’s all incorporated stir about every 5 minutes until the desired temperature is reached. Pour into cups, top with whipped cream and sprinkles if you’re feeling fancy. Adults, it’s AMAZING with a splash of peppermint schnapps!
Let us know what you think!
100 days of baking with kids 