Many children go through phases of not liking the texture of stewed fruit. This recipe for rhubarb cookies is a fun way to get children to try eating rhubarb in a recipe that they know they like - soft cookies.
These will work fine with flax eggs / egg replacers and any plant milks of your choice. Make sure you only use the stem of the rhubarb and never include any leaf parts as rhubarb leaves are poisonous.
Ingredients
100g butter - left out at room temperature
200g sugar
1 egg
225g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
200g rhubarb, chopped into small cubes
100g raisins
2 tbsp milk
Equipment
Big bowl for mixture and small bowl for beating eggs
Hand mixer or wooden spoon for beating
Fork for beating eggs
Measuring spoons
Baking sheet ( 1 large or two medium)
Chopping board and knife for chopping rhubarb
Instructions for children:
Put the oven on at 180 degrees C/Gas Mark 4.
Get a baking sheet ready by putting greaseproof paper or silicone on it, or by rubbing a bit of butter all over it.
With the help of a grown up, chop the rhubarb up into very little pieces. They should be about as big as your last section of your finger. This chopping might be quite tricky, so a grown up might help to cut it into slices and then you can cut the slices into half.
Put the butter into the bowl, and measure in the sugar.
Use an electric mixer or a wooden spoon to mix them together until everything is mixed well together, there are no lumps, and the mixture is starting to go paler in colour and looks quite fluffy. If you are using a spoon, this will take a few minutes and you might need to take a little break in the middle if your wrist gets tired. Put the spoon down, wiggle your arms around and count to twenty! Then pick the spoon back up and try again.
Break the egg into a little bowl, and use a fork to beat the eggs until it is mixed together. Add the egg to the fluffy mix in the big bowl, and stir it in.
Add in the flour, the baking powder, the cinnamon and nutmeg and stir it in gently, making sure you don't send clouds of flour all over the room!
Add in your chopped rhubarb and raisins and mix well. The mixture will be quite dry and lumpy.
Add in your two tablespoons of milk, measuring them carefully so you don't slosh in too much. Measure it over the egg bowl if you want to be careful.
Mix everything together. It should be JUST wet enough to clump together without being sticky – if it doesn't clump together, add one more tablespoon of milk.
Pick up egg sized blobs of the mixture and put them, spaced out, onto a greased baking sheet. Cookie dough spreads and flattens as it cooks so leave some space between each pile.
Ask a grown up for help to put them in the oven safely and bake them for 12-15 minutes until they look golden but they are not yet going brown.
We love this lemony variation of the recipe: Picklebums Lemon Rhubarb Cookies
This interesting cookie has a jammy soft rhubarb filling: Rhubarb Central Rhubarb Filled Cookies
If your child has never creamed butter and sugar together before, this little video might help them to see what to do.