Kids Cooking and Cookbook Blog Site

With school well underway, there continues to be the challenge of coming up with quick and easy breakfast ideas. Here is a muffin recipe that you make once and bake fresh any time in the next several weeks. This is because the recipe is really huge.

It makes 52 muffins, but you don’t have to make them all at once. The batter can keep in the refrigerator in a tightly covered bowl for up to six weeks. You bake only the number of muffins you want – one muffin or several at a a time.

Six Week Muffins

1 (15 oz) package bran flakes with raisins
5 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
4 cups buttermilk
Nuts, if desired

In a very large mixing bowl, combine cereal, flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. Beat eggs in another bowl. Add oil to eggs. Gradually add oil-egg mixture and buttermilk to dry ingredients. Stir only until dry ingredients are moistened. Batter will be stiff.

To bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or use paper liners in muffins cups. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake about 15 minutes, or until muffins are lightly browned and spring back when lightly touched.

Muffins are always best served hot. Serve them with fresh fruit and a glass of milk. This is a good way to start the school day – or any day.

Do you recognize this cooking and kids blog?? It got a new face lift today and I hope you like it. Since it is almost fall and the watermelon season is about over I thought we needed a change. I wanted to have a food related theme and then found this orange-cheezy look.

I want to again extend an invitation to continue to check in  often as we explore the world of food and several other areas as well.

I would love to hear from you to see what special food topics you would like to work on.

I know it is too early to think about Christmas, but I have a story to tell you. Actually, it is a story told by another author and I just finished reviewing her book. It is called The Littlest Christmas Kitten.

This gentle, heartwarming story is about a little lost baby kitten on the night Jesus was born. Two other kittens are safely tucked away but nowhere is to be found the littlest kitten. What is a Mother to do? Even Mother cats get very concerned when they can’t find their kittens, just like Mom’s get really frightened when they lose sight of one of their children.

Mother Cat searches high and lo. There is a major disturbance when strangers enters the barn where the other animals and cats are staying warm. All the animals are very nervous as they move about excitedly.

I wanted to find out right away what was happening in the barn and whether the kitten would be found safely. Then I wondered what part the cat family played in the major event of the birth of Christ. Many Christmas cards feature cats  along with the manger so I knew cats were very important to the Christmas story.

In the story is revealed why cats purr on Christmas Eve and why Mother and Father Cats continue to tell this story to their kittens. I found out why cats are an important part of Christmas.

This book is a first place winner in the Midwest Book Awards. As I was writing a review for it, I thought you might enjoy hearing about it, too. I know it’s early in the season but perhaps this will give you an idea for some Christmas presents.

I can see this is going to be one of my favorite Christmas stories to give to my young nieces and nephews. You may want to check this out at

Here is another way to say good-bye to summer – bake some Ice Cream Muffins.

This is a really simple but fun recipe you may want to whip up for your family sometime during this long holiday week-end.

Ice Cream Muffins

1 cup ice cream
1 cup self-rising flour OR
1 cup all-purpose flour PLUS
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Grease six muffin cups or line with paper cups.

Soften ice cream by letting it set out of the freezer until it is easy to stir. Measure 1 cup of ice cream into a mixing bowl.

Stir in flour and mix only until all flour is blended.

Spoon into prepared muffin cups.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Yield: 6 muffins

Double recipe for 12 muffins.

It is best to use real ice cream rather than frozen yogurt or low-fat ice cream.

You can vary the flavor by adding blue berries or other fruit.

You may want to try chocolate ice cream or other flavors, too. Chocolate chips or nuts can also be added.

Let your creativeness shine!