recipes | The Stuff of Our Life

I am pleased to report that I am on my way to being a Planner. A List Maker. An Organised Mum. There are still some areas to sort out (PUN!) but I have my week of laundry planned (like when to wash towels and sheets; clothing is washed as needed which is almost daily) and a very loose cleaning … guide? Time to think about maybe cleaning an area? Then in January I planned my planning which was such a Me thing to do. So I now also have Food Organisation Preparation and Execution plans. I also have Planning for the Weekend plans.

As Monday-Thursday is when I work, I don’t plan on getting any baking done on those days. Friday-Sunday, though, there are now Food Preparation Goals. Cookies. Muffins. Boiled eggs. Overnight oats. Baked oatmeal. Next level will be to keep a tally of how much of what we have in the freezer. I have plans to create a little sheet in Canva that can keep track of all of this. We also are going to start using a numbering system for our freezer to reduce what gets thrown out when we have to clean it out because it is too full, or even, avoid the too-full events entirely. All of this is making my Planning Self happy.

As Monday-Thursday is when I work, I have children with me and needing attention for Friday-Sunday. My go with the flow, let’s see what happens, children know what they want, let them play, approach … well. With experience, I have realised a number of things. When my girls are out, they get on beautifully; when my girls are home, they fight. When my girls have craft to do, there is harmony in the home; when we are home with no plan of what to do, there is chaos and fighting. Furthermore, C definitely likes to know The Plan, and E nearly always asks the night before, “Where are we going when we wake up?”

It used to be that I would get to Thursday night and groan. Not for the imminent children aspect, but because I had nothing planned or prepped for them to do. Craft is great, and letting them have free reign on the craft supplies is … you know. But when there is a plan, with something I can prep and then they have a plan, is always more successful in terms of engagement from them and cooperation and general calm and it just works out better.

So the New Way of doing things involves me starting a note in my phone early in the week, entitled “Weekend Plans 15-16 February”, for example, and then setting out Friday night dinner, Saturday breakfast – all the food things – as well as any outings we are aiming for if everyone is well, and what sort of creative activity we want to do, as well as what and when I plan on food prepping. I want to dig up our magnetic blackboard and an appropriate pen and have this more visible on the fridge, too, so C can contribute independently. Walks to daycare and school now include a question here and there of, what do you want to do for craft or art on Saturday? What do you want on your pizza on Friday? Can everyone please stay well this week so we can go to the park on the weekend, please?

Last weekend showed me that this planning doesn’t magically create a fight-free weekend. Unfortunately, this isn’t some cure-all solution for family harmony. What it does do, though, is give me an opportunity to be prepared for green pancakes and rainbow pizzas and love heart crafts and surprise paints. Planning helps.

Are you ready to make the best chocolate chip cookies you have ever made? Of course you are. Here we go.

Start this recipe as far in advance as you can. “Ready in less than an hour” does not apply here.

Gather your supplies. You will need:

2 cups of wholemeal plain flour (white plain flour works fine here too)

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon bicarb soda

1 1/4 cups chocolate chips – vegan if necessary

2/3 cup coconut sugar (or 1/2 cup packed brown sugar)

1/2 cup granulated or caster sugar

1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon olive oil or coconut oil

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon water

Plus: 2 mixing bowls – 1 medium and 1 large; and measuring cups and spoons.

As you gather your supplies, children gather nearby, realising that baking is imminent. They clamour for the ladder which is allocated on a first come, first served basis. Second child gets to fetch the step stool from the bathroom. Third child is reminded how tall they are and actually don’t really need height assistance.

Start measuring your 2 cups of wholemeal flour into a medium bowl. A child will insist on doing this with you. The pride you feel when they tell you any of the numbers they see on the measuring cups is soon overridden by the spray of flour as they tip it only partially into the bowl.

Don’t stress it. Somehow this process makes it better. I don’t know how.

A teaspoon of baking powder and a very approximate 3/4 teaspoon of bicarb soda go in too. Children take turns to stir, sometimes remembering to hold the bowl. Some more flour mix may be launched out of the bowl. This is fine. We are fine.

Next come the chocolate chips, and relief. 1 1/4 cups of chocolate chips need to go into the flour mix. This is more than a standard pack of chocolate chips so don’t be complacent. Your helpers are at the height of helpfulness when testing of the chocolate chips is underway. Often this is their cue to leave you to yourself to get on with things, if they score enough of a batch to test for quality. Or to see if they prefer milk or dark. This is all important. Embrace it.

Next, bring out the large mixing bowl. Put the medium bowl out of reach of children. The chocolate chips are still visible in this mix so are at risk of further testing.

Into this bowl you will need 2/3 cup of coconut sugar (or 1/2 cup packed brown sugar which will end up thoroughly tested and quite spilled and therefore further tested); 1/2 cup of caster sugar; 1/2 cup plus an extra teaspoon of olive oil (or coconut oil but I personally can’t stand the scent so steer clear); and 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon of water. Mix this vigorously. I prefer using a fork for this but I realise most people are fancy and use a whisk.

When the mix is, you know, mixed, add the flour mix to the wet mix and stir with a wooden spoon. Mix just enough for there to be no more clumps of unmixed flour.

If you are baking these anywhere from October to April in Brisbane, you will probably need to put the bowl in the fridge now otherwise your cookies will become one. 15 minutes or so should do it, or as long as you need to deal with having a cheeky nap or changing a toddler nappy or putting out washing or if you just forget. It’s fine.

Get 2 baking trays and line them as you usually line them. Bring out the cookie dough and, if you’re feeling generous, let the helpers know you’re up to the next stage. Clean hands. Rings off. I make a line across the middle of the dough so I can keep track of how much for each tray, and then scoop a spoonful of dough into my hands to roll into a ball then onto a tray. Depending on the capabilities of the helper, they may need some guidance in the amount of dough to use, but I find if they have enough play dough experience they will catch on pretty quickly and not need help in rolling it into a ball. No need to stress if they taste test the dough. No egg, no worries. Winning. This batch makes 26 cookies which suits my preferred layout of 3-2-3-2-3 on each tray. Do a little squish on each dough ball, using cute little helping fingers or a fork.

Chill time is essential. If you can find room in your freezer for these two trays, good for you. Whack them in for 30 minutes. Otherwise, into the fridge for … some time. Like, at least four hours. I usually leave them until the next morning, but whatever works. When you remember them, turn on your oven to 175C. If you get your cookies out when you turn on your oven or if you leave them in the fridge or freezer until the oven is ready is up to you, it just affects the baking time. When the oven is hot, put the trays into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. If they are not looking like your preferred cookie consistency, keep them in for another 2-5 minutes. They should be a little bit golden brown.

Get your helpers out of the kitchen so you can open the oven and remove the trays. We put ours on our stovetop, with oven mitts on the sides closest to the front. Remind your helpers these are HOT and they are to keep their hands off. They will likely repeat this information to you, possibly while reaching out to touch the hot thing if they are a very sensory-seeking child like my 2yo. Keep those little fingers safe.

The next stage is, honestly, my favourite: sprinkling sea salt flakes over the baked cookies. Note that this is not the same as grinding salt over it so make sure your independent oldest child is aware of this and doesn’t accidentally grind pepper over your freshly-baked cookies. Sea. Salt. Flakes. Sprinkle them over, as sparingly or liberally as you wish. Leave the trays there while you deal with children wanting to do painting or needing morning tea or breakfast or whatever you’re up to, then transfer to a wire rack.

In our family, I will put aside a container of these for my husband (usually getting about 8 in a container) so that he actually gets to have some. Whatever remains on the tray after this and children wanting a cookie and then another and maybe a third, goes into our cookie jar. And even though these are, you know, chocolate chip cookies and not known for their health benefits, because they use wholemeal flour and coconut sugar and olive oil, these are cookies I can say “Yes” to when a child wants one for breakfast or in the afternoon and know that it won’t make them any more crazy cuckoo bananas than they would have been otherwise. That’s always nice.

This recipe is from Katie’s Amazing Kitchen and you can find the original recipe here. I have tweaked it only very slightly to suit Australian measurements and our weather and our lunchbox compartment sizes.