There is nothing quite like homemade butter!  And, because it’s so simple to make, even the kids can get in on the action with this one!

We enjoyed making some homemade butter during homeschool and would love to share the recipe with you!

Ingredients for Homemade Butter:

• Jar with a screw on lid
• Whipping Cream
• Energetic kids!

Simple Steps to Delicious Butter:

• Pour whipping cream into a jar that has a screw on lid.  I chose to use a small, plastic peanut butter jar we had scrubbed out, just in case we got a little carried away in our shaking!  Make sure you leave plenty of room for the liquid to move around in the jar.
• Give the jar to the energetic kids and tell them to start shaking!  I had fun watching them jump up and down and get their whole bodies into the process.  (Unfortunately there was too much movement for a good pic!)
• After shaking for 10 minutes a glob will have formed in the jar.  (This is your butter!)
• Pour the contents of the jar into a small bowl.  The solid glob is your butter; the liquid is buttermilk.
• Pour the buttermilk into a small container to save for later if desired.  Rinse your butter off with water to get the remaining buttermilk off of it.
• If desired, add a bit of salt (or other seasonings) to the butter.
• Enjoy!

This butter is definitely better than any store bought I’ve ever had!

It would taste delicious with these homemade muffins!

The post How to Make Butter first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

And when it comes to an apple unit, this apple pie recipe for kids is sure to be a big hit. 

Cooking with kids is a fun way to work on math skills and following directions.

You’ll also want to check out this simple homemade butter recipe to try! 

Apple Pie Recipe for Kids

Ingredients:

• 6 large Granny Smith apples
• pre-made pie crust  (or make your own)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspooon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons butter
• milk, cinnamon, and sugar (for crust top)

How to Bake a Homemade Apple Pie

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.  Place bottom crust into pie pan.

3.  Peel and cut 6 large Granny Smith apples.  (When working with kids, peel the apples first and cut them into thick slices.  This makes it easier for them to then cut the apple slices into cubes.)

4.  Mix 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves.   (Lots of great measuring opportunities for the kids here!)

5.  Carefully toss the flour and spice mixture with the apples, making sure each apple is coated.

6.  Pour apple mixture into bottom pie crust.

7.  Top apples with 2 tablespoons of butter, cut into small pieces.

8.  Fit top crust over apple mixture and press crust edges together to seal.  We used mini play dough cutters to cut some cute shapes into our top crust first!  If you don’t do this, then make sure you cut slits in the top crust to create steam vents.

9.  Brush the top crust with milk.  (At this point we opted to shake a  mixture of cinnamon and sugar on the top.  Kids LOVE to shake ingredients!)

10.  Bake 40-45 minutes.  The pie should be golden and the apples fork tender when finished.

The hardest part is waiting for it to bake!  (And to cool off afterwards!)  We used the time to clean up the kitchen, always an important step in baking, and then to run some energy off outside on the swings.

Baking apple pie with the kids was a perfect (and sweet) way to end our apple unit.

You may also like:

• Apple-Themed Skip Counting Activity 
• Easy to Make Apple-Scented Bubble Dough 

The post Baking with Kids: Simple Apple Pie Recipe first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Who wants a banana chocolate chip muffin?

Around here banana chocolate chip muffins are a HUGE hit!

And what’s better than just eating the muffins?  Getting to bake them with the kids!

Originally this was a recipe for banana chocolate chip bread given to me by my mother-in-law.  Over the years I have tweaked it to make the most delicious banana chocolate chip muffins!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 bananas, mashed

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions for Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins:

Cream sugar, shortening, and applesauce in a large bowl.

Add eggs and mashed bananas; mix.

Add flour, baking soda, and salt.  Mix until combined.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Bake in greased muffin pan at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 minutes.

Makes 12-16 muffins.  

If you’re lucky, the kids may just spare you one or two!

I like to make a batch of banana chocolate chip muffins and put half in the freezer.  That way I can pull out a couple for the kids (and myself) whenever the mood strikes.

What’s your favorite type of muffin?

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The post Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.