Ingredients
Basic boxed cornbread mix
Eggs and milk as called for in the package directions
Strawberry jam
Muffin tin
Cooking spray or muffin liners
Directions
We love to cook in Acorn, and try to cook once each week! First, all helpers must wash and dry their hands. To be most successful, try to have everything you will need on a tray and easily accessible—measuring cups, measuring spoons, cornbread mix, measured amount of milk, right number of eggs, mixing bowl, muffin tin, and muffin papers, if you use them. If you’re cooking with one or two children, give them specific jobs—the egg cracker, the milk pourer, and, of course, the mixer! Cooking is a sequential process, and children need to know that, so be sure to let them do their specific “jobs” in logical order, but be sure you’re talking to them and explaining what you’re doing as you do it. And it goes without saying that children need to understand that ovens are hot and not to be touched!
Cooking is a wonderful opportunity to use new vocabulary and touch on basic math concepts. And it’s very creative! When we make cornbread muffins, the final step is to let each child add a little squeeze of jam to their muffin before it goes into the oven. Extra yumminess! And remember to leave the oven light on as the muffins bake so your helpers can observe what’s happening as they cook!