Snacks Recipes

Candied Rose Petals
The Martha Stewart of Colonial America, Julianne Belote, suggested dessert was “incomplete without candied and preserved confections in elegant forms.” Candied rose petals were a relatively easy — and elegant! — way for early hostesses to fancy up a cake for company. Served in a dish, they made a splendid sweet for tea. Any 5th grader can follow this Colonial recipe for candying rose petals, and share the sweets with friends, family or classmates.

What You Need:
Outdoor table
Paper towels
Red rose petals
Medium bowl
Slotted spoon
Rose water
Clean spray bottle (food grade plastic)
White caster sugar
What You Do:
Prepare the work area. On a hot, dry day, help your child find a place outdoors in the sun to work. Move the table there together. He should cover the table with paper towels, overlapping them slightly so no table shows through. Take turns reading the original recipe aloud, if you dare.

“Take the fayrest rose leaves…” Fill the bowl with cold water. Pull the petals away and let them drop in the water. Swish the water and rose petals gently, then let them soak.

“…and sprinkle them with rose water…” Have your child add a tablespoon of Rose Water to the spray bottle and set the spray to fine. Don’t spray yet!

“…lay them one by one on white paper on a hot sunshiney day…” Lay the petals in a single layer on the paper towels. Now, spray the petals with the mister.

“…then beat some double refind sugar very small & sift it thinly on the roses…” Find caster sugar at a candy-making supply store or grind white sugar in a mortar and pestle until very fine, as Colonial housewives did. Show your child how to sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over the petals, a pinch at a time.

“…they will candy as they ly in the hot sun…” Stay close. The time needed to dry completely will vary depending on the weather.

“…then turn the leaves & strow some rose water on the other side, & sift some sugar in like manner…” Turn the petals, spray, sprinkle. Patience! Let the solution dry.

“…turne them often sometimes strowing on water and sometimes sifting on sugar till they be enough…” Repeat three or four times on each side. Taste-test the rose petals. The thin layers of crystallized sugar should make them slightly crunchy. If rose petals are soggy, floppy or chewy, let them dry completely. Then add a few more layers, with more drying time between.

9. “…then lay them in boxes betwixt clean papers & soe keep them all the year.” Did you notice the spelling? During the Colonial period, everyone spelled words just as they pleased. That made reading a lot harder! Today, everyone spells the same word the same way — that makes it a lot easier to follow a recipe (or a “receipt” as a colonist might have spelled it.)

Cupcake Menorah
Everyone loves cupcakes. And even though they aren’t traditionally a part of the Hanukkah celebration, you can make them a part of it with this fun activity. Simply line up nine cupcakes in a row and decorate them in full Hanukkah regalia. When you place a candle in each one, it will be a great centerpiece for your dinner table and an edible one at that.

What You Need:
Cupcake mix
Cupcake pan
Cupcake papers (ideally in blue, white or silver or any Hanukkah pattern)
White frosting
Cake decorations (sprinkles, small candies, etc.)
Candles
Aluminum foil
What You Do:
Bake 10 cupcakes according to the package directions (or make them from scratch, if you have the time!)

Be sure to use Hanukkah style cupcake cups if you can find them, or else blue or white or even shiny silver cups.

After the cupcakes have cooled, take one cupcake aside. Using a sharp knife (grown-up only please!) slice a very thin layer off the top of the cupcake so that you have a flat surface. Leave the wrapper on that cupcake and spread a layer of icing on it. This will be the base of the Shamash. Set it aside.

Now, have the kids spread white frosting on each of the other cupcakes and start decorating. Let them go crazy with the decorations, but see if you can keep them in the Hanukkah theme. Try all blue sprinkles, or blue M&M’s.

When the decorating is done, take some aluminum foil and make a base for your Menorah. Be sure it’s long enough for all nine cupcakes to be in one long row.

Start placing the cupcakes next to each other in a row on the foil. Be sure the cupcake with just the frosting (the Shamash) is in the center.

Take one of the cupcakes and remove its wrapper. Then place the flat part of the cupcake directly on top of the cupcake in the center with the frosting only. Now you have your completed Shamash.

Place a candle in each cupcake, and you have your adorable homemade Cupcake Menorah!

Make Chocolate Chip Shape Cookies
The only thing better than a warm, chewy chocolate chip cookie that melts in your mouth? Two warm chocolate chip cookies in your favorite shape! Have fun with the kids by “shaping up” this traditional recipe, and teach kids about sorting and shapes while you’re at it.

What You Need:
2 cups flour
¾ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ sticks butter or margarine (softened)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
12-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts (optional)
Rolling pin
Cookie cutters in assorted shapes, such as triangles, circles, squares, hearts, diamonds, ovals, and more
What You Do:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Measure out the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix together.

In a separate bowl, mix together the softened butter (or margarine), granulated sugar and brown sugar.

Add the egg and vanilla. Mix well.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold in.

Add chocolate chips.

Add walnuts (optional).

Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Form a ball with the dough and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Spread flour on a flat surface. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it forms a 9-12 inch circle.

Have your child cut out shapes with cookie cutters. If you don’t have cookie cutters, have a parent use a knife to cut out the shapes.For a perfect circle, use the rim of a glass.

Bake 9-11 minutes. Let completely cool.

Lay a large piece of parchment, clean paper, or aluminum foil on the table. Mix up the cookies, so the shapes that match aren’t beside each other.

Ask your child to sort the cookies with the same shape into piles. Sorting is one of the major math concepts of preschool and while this may seem easy, learning to put similar objects into sets is a key preschool concept, and one your child is likely working on in the classroom.

Now that she’s put her cookies into sets, talk about the results. Was she able to sort all the shapes correctly, or did a difference in size, color, or other elements trick her? Talk to your preschooler about what makes the shapes the same, and what makes them different: for example, squares have four sides of the same length, whether they’re big squares or small ones.

Use the cookies to make patterns– circle square circle square (an AB pattern) or circle circle square square (an AABB pattern). Then be sure to reward your budding mathematician with a sweet treat!