A Couple of my Favourite Dad Proof Recipes

I’m slow and somewhat disheveled in the kitchen. I’m the first to admit it. I can cover the basics, breakfast is my specialty. When’s the last time you heard of somebody botching bacon and eggs?

I’ve had to come out of my cooking shell of late and I’m taking ‘baby’ steps. It can be overwhelming, all of the recipes and do’s and dont’s floating around the web are enough to make even the most seasoned chef question their abilities – I like to tell myself that.

During my culinary journey, I’ve tracked down three recipes that I give an A+ to for being Dad proof. Before I start making anything, it needs to meet a couple of very simple criteria: Easy, Hearty, Healthy.

There’s a great site full of baby recipes called Baby Led Weaning Ideas which is where my first go-to recipe came from, sugar-free blueberry muffins.

Ingredients:
1 cup (or more, depending on your preference!) fresh blueberries
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
a pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
just under 1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/4 cup milk

Cooking:
1 Preheat your oven to 400F.
2 Mix all but the blueberries in a bowl.
3 Gently mix in the berries.
4 Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray.
5 Pour the mixture into the tins, about 1/4 cup at a time.
6 Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through.

The final product:

(Photos courtesy of: Baby Led Weaning Ideas)

Another gem I stumbled upon online. My daughter doesn’t have any allergies so I made these killer Sweet Potato Toddler Snacks with all purpose flour and regular baking powder – recipe from Little House Living website.

Ingredients:
1½ c. all-purpose flour
2½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
3 T. water (may need a little more)
1 c. mashed sweet potato

Instructions:

1 Cook and mash your sweet potato. For 1 c. you will need about one large sweet potato.

2 Add the other ingredients to the mashed sweet potato and mix well.

3 If your mixture seems dry, add a little more water to bring it to the right consistency.

4 Cut into fun shapes with mini cookie cutters.

5 Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Then flip and bake another 5 minutes.

6 Let them cool before serving, store in an airtight bag or container.

Here’s a play-by-play from beginning to end:

When rolling out the dough make sure to use a lot of flour on your counter and rolling pin to make sure it doesn’t stick.

Roll the dough out nice and thin because they puff up a lot once cooked.

A couple of important things to remember when making anything for the little one: keep salt intake to less than 400mg/day & honey isn’t safe for babies under 12 months. I mention that because those ingredients appear in a lot of recipes.

Happy cooking!

DBDB