I’m going to tell you a secret
It’s the HARDEST part about preparing curriculum to teach healthy cooking classes to kids.
It’s not the appetizer…
Or entrees..
Or veggie sides….
It’s not a breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The most challenging recipes to write up are DESSERTS
Dessert, in my opinion, is the icing on the cake. It’s the cherry on top of a full curriculum cooking with zucchini, bell peppers, kale, chia seeds, lean chicken breast, fresh salmon and asparagus. We only have 1-2 desserts per session
Why are they hard? Because our class is only 1 hour
Most desserts won’t work in our cooking class because they require:
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Baking – but we have no oven
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Setting overnight – which we don’t have time for because we see our students once a week
I’ve found creative ways to get around it, like kid-friendly tiramisu.
Most desserts of ours involve a pancake of some sort, but when we were planning the Food Network Favorites theme for this Fall I realized we had NEVER done a rice-krispy treat.
So we reworked a recipe from Ree Drummond star of the popular show “The Pioneer Woman.”
The fun part was adding extra fiber and healthy carbs by sneaking in Quick Oats
Check out the link below to see my video tutorial and the recipe. It’s easy, fun to make with kids and a true crowd pleaser.
=> Watch my video tutorial of Ree Drummond’s Healthy Rice Krispy Treats
Active time: 10 min – Start to Finish: 20 min – Serves: 12
Ingredients
5 Tbs unsalted butter
2 10-ounce bags of mini-marshmallows
2 cups quick oats
5 cups rice cereal
Rainbow sprinkles, to decorate
1 pint strawberries
4 bananas
3 apples
1 tsp salt
Directions
Add 1 Tbs butter and use it to grease a large bowl.
In a large pan over medium-heat, add 4 Tbs butter and melt. Stir in the marshmallows until they’re melted, about 5-7 minutes. Turn of the heat, then add the oats, salt and cereal to the pan and mix until combined. Remove to the large bowl to cool.
Chop the strawberries, bananas and apples and add to a bowl to make your fruit salad.
Wet your hands with water and form the rice crispy mixture into small balls. Decorate with sprinkles and let cool. Serve with fruit salad and enjoy.
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This weekend I’m volunteering with Big Brothers, Big Sisters and then need to make Chanukah cookies for my family (anyone have any good recipes?)
Best,
Chef Eric
