Recipes For Kids By Kids: Easy Apple Cobbler

Easy Apple Cobbler (Vegetarian)

     Okay, so I'm a busy lady. But I love my family too. So the best thing I can do is teach and train them to be more independent and helpful. The hobby my kids love is baking. Mines is cooking different kinds of food from all cultures and backgrounds. My husband is also an amazing cook!

     Backing up: our family is vegetarian. My husband's working on it, but he still slips here and there. That's okay, I've eaten chicken nuggets before once or twice or the first half of my life! Ooh, and the vegetarian omelet! With hash browns and toast...mmm... stop it!

     We decided to raise the kids vegetarians for cultural and personal reasons. The plus point is my kids have had meat placed in front of them at school plenty of times, and they made their decision to eat vegetarian instead. 

     Our girls went recipe hunting around the internet, in books, and on the back of ingredient packages. There are recipes everywhere! Baking a cake is our favorite thing. But it asks for eggs and sometimes the egg replacer just doesn't cut it. One time, decades ago, I made an eggless cake with apple juice instead. It came out super fluffy, neither soggy nor dry, and absolutely delicious! I did try again, it never came out the same way. It was a one time deal. Sad.

     So my preteen decided to dip her fingers into apple cobbler. The recipes she found were good, but none that made her satisfied. So out came the measuring cups, measuring spoons, two ladles, three spatulas, some spoons and forks- plastic and metal, a big roll of paper towels, two kitchen towels, three big mixing bowls, two different baking trays, a disposable apron, food grade gloves, a manual whisk, and an electric mixer. As she experimented, over the course of two weeks, she made the apple cobbler three times. And two of them went straight in the trash.

     With her little sister as her helper, she finally perfected her recipe her way. She took her paper and pencil, made tons of corrections as batter and brown sugar spilled on her notes. She had tweaked the recipe to near perfection. Third time was the charm! It was edible, and it was a lot! The whole family ate it, my mom loved it, and the rest went to waste, again. So a week later, my mother told my daughter she was dying and needed to eat her granddaughter's delicious apple cobbler! Cultural: grandmas are dramatic! And that was it! With a determined look on her face (I was watching) she looked over and told her sister, "Watch out, I don't need any help. I have to make this for Nani Ji all by my self!" (Nani Ji means mother's mother in Punjabi. Indians have an actual title for the position of almost all relationships. Father's mother is called Dhadhi Ji. Yes, you can nickname your relatives all you want.).

     Out came the same number of supplies, if not more. She had tweaked the recipe to make it as basic as she could. This time, she made almost half the amount, and it was delicious! Even my father, who prefers Indian sweets, liked it. That was a surprise to me. This is what parents live for. This is what makes our hearts fill with joy. The look on my daughter's face when my relatives came over and ate her apple cobbler was priceless. She was so proud of her hard work!

     Oh, my mom and I ended up doing the cleaning! I let my baby girl rest. But trust me that dried up batter was not easy to scrub off the counter. Not to mention drops went flying on the floor and cabinet! It was the electric mixer's fault. LOL. We had to let the whisks, bowls, and other dishes soak for a while. It was all worth it.

 

Here is what she came up with. I hope y'all will enjoy it as much as my family did. The recipe below is written by her, with her own tips and opinions. And a mommy note. She added pictures of the products that were used in making this Easy Apple Cobbler at the bottom.

Basic Rules:

1. Always have a grown-up supervise.
2. Wash your hands with soap, cleaning under the nails. 

 

Part 1: Apple Mixture

Ingredients

• 3 medium-sized apples (any type of apples will do) 
• peel them completely- do not leave any skin
• chop them into thin layers, about 1/4 of an inch

• 1/2 cup water 

(fridge or filtered water preferrable)

• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 

(I prefer the 'baking' vanilla extract, but regular is good too)

• 1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice 

(either a real lemon, sqeezed by yourself or organic lemon squeeze bottle)

• 1/6 cup brown sugar 

(packed or dark brown would be best)

• 1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

(ground cinnamon preferred, cinnamon sugar could make it taste too sweet)

• A dash of table salt 

(It's a 6 year old's version of a pinch: pick up salt with thumb, index/forefinger, and middle finger)

 

Directions

• Stir together all liquids

• Then add the brown sugar, cornstarch, ground cinnamon, salt, and stir until fully mixed

• Add in the apples little at a time, gradually stirring/soaking the apples with mixture

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit 

• Lightly grease a 7x11 (or 9x13) dark, non-stick pan with baking spray 

(you can use cooking spray you use for pancakes)

• Spread out the apple mixture on pan, pour any extra juice on the pan with it, and put aside until further notice

 

 

Part 2: Batter 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 3/8 cup milk (or 6 Tablespoons)

• 2.5 Tablespoons unsalted butter

(Tip: The best way to melt butter is to stir over low heat in a sauce pan with a wooden ladle. Heating it in the microwave could burn or explode it, and make sure to have an adult supervisor!).

{Mommy note: the butter exploded in the microwave once and since then she started using the stove}.

• Ground cinnamon to use for topping before baking

 

Directions

• Mix together the solids and melted butter until combined

• Stir in the milk; make sure there are no uneven lumps in the batter

• When everything is mixed, pour the batter on top of the apple mixture.

• Before you put the pan in the oven, be sure to add the cinnamon on top! I prefer to add enough cinnamon to almost cover the top of the cobbler.

• Bake for 25-30 mins or until toothpick or fork inserted into batter part of the cobbler comes out clean. Do not push toothpick or fork all the way to the bottom because it'll come out soggy/wet and you might think the cobbler's not done yet. The bottom part where the apples are will be a bit liquidy until the cobbler cools down after baking.

• When finished, allow to cool for at least 10 min before serving. You may serve the cobbler with ice cream if you want or eat it by itself; either way it tastes delicious.

• Cover and store in refrigerator for up to 2 days.

 

NUTRITION:

Calories:     300

Carbs (g):     60

Fat (g):           9

 

This recipe was created and tested by P. K. Dhanjal, age 13, California.

 

Does your little one have a recipe they'd like to share? We'd love to put your recipe on our website blog! Send us the original recipe, throw in some pictures, and we'll credit your child's name with it!