B is for Baking Review – Kids in the Kitchen

I moved the cookbook review from Saturday to today because I have a special post planned for that day.  This week’s cookbook for kids is Sesame Street’s B is for baking 50 yummy dishes to make together.  I loved the idea of a book from Sesame Street. I was hoping it would be a good way to get younger kids involved in the kitchen.  Now, I was able to check this book out from my local library.  You can get it from Amazon through other Amazon sellers for around $12.40.  Or I did find it at Barnes and Noble for $14.52.

What I like about this cookbook:

• Spiral bound – if you follow me regularly you know by now I always prefer a spiral bound cookbook especially for kids.
• Introduction/Baking Safe Section – it includes tips on what is appropriate for kids to do in the kitchen based on age. It also includes tips for safe baking, better baking, baking how-to’s, and pan and ingredient substitutions.
• Categories – the book breaks the recipes down into breakfast bake-off, quick breads and biscuits, main dishes and sides, puddings and pies, cookies and bars, and celebration cupcakes and cakes.
• The Recipes – the recipes include a list of ingredients and equipment.  They also gave them fun names that include Sesame Street character names like Zoe’s Tomato Tart and Oscar’s Crumbly Apple Crumble.
• Prep and Cook times – the recipes each include prep and bake times. I feel this is a must for a kid’s cookbook.
• Photos – each recipe includes a photo plus they added illustrations of Sesame Street characters.
• Quick reference for steps for kids – in the recipe steps that are suitable for kids to perform with or without help are marked with an Elmo icon.
• Tips and other info- each recipe includes tips and other info for the kids to learn from.  For example, a tip included is “If you use frozen blueberries, do not allow the berries to thaw.  Toss them with a little flour before adding them to the batter”.  Then for that same recipe Elmo says “Lots of animals eat blueberries too – like birds, deer, and bears.  ! berry, 2 berries, 3 cheers for blueberries!”

Items I am neutral about:

Nutrition info included with each recipe – this is not included.  I like it if you are a family who needs to count calories. Plus, it is also a good way to teach about nutrition.  However, I didn’t think it is required.

The downside:

Some of the recipes I felt were a bit too ambitious for a cookbook geared to such a young age.  I know that the parents are expected to be more involved for this one. However, some recipes like Big Bird’s Orange Chiffon Cake were more complicated to make.