They are quick and easy to make and require just six ingredients.  

Pancetta and cheese muffin ingredients 

To make approximately nine muffins you will need: 

• 2 x 77g packs of ready diced pancetta
• 170g of plain flour
• 130ml of milk
• 85g of cheddar cheese (grated)
• 45ml of sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt  

Equipment 

Muffin cases 

Muffin & cake tin  

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190c (Gas mark 5) and line a muffin tray with muffin cases. These work best but you can use cake cases too.

2. Dry fry the pancetta until nice and crispy and brown 

3. Mix the oil and milk together. Don’t worry if it doesn’t fully blend   

4. In a separate bowl mix the flour together with the baking powder and salt 

5. Add the milk and oil mixture to the flour mixture and fold together. Make sure you don’t over mix though.  

6. Add the grated cheddar cheese and pancetta (reserving some for sprinkling) into the flour, oil and milk mixture and fold again. It’ll look pretty rustic and that’s fine.  

7. Put the mixture into the muffin cases and sprinkle the remaining pancetta on top

8. Cook until golden brown. They should spring back when pressed if they’re done (about 20-25 minutes)

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Leave them to cool for a few minutes before serving. The kids like to eat them alone as a snack or for breakfast/brunch. I also like them as a light lunch to accompany some soup.

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More baking ideas – Bake alongs with friends on Zoom 

Salmon and Gruyere quiche

Cod fish cakes

The post Easy Pancetta and Cheese Muffins appeared first on The Parent Social.

The bake along – a beautifully simple idea

A group of us are involved with our children and take it in turns to host. The host chooses a recipe and sends everyone the ingredients list in advance. On the day, the host organises a Zoom meeting. Once we’re all online they demonstrate the method for the recipe and we have a lot of chat along the way.

The recipes are quite straightforward so that the children are able to do most of the steps. It’s a really nice social thing for the adults and children alike; we get to learn new recipes and obviously get to sample the fruits of our labour.

What we’ve baked so far

Week 1 – Grandma’s biscuits

My friend Eleanor’s old school recipe is in imperial measurements. It’s very, very simple and despite my kids’ initial reservations about oats they absolutely loved them (recipe above).

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients together (you can add some finely chopped stem ginger if you want)
2. Roll mixture into a sausage shape
3. Cut discs about as long and thick as a little finger (should make approximately 20)
4. Squish very lightly onto a baking tray (they can look very rustic)
5. Cook for a max of 15 mins at 180c
6. Ice with plain icing if you want (we didn’t bother)

Week 2 – Pizzette

On our first week of hosting, the kids wanted to make one of their favourites: pizzette. These are mini puff-pastry pizzas. You’ll find the recipe in the below post.

Week 3 – Banana bread

Mary Berry’s Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe was used for our week three bake.

• 1 ripe banana 
• 1 tbsp milk
• 50g soft butter/baking spread
• 75g plain flour
• 75g caster sugar
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 free-range egg
• 50g dark chocolate chips

This made a lovely light bread, which had a perfect level of sweetness. Click here for the method.

Week 4 – Garlic cheese scones

Ingredients

• 100g plain flour
• 100g wholemeal or rye flour
• 2 tsp English mustard powder (optional)
• 1/4 tsp of cayenne (optional)
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 clove of garlic finely mashed
• 50g unsalted butter
• 200g cheese cut into cm cubes (Manchego, cheddar)
• 1 large egg
• 4 tablespoons of plain yoghurt

Here’s how to make them: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/jan/26/foodanddrink.recipe1

Week 5 – Gingerbread biscuits

Ingredients:

• 180g plain flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 55g unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
• 85g soft light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 beaten egg
• tubes of icing or icing sugar for dusting

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 190c
• Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger into a bowl and rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs
• Gently heat the sugar and golden syrup in a small pan until melted and gooey. Pour it into the bowl and add the beaten egg
• Mix it all together with a wooden spoon (if too sticky add a bit more flour)
• Wrap dough in cling film and chill for half an hour
• Flour your work surface. Roll out dough to a depth of approximately 4mm and cut out into whatever shapes you like (re-roll the offcuts)
• Put your biscuits on a lined baking tray, bake for 12-15 mins and then allow to cool
• Decorate as you want

Week 6 – Chocolate cupcakes

• 100g plain flour
• 20g cocoa powder
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 40g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 120ml whole or semi-skimmed milk
• 1 egg
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Here’s the method.

Week 7 – Pineapple upside down cake

We went 70s retro this week with a recipe that none of us had attempted before. It was very easy to follow and we unanimously had great results. We used a BBC goodfood recipe.

Week 8 – Pancetta and cheese muffins

These make for a great weekend brunch and were loved by the kids (two out of three preferring them to chocolate chip muffins!).

This makes approximately nine muffins.

• 2 x 77g of diced pancetta
• 85g of cheddar (grated)
• 170g plain flour
• 130ml of milk
• 45ml sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt  

Method:

• Preheat oven to 190c (Gas mark 5) and line a muffin tray with muffin cases (you can use cake cases)
• Fry the pancetta until brown and crisp
• Mix the oil and milk together and separately mix the flour, baking powder and salt together
• Add the milk and oil mixture to the flour and fold together (don’t mix too much)
• Fold in the pancetta and cheese but keep back some of the pancetta for sprinkling
• Put mixture into the cases and sprinkle remaining pancetta on top
• Cook until golden brown. They should spring back when pressed if they’re done (about 20-25 minutes)

Week 9 – No Bake Orange Cheesecake

This was a great one for the kids as there were plenty of enjoyable jobs for them. The favourite was probably crushing the biscuits! I should have segmented the oranges properly so it looked prettier… next time.

Ingredients:

• 15 digestive biscuits
• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• 400g curd or cream cheese
• grated zest 3 oranges (save the segments for the decoration)
• 200g mascarpone cheese
• 100g caster sugar
• 3 tbsp milk
• 184ml (small pot) double cream

Here’s the method: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/no-bake-orange-cheesecake

Week 10 – Jumbo sausage rolls

We can’t claim these to be made from a five generation’s-old family recipe; They are completely copied from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. We cheated and used puff pastry, which worked perfectly. We also cooked for a little longer than the 35-40 minutes suggested. Fantastic picnic fare and actually easier to make than I thought they’d be.

Here’s the recipe and method: https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/big-sausage-rolls

Week 11 – Sticky Toffee Pudding

This week was a husband takeover. The initial plan of malt loaf received a bit of a lukewarm response. However, it was fever pitch excitement for this classic British dessert, which was recently crowned the nation’s favourite.

This was Nigella decadence at its best. I think arteries were hardening with every bite of this, but it was sublime and loved by children and adults alike.

Here it is; you’re welcome: Nigella’s sticky toffee pudding

Week 12 – Brandy Snaps

One of the bake along gang happened to mention brandy snaps last week. It might be July, but we all agreed on how much we loved them and that they shouldn’t just be for Christmas.

They were actually easy to make and lovely and crunchy and light. They tasted great and were perfect for taking on a picnic.

Here’s the recipe from BBC Good Food.

You might also like:

Salmon and Gruyere quiche

Family meal inspiration

Rice dishes for children

The post Bake alongs with friends on Zoom appeared first on The Parent Social.

Pizzette ingredients (and equipment)

(makes 21 pizzette)

• One Jus-Rol Puff pastry ready rolled sheet
• One egg (for egg wash)
• Tomato passata 500g
• Oregano
• Salt & pepper
• Self raising flour for dusting surface
• Toppings of your choice
• Pastry brush
• Pastry cutter (or a glass) roughly 6cm diameter
• Baking parchment or foil

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200c (this is what I do for a fan oven)
2. Using the pastry cutter/glass, cut out 21 circles from the ready rolled pastry. You won’t be able to fit all 21 in one go so just re-roll the offcuts and go again

3. Place on the baking parchment/foil and onto a baking tray

4. Beat the egg and brush over each circle

5. Put the passata in a bowl and add oregano, salt and pepper to taste – you only need half a tablespoon of sauce on each disc so gauge how much passata you want to use. We do the lot and then turn the excess into a pasta sauce

6. Put half a tablespoon of the mixture in the middle of the disc leaving a border all around

7. Add your toppings (suggestions below)

8. Pop in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the borders of the pizzette are nice and golden

9. Let them cool a little before serving

Topping suggestions

You can mix and match here. The girls like plain tomato ones, ones with a sprinkle of grated cheese and ones with sliced black olive. I add a tiny pinch of extra oregano to each of these.

If you can get hold of it, a few cubes of provolone cheese makes a great topping. A small piece of ham, an anchovy, a couple of cubes of pancetta, mushrooms…whatever you want, just don’t overload. You can even leave off with the tomato sauce and use half a teaspoon of pesto in the middle with a little cheese.

You might also like:

• Bake alongs on Zoom  
• Easy Taralli recipe
• Family meal inspiration  

The post Pizzette Recipe – Cooking with Children appeared first on The Parent Social.

1) Soft play centre 

Bank holiday Monday was a wash out. We headed to Eddie Catz in Wimbledon, South London – a soft play centre that caters for babies, toddlers and children up to about 12 years old. It offers classes and workshops under the ‘edutainment’ umbrella, but we were there purely for the kids to release plenty of energy, and boy did they. Some soft play venues that are aimed at that sort of age spectrum can be extortionate. I find Eddie Catz reasonably-priced. The facilities are good and the food went down very well, and again was reasonably-priced. All three loved the sizeable main play frame with all its scramble nets, tubes, slides etc, but my husband started getting a bit nervous about the two-year-olds disappearing out of reach and sight and took them to the tamer toddlers’ frame. The disco room was also a big hit.

2) Designed a Father’s Day mug

Last year’s effort (complete with wear and tear). It changes colour with hot liquid!

It has become a bit of a custom: the personalised photo Father’s Day mug. Each year for Father’s Day we design a mug for my husband using some of the family photos from the last year. It’s lovely to go through the year’s photos together and choose which ones to include. It’s really easy to do and there are loads of different options. We do get him another gift/s in addition, but my eldest likes giving this present the most (mainly because she loves photos of herself).

3) Baked and decorated biscuits 

Look at the concentration

I found the easiest recipe for biscuits ever on Netmums; it consisted of three ingredients (though I made it my own by adding Vanilla Essence) and all three girls were able to get stuck in with the creaming, mixing and kneading. Sofia had been bought Eddingtons Cinderella Cookie Cutters, so we used those. Like their older sister, the younger two are obsessed with anything fairytale and princess-related (bleugh!) so these caused much excitement. I let them all watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates whilst they baked and cooled, so it was a dream come true for them. I’d bought some squeezy tubes of coloured icing, so much time was spent decorating them. Then after dinner they ate them.

4) Arts and crafts 

I gave our arts and crafts box a Spring clean. Then doing our grocery shop (I’d say weekly shop, but I spend what seems like half of my week in the supermarket), I discovered that Sainsbury’s stocks loads of really well-priced arts and crafts items and sets. I bought sticky shapes for collages, paintbrushes and foam paint brushes, fancy pipe cleaners and a great canvas with a fairy design with paints and sparkly bits included for Sofia. The girls didn’t fight or moan for ages, so a definite hit and Sofia was super proud of her artwork, so we put it on display.

Sofia’s handiwork

5) Half-term play dates 

The perennial favourite: Simple, but effective. We went to someone else’s house armed with both healthy snacks and treats. The change of scenery and company works wonders.

The weather’s shaping up to be ok, so we’re off to Godstone Farm tomorrow… and here we are:

That poor rabbit!

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