My boys and I came home from a beautiful fall hike to find the perfect surprise on our doorstep! Friends had dropped by a kit for making simple (and delicious) pumpkin cookies!
This treat was so easy to make, so delicious to eat, and so much fun to find, that I thought I’d share the instructions with you, so you can enjoy them with with the children you love and teach, or package them together to create a fun fall surprise for a friend of your own!
All you need is one spice cake mix, one large can of pumpkin (29 oz — pureed pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling), and one 11 oz bag of chocolate chips. (As you can see from the pictures below, I’ve already taught my boys that one of the perks to being the baker is snitching the chocolate chips — I mean testing the ingredients for quality assurance.)
Mix them all together and bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. They don’t spread flat, but come out cakey and so moist!
The recipe is so simple, it just begs to be made with little hands!
(By the way, contrary to my son’s expression in the first shot, these cookies are delicious. He’s always disliked the smell of straight pumpkin, and I had just opened the can next to him. Baking with canned pumpkin or digging out pumpkin “guts” for Jack-o-lanterns will always leave him cheerfully holding his nose!)
Enjoy some pumpkin cookies today!
{Why It’s Not Just Cute} Cooking activities give kids plenty of experience with math, science, and language concepts as well as building memories and relationships. Read more about why cooking is great for kids here. Because of the simpleness of this recipe, it is particularly great for building independence. School-aged kids in particular could add this to their independent cooking repertoire, with just minimal supervision. Additionally, this is a perfect recipe for teaching ordinal numbers and series of events: First dump the cake mix. Second, add the pumpkin. Third, add the chocolate chips. Fourth, mix it up! Fifth, bake. Sixth– eat of course!
Looking for more fall fun?
Find more pumpkin recipes here (pumpkin bread, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin cocoa, mmmmm.)
Check out some of my favorite fall activities– book activities, art projects, and more!
Get loads of inspiration from Jean Van’t Hul’s gorgeous ebook, The Artful Year: Autumn.
Melissa says
These are a favorite around here as well. If you add a second box of cake mix, you can make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. My kids love them.
notjustcute says
Yum! Great tip, Melissa!
Katherine Gordy Levine says
Pinned this on My Cooking With Children Board. Thank you.