Cookies, Ice Cream Sandwiches, and Pies: Six Fun and Easy Desserts to Make at Home with Kids

Create lasting memories with your children by recreating these easy-to-make, finger-licking recipes on a weekend.

Cooking with your children is a memorable experience because it's not just about the final dish; it's about imparting new skills to your children, and for you, as parents, to be more patient when they make mistakes or encounter challenges. This shared activity gives the family a lovely opportunity to spend quality time together, create stronger bonds and improve communication skills. Through cooking, parents can also instill the importance of teamwork and camaraderie, as everyone contributes in one way or another. Moreover, the acts of decorating cakes and pies, rolling out ladoos, are all expressions of creativity that also aid in the development of children's motor skills. And the sense of accomplishment that comes from successfully finishing a new task, and then sharing the outcome with the family is incomparable.

Here are five recipes that we encourage you to try with your children. Please ensure all heating elements and sharp instruments are used under close supervision.

Chocolate Chip Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 brownie box mix
• Vegetable oil and eggs as per box recipe
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 320 F. Use a silicone baking tray or line your square/rectangular tray with parchment paper.
• Mix the wet ingredients to the box mix until smooth. Add the cup of chocolate chips.
• You can also add chopped walnuts and almonds, if you want to make the brownies a little nutritious.
• Pour the batter in the baking tray and bake for 20 minutes.
• You will get no-effort chocolate chip brownies in no time. After you take the tray out of the oven, let the brownies cool.

Rocky Road Cookie

Ingredients:

• ½ cup room temperature butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup Cadbury cocoa powder
• 1 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1 cup refined flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt (omit if you’re using salted butter)
• ⅔ cup marshmallows
• ⅔ cup roasted and chopped peanuts
• ½ cup chocolate chips or any chopped Cadbury chocolate

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare your baking tray with baking paper.
• Beat the butter and sugar mix till creamy.
• Add the egg and vanilla extract.
• Then sift the dry ingredients - cocoa, flour, baking soda - and combine.
• Now, add the marshmallows, chocolate chips/chunks, and peanuts.
• Scoop out the two tablespoon-worth of cookie dough for every cookie and space them at least 2 inches apart on the baking paper.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 350 F. Then cool for 10 minutes before you eat them.

Ice Cream Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 1-2 packets of store-bought chocolate chip cookies
• 2 cups vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

• Sandwich a generous amount of ice cream between the cookies and roll them in chocolate chips.
• Let them freeze for about 15 minutes before you and the kids eat.

Ice Cream Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups melted vanilla ice-cream
• 1 ½ cup refined flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 F and grease your cake tin.
• Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until well combined.
• Pour the batter in your greased tin and pop it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.
• Let it cool before slicing it.

Toblerone Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup crushed chocolate biscuits
• ½ cup ground almonds
• ⅓ cup melted butter
• 2 cups room temperature cream cheese
• ½ cup castor sugar
• 1 cup melted Toblerone
• ½ cup cream
• 1 cup grated Toblerone

Instructions:

• Mix the crushed biscuits, almonds, and melted butter to create the cheesecake crust. Press it on the bottom of a springform pan.Chill in the fridge.
• Beat together the sugar, cream cheese, cream, and melted Toblerone in a large bowl.
• Scoop this batter of the crumb crust and spread evenly.
• Chill in the fridge and decorate with grated Toblerone.

Banoffee Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups crushed digestive biscuits
• ¼ cup + 6 tbsp melted butter
• 2 bananas
• 1 cup cream
• 1 tbsp Cadbury cocoa powder

Instructions:

• First, create the banoffee base with crushed biscuits and melted butter. Press it to the base and side of a springform baking tin. Chill in the fridge.
• Prepare the caramel by melting the sugar on low heat and adding half cup of cream. Whisk to break any lumps. Let it cool.
• Spread it evenly on the biscuit base, then layer the chopped bananas.
• Whip the cream and top it on the bananas.
• Dust with cocoa powder. Chill for half an hour and then serve.