Welcome to the first week of This Mama Loves Kids in The Kitchen! I am delighted that you are following along with our series and  hope that you will enjoy letting your little one in the kitchen to create healthy and delicious recipes as much as I did.  This week we are replacing store bought cereal bars with a simple recipe that contains whole grains and minimal, natural sugars.  The kitchen skills for the recipe will focus mostly on teaching your little one’s to stir gently-keeping all ingredients in the bowl and using a rolling pin.  My almost 4 year old was tickled to have her own rolling pin that came in this set. If your child is a little older you can begin allowing them to measure out the ingredients themselves, for my little one I went ahead and gathered all the ingredients and measured them out, simply instructing her what to add and when.  Don’t forget to print out the FREE 5×7 recipe card’s  we are providing for each week you so you can easily make them again and again.  Put them in a small album to create a recipe book, tuck in photo’s of your child cooking and you will have a lovely keepsake!

Homemade Cereal Bars

 Here’s a downloadable recipe card for you to add to your recipe binder or box!

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup quick cook oats

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 Tbsp. plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

1/3 cup all fruit spread

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°

Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl combine yogurt, coconut oil, vanilla, and maple syrup.

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Demonstrate how to stir  while scraping the sides of your bowl to combine it well- keeping as much INSIDE the bowl as possible. You can see here we got a little excited, after a few gentle reminders and even my preschooler was a pro.

Dust counter well with flour.

Roll dough into a rectangle of  ¼” thickness. Guide your child’s hands to show them how to apply pressure  and roll back and forth to flatten and even out dough. Let them give it a try on their own as well.

Cut strips 2” wide and then in half, making 16 strips.

Spoon 2 tsp. of fruit spread in the center of half the strips.

Top fruit spread with the other half of the strips.

Press all around the edges with a fork to seal.

Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 15-18 minutes until edges are golden brown.

Cool and store in an airtight container.

Don’t forget to check out our other Kids in the Kitchen recipes!