I am a mother.
Not a great one, mind you, but I am still a mom. I also tend to get annoyed when my little boy, only two years old, is underfoot when I am in the kitchen trying to bake. It seems no matter which corner of the kitchen I am in, he’s right there. Right. There. Normally, I fuss, and shoo him back to the living room, where toys abound and Yo Gabba Gabba is blaring, but he inevitably ends up back underfoot. I know I can’t be the only one that this happens to. You, too?
Even though I had cake orders to work on on Monday, I changed up my attitude. Why not let him help? My cake was baked and was cooling, the icing was made and ready whenever I was. So I had a little downtime. Here’s our conversation. (Yes, I talk to him as if he is an adult, learning a new language, never baby talk. I will repeat whatever I need to say as many times as he needs to hear it, and I will also ask him to repeat anything I don’t understand instead of prompting him. I think it has reaaalllly expanded his vocabulary. Just saying. No, I am not an expert…this has just worked for US.)
“Seven? Do you want to make Daddy something to eat?
“Uh huh.Yeeees.”
“What do you want to make your Daddy?”
“Brownies. Biiiig brownies.”
“Brownies? Okay. Cakey or gooey?”
“Gooey! And Candy!”
The child is a genius, I tell you. He probably didn’t mean for us to cut up lots of his Halloween candy bars, but that’s what we did. What a fantastic way to get rid of that bucket full of sin! Seriously?…Genius.
For our recipe, I simply used a brownie recipe that I knew was pretty fudgy on it’s own, but added in lots of chocolate syrup and reduced the amount of water. You could always use a box mix if you wanted and get the same effect – it’s all about being together with your child.
The very first thing I did was put him in a little blue cowboy apron Mom made. Too cute! He wanted me to wear an apron, too, which I of course did, as I am rarely in the kitchen without one. Then I let him pick out the spoon he wanted to use. He really seemed to get a kick out of being allowed to use “Mommy Spoons”…and I was happy to oblige.
I measured out our needed ingredients, as well as cracked the eggs (which he thought was hilarious for some reason and cackled), but I let him mix all of it himself. He poured each of the ingredients into the mixing bowl, and he stirred the entire batch up on his own. I did incorporate what little bits he missed, but he really did a great job on his own. Oh, and the syrup? He loved squeezing in the syrup. You’d have thought I hung the moon.
Once mixed, I opened up several of the trick or treat candy bars – a couple of Twix, some 3 Musketeers, some Hershey Bars – whatever looked good – then chopped it up. The Little Man scooped most of it into the bowl (some didn’t make it past his mouth) and then we stirred again.
I let him spray the loaf pan, and then I poured the batter in. I let him push the buttons to set the timer – 1 hour and 10 minutes, he licked the spoon a lot, and then we went off to nap.
As soon as he woke up, his first question was “Where Daddy’s Brownies? I lick ‘em.” And he told everyone that we encountered that afternoon that he made brownies. And that he licked the spoon.
To be honest, I didn’t realize that he was that adept. I imagined a huge mess, and a fight on my hands each step of the way. So I was thrilled to see how well he did and how much he got into it. It was a great way for us to spend time together, and I am so glad I took the time to try.
Believe it or not, I have a few memories of my very early childhood…some as early as 18 months old. And I wonder, will Seven have similar memory retention? If so, do I really want his memory to be of me being aggravated and short with him for being a toddler? Or, will he remember our time together making Daddy Brownies?
I really hope it’s the brownies. I’m going to keep working on that.
I hope if nothing else, this post has encouraged you to take a time out and try baking with your little one. Yes, I know it’s a bit of a hassle, but it really does mean so much. They want to be LIKE YOU. How long will that last? How many other people do you know that look up to you that much? Please give it a shot…I think you’ll be glad you did.
Do you have special things you do with your toddler in the kitchen? If so, I would love to know. Please share! Oh yeah…If you want a toddler apron, tell me! We have lots of cute fabrics and the kids look so precious in them! If anyone is interested, I will list a couple in my Etsy Shop. Say the word!
Trick Or Treat Brownies
Ingredients
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- pinch salt
- 1/4 cup Chocolate Syrup
- 6-8 Snack Sized Candy Bars
Preheat oven to 325F.
Melt Chocolate and butter in small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
In a bowl, mix together sugar, eggs, and vanilla, and mix until well combined
Add flour, salt, chocolate syrup and chocolate mixture and blend well. 
Chop up candy bars and add to mixture.
Pour into prepared (greased) loaf pan.
Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. These are very gooey brownies, but the edges will be thick and set and the center, though gooey, will hold it’s shape when cut. Brownies are done when the batter no longer wiggles when shaken. It is better to pull a little early versus leaving them in too long. Enjoy!
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Good for you…you have excellent patience and mothering skills it looks like to me!! The closest my little ones ever got, was putting the muffin liners in the pan
-Chris Ann
Sounds like a fun afternoon. Yummy use of Halloween candy. When my twins were little I let them sit in a kitchen drawer and play with kitchen tools. The drawer doesn't roll out very well now, but it's a nice memory!
Too funny, I could have written an almost identical post today. My 19 month old and I made banana cupcakes for daddy today, I let him mash the bananas and do a lot of the stirring. He LOVED it!
Well I think children coming to your door would have been truly spoiled getting these, they look delicious.
I keep my two year old occupied with paper and crayons at the kitchen table but he still likes to play "shopping" with all the stuff in the cupboards.
I tell my oldest that MOM stands for Mean Old Mother, but sometimes I soften a little. LOL!! The brownies look yummy and Seven is so cute.
Wonderful post! I think both my kids were about Seven's age when they really started helping out with some of my baking. I can remember showing Alex how to cut out these star-shaped cookies I make at Christmas time, and it was so thrilling for both of us because it was something he could really DO. He will still help on occasion, but now it's Julia who likes to work with me, and she's really very good at a lot of it. It's still frustrating for me at times, but I try to swallow that down and relax about it because I want them to love cooking and baking, and I want them to have good memories of these times, too.
So good for you, Susan! The brownies look great, and Seven looks like a pro!
Aww great post! Yes, we are all guilty of getting aggravated, good for you taking it to the positive. I'm sure he totally loved every minute of it!
What a great way to use all that candy!
I LOVE baking with my girls. They are so into it, and we have such a great time. They're favorite thing to bake is cupcakes (of course).
kids have all the best ideas! these were fantastic, i'm sure!
Cake Spy also came up with a candy pie for Halloween leftovers. That plus your brownie recipe, I think it's even more sinful than the candies themselves!
I think you are a better mom than you give yourself credit for being. The key here is you took time and listened to him and you both had a fabulous time.
I loved this post – a great reminder to be a patient Mommy!! My 15mo old likes to be held when we're in the kitchen so he can see exactly what I'm doing. "We" make pancakes together several times a week. I sit out all of the measuring spoons I'll need and let him hand them to me.
I can't wait until he's older, like Seven, and eager to help w/ the mixing & inventing! (btw, those brownies look AMAZING!)
This is fantastic!! My families dogs are always under my feet haha does that count?? But these brownies sure do sound delicious. I would love to give them a try. Thanks!!
No lie – my mouth is watering.
Delicious brownies! I love this post too. It's so great that you let your little guy in the kitchen. As a nanny I'm always trying to get my "kids" into the kitchen. I want them to love food as much as I do:)
Ohhhhh this is where I commented! LOL :-p
Your child is a genius… GENIUS I SAY!
Is his name Seven? Because I can totally get behind that.
My daughter and I cook together a lot. It is really the best! Cooking with my mom is how I got to be really good at fractions.
You're a fantastic mommy! I love sharing the kitchen with my kids, it takes more patience and time, but is so worth it for the memories!! I just posted my daughter's birthday cake and shared how much fun it is to work alongside my daughter.
Those treats looks amazing! I may have to scurry around and find some of their candy…they have all hidden it from one another.
Those look like great brownies! Love the helper!
Of all the years for me not to buy candy and I have no idea where my children have stashed theirs (which is a good thing!) with all of the good treats I've seen using it. What a great idea.
Yum… your brownies look delicious. Sounds like a fun kitchen project for both of you!
Handcrank egg beater…I let my granddaughers use it to help me with the Heavenly Bakers bake through. Now I am served the yummiest scrambled eggs ever.
Some of the old utensils from their great grandmother's kitchen give them the most fun.
And yes, please make aprons for the kids. It's so hard to find cute little ones that aren't itchy as hell.
So I'm a bit behind on blogs. The brownies sound great and I love the name!
This was absolutely hilarious…and very well written – I felt like I was in the studio right next to you
This post brought tears to my eyes. I cook and bake with my children and am so glad someone GETS it. It is time together that they WILL remember forever. And they will grow up unlike many other children who can’t even boil water. It’s a moment. A moment that only you can give them…cooking with mommy. My kids take turns adding ingredients. Do fights break out? Most certainly. But who cares. You adapt. If she got to add 3 cups of flour, then he gets to stir. Simple. It’s a great lesson for my 1st grader to learn measurements too! Sugar cookies are our favs. So much fun for them. I hope they cherish these moments as much as I do.
Oh, and the brownies look good too!
I used to make “seasonal” sugar cookies for each holiday with the kids. Started with Steve (whom your Seven reminds me so much of – in looks and personality and intelligence), and continued with Claire & Ted. I still have the cookie cutters: hearts, bunnies, stars (for 4th of July as well as Christmas), jack-o-lanterns, and Christmas trees and Santas. I let the kids put the colored sugar sprinkles on some, and some they painted. Egg yolk paint is so easy to make. Put a little bit of egg yolk in each cup of a muffin tin and add food coloring to each. With a regular little paintbrush, the kids can make their own artistic creations on the cookies. (Claire really got into this part.) Then just bake as usual.
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