Ready, steady, bake!
Our Children’s Workers run activities for children, to help them learn new skills.
The sessions encourage children with a sight impairment to cook or bake independently. It’s also important to continue practising these skills whilst at home.
Here are some recipes you may wish to do with your child.
You should try to use equipment to make it safer for your child, such as non-slip mats, vegetable holders for cutting safely and talking scales.
Carol, Children’s Worker
Quick cookie recipe
Ingredients
- 225g (8oz) butter, softened
- 110g (4ozz) caster sugar
- 275g (10oz) plain flour
- Optional: add one teaspoon of spices (cinnamon, mixed spice, ginger, etc)
- 75g white or milk chocolate chips
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170C/375F or gas mark 6.
- Cream the butter in a large bowl or in a food mixer until soft. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Sift the flour into the mixture and add optional ingredients. Bring the mixture together in a figure of eight until it forms a dough.
- Using your hands, make walnut sized balls and place them slightly apart from each other on a tray (you don’t need to grease or line the tray). Flatten the balls with the back of a fork and bake them in the oven for around 15 minutes until they are golden brown and slightly firm on top.
- Place the cookies onto a cooling rack and leave them there for around 15 minutes.
- Once cool, serve.
Cheddar and sweetcorn scones
This recipe was taken from the BBC Good Food website.
Ingredients
- 2 large sweetcorn cobs (or 250g sweetcorn kernels from a can, drained weight)
- 350g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp English mustard powder
- ¼ tsp ground cayenne or paprika, plus extra for sprinkling
- Few thyme sprigs, leaves picked
- 50g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 175g cheddar, grated
- 175ml semi-skimmed milk, plus extra for brushing
- Juice ½ lemon
Method
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil.
Hold a corn cob at a right angle to the chopping board, then run a sharp knife down the length of the cob, as close to the core as you can get, slicing away the rows of corn. Boil the kernels for 4 mins or until just tender, then drain well.
Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.
Mix the flour, baking powder, mustard, cayenne, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp thyme leaves in a large bowl, then rub in the butter until the mix looks like fine crumbs. Tip in most of the cheese and all of the corn. Mix the milk with the lemon juice, then stir into the bowl to make a slightly sticky dough. Don’t over-work the dough.
Tip the dough onto the floured work surface, knead 2-3 times to smooth a little, then divide into 10 balls. Shape each roughly with your hands and put onto a floured baking sheet. Brush each with a little milk, then scatter with a little cheese, cayenne and a few thyme leaves.
Bake for 10-12 mins or until the scones are risen, golden and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on a rack.
Victoria Sandwich
Use the microwave to bake!
Ingredients
- 100g/4oz self-raising flour
- 100g/4oz caster sugar
- 100g/4oz butter or margarine
- 2 eggs (beaten)
Variations: You could add one tablespoon of cocoa powder or 2 teaspoons of dissolved coffee or the grated rind of a lemon or an orange.
Method
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Gradually blend in the eggs, beating well.
- Fold in the flour.
- Turn the mixture into a 7 inch (18cm) microwavable cake tin and cook on high power for 4 minutes.
- Leave to stand for 5 minutes then turn onto a cooling rack.
Fun pizza faces
This recipe makes 2 x 10cm (4 inch) pizzas.
Ingredients
- Cooking oil for greasing
- 150g (5oz) self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
- 40g (1.5oz) butter, cold and cut into small pieces
- Pinch of salt
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the topping:
- 4 tablespoons passata
- Strips of pepper, olives, cherry tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, basil leaves, ham slices (or whatever toppings you like).
- Freshly grated mozzarella cheese for sprinkling.
Method
- Add a few drops of cooking oil on the baking sheet and get your child to smear it all over, then wash their hands. Set the over to 180C (350F) or gas mark 4.
- Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the butter and salt and show your child how to rub the ingredients together with their fingertips until the butter is broken up and covered with flour and the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the milk and olive oil and mix with a wooden spoon then put your hands back into the mixture and gently bring it together into a ball of dough.
- Divide the dough into two and make each into a ball. Scatter some flour over the work surface and place one of the balls in the centre.
- Using the rolling pin, help your child roll the dough out to a circle about 10cm (4 inches) across. Then lay the circle on to the prepared baking sheet and roll out the other one.
- Spoon 2 tablespoons of passata on to the centre of each pizza, then spread out to the edges.
- Decorate the pizzas with the toppings and make into a face or pattern.
- Finally sprinkle grated cheese over the top.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the cheese melted and golden.
Share your creations with us!
If you’re baking with your child, we’d love to see how you get on – send us your photos and we’ll post on our website and social media. Tell us if your child enjoyed the activity and what they learnt.
More useful help and advice
Mobility support
We’ve put together some useful advice when supporting a child when out and about.
Pre-Braille activities
We’ve got a useful list of pre-Braille activities and exercises for you child to take part in. These activities are great to help motor development.
Guiding tips
Learn more about guiding someone when in an unfamiliar environment, for sitting down on a chair and more.