Tuesday, 20 August 2013

We've been baking.. COOKIES!!

'Today me will live in the moment, unless it's unpleasant, in which case me will eat a cookie!'

- Cookie Monster.

I'm far from an amazing cook (I'd live on roast dinners if it was upto me..) and I don't bake much either.. But I do try to do a few baking activities with Bradley when we're off work and school, as I think it's important for young children to learn simple culinary skills and kitchen safety, baking is a great activity for problem solving, learning about food and ingredients, following instructions, cleanliness and discipline.
Now, even at 9 years old, he still has the concentration span of a goldfish. So it isn't unusual for him to get fed up by the time we've measured out all of the ingredients, and I'm left finishing off. Of course he'll be back to taste test the finished product.. ;)

That's where this amazing little company comes in..
'The Occasional Cookie' offer cookie mix jars, complete with all the ready measured dry ingredients you need for the perfect cookie. Just add egg and butter, mix together and separate into balls before popping into the oven for just 14 minutes. Sounds perfect, huh?
The Cookie mix jars come in 2 sizes. A large jar will make between 18-22 cookies, at £12.95 and a small jar will make between 10-12 cookies, at £8.95. They are available in a range of different flavours such as chocolate orange, triple chocolate and rainbow to name just a few.

The Occasional Cookie say...

'This is the perfect gift for kitchen rookies, baking experts or cookie & chocolate lovers. This delicious cookie mix includes dried ingredients layered and presented in a glass jar, finished with a gingham ribbon and complete with baking instructions on the tag. Ideal for those who like to bake occasionally but don't want the hassle of buying in all the ingredients. The recipe only require 3 more basic ingredients. One jar should make 10-12 cookies and once you are done you can store them back in the jar.'

TheBrunetteSays...
I chose a small jar of chocolate orange cookie mix and was lucky enough to receive a pack of 2 ready made rainbow cookies with it, a lovely, yummy touch!
The first thing I love about this is how pretty the jar looks. I almost didn't want to use it as it looked so nice sat on my kitchen worktop. Even Bradley mentioned that it looked too nice to tip out!
It was super easy, Bradley weighed out the butter, beat the egg, put everything into the bowl and added some golden syrup, all by himself. Together we mixed the ingredients with our hands and rolled them into balls, placed them onto baking trays and popped them into the oven. Easy peasy!!
I'll confess I may've left them in the oven a few more minutes extra as I got carried away washing up.. Oops. But that said, they still look and taste amazing. We both really enjoyed the nice easy process, and Bradley didn't end up leaving me to finish off half way through as he usually does. It was a perfect little baking opportunity for us, and Bradley loved being able to lead the activity himself, with little help. The cookies are now on display, keeping nice and fresh, in the pretty glass jar.
Sticky, chocolate covered thumbs up!! :)

Bradley said, 'I didn't want to tip the stuff in the cookie jar out, it looked too nice. It was really good that we didn't have to get all the ingredients. I thought the cookies were brilliant.'

Would I recommend it?
For sure, if you have young children that enjoy easy baking or want a super easy but fun activity to keep the kids amused, definitely take a look at what The Occasional Cookie have to offer. Plus Mum gets a pretty glass jar for storage afterwards.. ;)

Would I re-purchase?
Yes I would. It works really well for us, as I mentioned before - I'm no baking expert, and Bradley gets bored so very easily.. so this was perfect. Plus I want to try all the different flavours. I think these are fantastic gift ideas too, so I may purchase a few in the future as presents too.

The Occasional Cookie also offer ready baked cookies, smaller jars for party and wedding favours, and cute little cookie mix baking bags for children's parties.

Visit The Occasional Cookie to check out their yummy cookie mixes for yourself.
Twitter: @TheOCUK Facebook: TheOccasionalCookie

What do you think of Bradley's cookies?