Baking with Kids

I don't love to bake. My kids do but I...don't.  Since it is something that means a lot to them, I do try to make a frequent joyful effort.  This past week as we were gearing up for Resurrection Sunday I wanted to include this little baking project I had seen floating around the web.  I am so glad that I did!  The main reason I don't appreciate baking as much as I could is because I am terrible at following directions.  I am impatient and I want to get to the actual 'doing' instead of the 'reading about the doing'.  {Yes, I am a bit of a child.}  This project was a perfect example of my lack of thoroughly understanding a recipe before proceeding.

Resurrection Cookies (original recipe here)
I changed things a tiny bit from the original, according to what I had on hand.


You will need:
1c. whole pecans
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1c. sucanat
zipper baggie
wooden spoons (one per child)
tape
Bible
Preheat oven to 300.
Instructions:

Read John 19:1-3
Place the pecans in a baggie and let the kids beat the pecans into little pieces.  My kids gleefully pulverized the little bits of pecans until they turned into dust.  Such a horrible picture of how much we love our sin, and how if I had been there, I would have been the one shouting "Crucify Him!"

Read John 19:28-30
Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl and Let each child smell the vinegar.
Explain that when Jesus was on the cross they gave Him sour wine when he said He was thirsty.  This was a little lost on my kiddos, because when I asked if they would have wanted to drink vinegar, if they were really thirsty, they thought it sounded pretty good.  Then Charis to drink a small glass of vinegar.  {I should have let her, but we were quickly nearing bed time}.

Read John 10:10-11
Add egg whites to vinegar. {I apparently didn't read this, because I put the vinegar in the pecan bowl.  whoops!}  Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His
life to give us life.

Read Luke 23:27

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand and let them taste it.  Then add a pinch to the bowl. {This refers to the egg white bowl.  Again I put the salt in with the nuts.}  The salt represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.  The kids loved this part, but also really seemed to grasp what was going on with the story.

Read Ps. 34:8 and John 3:16
Add 1c. sugar. {Where?, who knows - probably the egg whites - note to self:  learn to read directions} Give a little pinch to the kids to taste and yourself of course.  I love this part!  Explain that Jesus' dying for us is the sweetest gift of all!  My kids are still at an age where they don't fully understand why Jesus had to actually die.  It was another great opportunity to explain that we could have never bridged the gap between God and us without Jesus being the atoning sacrifice.

Read Isa. 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are
formed. {I had a little trouble with my egg whites, probably because I didn't put the right ingredients into the right bowls.  When I was making this it didn't seem right, but I didn't question it.  Oh well.} The white represents purity and being washed white as snow.  My kids also wanted it to be the clouds, like in heaven.  {Are there really going to be clouds in heaven?  Do I get a harp?  Ok - digressing here!}

Read Matt. 27:57-60.
Fold in broken nuts. {This is when I realized the error of my ways, but I didn't let the recipe know, I just kept on.  Hopefully it will still turn out okay} Drop onto a wax paper/parchment paper covered cookie sheet. {You don't want them too big or it won't work, so says the original recipe}
Each mound represents the tomb where Jesus' body was laid.



Read Matt. 27:65-66. 
Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.  Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.  Make sure the oven isn't too hot!  We had a bit of whining at this point.  Well we have whining a lot over here.  We are working on that.  Explain why Jesus' tomb needed to be sealed.
SEND CHILDREN TO BED! {We also had some whining at this point}

Pretending to look sad.

The recipe says to talk about how sad they must feel about leaving the cookies in the oven overnight and equating it with how Jesus' followers must have felt when they had to leave Him in the tomb.  I did explain it, but made sure that they knew that leaving a cookie isn't really anything like mourning the death of the promised Messiah!
Read John 16:20 and 22.

The next morning:
Read Matt. 28:1-9, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.
The surface should be cracked and the cookies should be hollow! 
On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.
{Well mine turned out flat and lifeless, but still delicious.}

Note:  Cookies can be left on a very very low temp..like 250 degrees. and be ready
in a couple of hours...when surface of cookie looks dry and cracked....they
are ready to eat!!!!!

Even though the cookies themselves were a bit of a flop, the story of Christ's death and resurrection became that much more tangible to my children, and any project that does that is a winner in my book.  They also got a chance to see what happens when you don't follow directions completely, and it gave me a chance to fail graciously in front of my children.  We will definitely be doing this again!