Fall is my favorite time of year, and I love the food even more. Cozy casseroles, soups, and delicious sweet treats reign supreme this time of year. What’s better than cooking yourself? Cooking with your grandkids! Here are some recipes, mostly from my kitchen, that I hope you will make and enjoy with your grandkids this season.
This cake has been a staple for my birthday ever since I was a kid. It is a deep, dark, dense chocolate cake that any chocoholic would approve of. It is sometimes called crazy cake out east. The best part? It’s one bowl easy to make.
4 ½ cups flour
3 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa
3 teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup salad oil
3 teaspoons vanilla
3 teaspoons vinegar
3 cups cold water
Stir dry ingredients into a bowl.
Stir in the salad oil, vanilla, and vinegar.
Pour the cold water all over and beat well with an electric mixer.
Bake at 350 in a 9x13 pan for 50 minutes.
Frost with any kind of icing you like, but peanut butter frosting is my favorite.
How kids can help: Kids can help dump in the ingredients and mix them together. They can also help frost and decorate the top.
Photo credit: GettyImages/jacoblund
This recipe came from my grandmother. It’s like a coffee cake, but better. All the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon on top melts all down through the cake and also makes a crisp, sweet layer on top. Delicious.
1 lump of butter the size of a walnut
1 ½ cups sugar
1 egg
1 ½ cups milk
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 stick of butter (cut into small cubes)
1 cup brown sugar
Cinnamon
Cream together the butter and 1 ½ cups sugar until well blended.
Add 1 egg, 1 ½ cups milk, 3 cups flour, and 2 teaspoons baking powder. Mix until well combined with an electric mixer.
Pour the batter into a greased 9x13 pan.
Sprinkle 1 cup of brown sugar over the top.
Cut up the stick of butter into little cubes and dot the brown sugar with little pieces of butter.
Sprinkle cinnamon generously over the top.
Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes.
Cool and enjoy.
How kids can help: Kids can help add the ingredients to the bowl and mix them together. They can also help by sprinkling the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon on top.
Photo credit: © Getty Images/monkeybusinessimages
This is a fun and delicious fall snack that’s both tart and sweet at the same time. The granny smith apples are the perfect accompaniment to the peanut butter and granola because of their tartness.
2 Granny Smith Apples
4 Tablespoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons granola
First, core and wash your apples. Then, slice them horizontally into flat sections. Take one slice and spread some peanut butter on it. Then, add some granola and top with another slice to make a sandwich. Continue until you use all the apple slices.
How kids can help: If age-appropriate, kids can help cut the apples into slices. Younger kids can help spread the peanut butter on the slices and sprinkle the granola on them.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/RgStudio
This is a great salad for any time of year. It has vegetables, pasta, bacon, and creamy ranch dressing.
1 box rotini pasta
1 lb bacon
3 tomatoes
¼ bag of fresh spinach
1 bottle Bacon Ranch Dressing
Extra regular ranch dressing, if needed.
Cook the bacon and let it cool.
Cook the rotini pasta, drain it, and spray it down with cold water. Let drain for five minutes and then add to a large bowl.
Cut up tomatoes into bite-size pieces and add to the pasta.
Tear the stems off of the spinach leaves and then tear the leaves into pieces, add to the bowl with the tomatoes and pasta.
Cut the bacon into pieces with kitchen shears and add to the bowl.
Add the bottle of bacon ranch dressing and stir.
If you feel it needs more dressing, add some plain ranch dressing.
Chill for 3 hours and serve.
How kids can help: Kids can help tear the spinach leaves, cut up the tomatoes (if age appropriate), cut the bacon with kitchen shears, and stir all the ingredients together.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/alvarez
In Pennsylvania, where I come from, we make our Dutch pot pie with a rich chicken broth, tender chunks of chicken, and tender, homemade dough noodles. Pot pie to us is not a two crust pie with vegetables, chicken, and cream sauce. It’s best to pre-prep this recipe in advance.
6 Whole Chicken legs or thighs
1 box chicken broth
5 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ¼ sticks margarine (You’ll know you have enough margarine when the dough holds together in a tube shape when you open your palm. See below.)
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup water
Mrs. Dash Herb n Garlic (or you can add your own poultry seasoning.)
Cover the chicken with water an inch above the meat, bring to a boil, then turn down to a medium simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove a piece of meat, cut it open next to the bone, and check for doneness.
Remove the chicken, remove the skin, and take the meat off of the bone by hand, breaking into small pieces.
Pour the broth from the chicken into containers. Cool totally to room temperature before refrigeration. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, remove the chicken broth from the refrigerator and skim the fat off with a spoon.
Put chicken broth into a large Dutch oven. Add 1 (32 oz) box chicken broth. Add Mrs. Dash Herb & Garlic to taste. Bring it to a rolling boil.
While waiting for the broth to come to a rolling boil, make the dough.
Add 5 cups of flour to a large bowl. Add 2 ½ teaspoons of salt and stir the dry ingredients. Take the 1 ¼ stick of margarine, cut it up, and put it in the flour. With your hands, squeeze it and mix it throughout the flour. Put some of the mixture into the palm of your hand, squeeze it, and if it forms a log that will hold together, you know you have enough margarine. If not, add a little more and work it into the dough until you can form a log and hold it in your hand.
Put 4 eggs into a separate bowl and beat them with a fork. Add a cup of water to the eggs and continue to mix with a fork.
Pour it all over the flour.
With your hands, start folding and pressing the flour and eggs toward the center of the bowl. Work with the mixture until it sticks together and makes a ball. If you still have some flour that’s not mixed, add water a little at a time until it’s absorbed and mixed in. There should be no dry flour in it.
Next, divide the dough into two pieces and roll it out to about ⅛-¼ inch thick. Cut into squares with a pizza wheel or a knife.
Make sure the broth is at a rolling boil, and drop 4-6 pieces at a time. Stir to make sure they have a few seconds to get into the broth and wetted. This step helps your pot pie noodles not stick together. Keep doing that in batches until all the dough is in the pot. Add the chicken to the pot.
Turn it down to a medium boil and cook for 25 minutes. Remove a piece of dough and put it on a plate. Cut it in half and look for doneness. It should have a solid appearance. If you want the noodles softer, cook them a little longer.
How kids can help: Kids can help bone the chicken, add the chicken broth and seasonings, make the dough, and drop it carefully into the broth to cook.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Tatsiana Volkava
This is a hearty dish for those cold, chilly nights. Creamy chicken gravy over biscuits with mashed potatoes and peas.
6 whole chicken legs or thighs
1 (32 oz) chicken broth or stock
1 tube of biscuits (your favorite brand or homemade)
Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb Seasoning (optional)
Stew the chicken until it falls off the bone. Remove chicken from pot and remove skin and take meat off the bone. Break meat into smaller pieces.
Pour broth into containers and cool til at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours or overnight. This step allows the fat to rise to the surface of the broth, which can be easily removed. You can skip this step if you prefer.
Skim the fat from the broth. Put stew broth into a Dutch oven and add the boxed chicken broth.
Use your choice of gravy thickening. Season the gravy.
I add a little yellow food coloring to the gravy for presentation. Just add A LITTLE AT A TIME to get the look you want.
Bake your biscuits.
Serve biscuits smothered with chicken gravy.
Note: We love mashed potatoes with this, but that is up to you. Cream slaw or a hot vegetable like peas is also fantastic with this meal.
How kids can help: Kids can help bone the chicken or add the chicken broth and seasonings. They can also help place the biscuits on the sheet to bake or make homemade biscuits.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/andreswd
Who doesn’t love a bowl of thick, hearty chili when the weather gets colder? I use sausage in mine instead of ground beef. A coworker brought in a crockpot of chili with sausage, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I will serve this with either garlic toast or breadsticks. Sometimes I make a box of cornbread to go with it for my husband as I am not a fan.
1 lb of mild sausage
1 bag chopped frozen onions
1 bag of chopped green pepper
3 cans of tomato sauce
2 cans of black beans
Chili powder, cumin, and black pepper to taste
Cook and drain the sausage in a skillet.
While the sausage is cooking, add the frozen peppers and onions to a stockpot on medium heat. Stir them occasionally while they are cooking, about five minutes.
Once you cook the vegetables, pour in the tomato sauce.
Drain and add the cans of black beans.
Add chili powder, cumin, and black pepper to taste.
Bring to a boil.
Once boiling, turn it down to a simmer for 15 minutes.
Once the first 15 minutes are up, taste it and see if it needs more seasoning. If so, add some. If not, simmer for another 15 minutes.
While the chili is simmering, bake your garlic toast, breadsticks, or cornbread if desired.
When done simmering, taste to see if it’s to your liking and then serve.
Tip: If you poured too much chili powder or cumin in and now it’s too hot, add ¼ to ½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon. It will take the edge off the heat.
How kids can help: Kids can help pour the ingredients into the pot, put the garlic bread and breadsticks on the pan to bake, or help mix the cornbread to bake.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Fudio
This soup is delicious and kind of reminds me of a quick Wonton soup. If you love Chinese food, you will love this soup.
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon ginger or ginger paste
1 (32 oz) carton of chicken broth
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 bag frozen mini potstickers
2 handfuls of fresh spinach leaves
Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized pot.
Add garlic and ginger; cook for 1 minute.
Add chicken broth and soy sauce; bring to a boil.
When soup is boiling, add mini potstickers and cook for 2 minutes.
Add spinach leaves and cook until wilted.
Pour into bowls and serve
How kids can help: Kids can help pour in the ingredients and also drop the potstickers into the soup with adult supervision.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/FG Trade
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm 2% milk (110° to 115°)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sour cream
4 large egg yolks, room temperature
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
FILLING:
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in milk. In a large bowl, combine 3 cups flour, sugar, and salt; cut in butter and shortening until crumbly. Add the sour cream, egg yolks, lemon zest and yeast mixture; mix well. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and refrigerate the dough overnight.
Let dough stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Punch dough down; turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into thirds. Roll each into a 12-in. circle; cut each circle into 12 wedges.
Combine filling ingredients; spread 1 rounded teaspoon filling over each wedge. Roll up wedges from the wide ends and place point side down 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Curve ends to form crescents. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Bake crescents until golden brown, 13-18 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks.
How kids can help: Kids can help by dumping in what you measure, or if they are older, they can practice their measuring skills with the ingredients. Once the dough is separated and cut into wedges, children can use their little hands to fill and roll the crescents.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Lordn
1 meaty ham bone
1-1/3 cups dried green split peas, rinsed
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
4 cups water
1 bottle (12 ounces) light beer
1 tablespoon prepared English mustard
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Additional minced fresh parsley, optional
Place ham bone in a 4-qt. slow cooker. Add peas, celery, carrot, and onion. Combine water, beer, and mustard; pour over vegetables. Cook covered on high for 5-6 hours or until peas are tender.
Remove ham bone from soup. Cool slightly, trim away fat and remove meat from bone; discard fat and bone. Cut meat into bite-sized pieces; return to slow cooker. Stir in the next 5 ingredients. If desired, top with additional minced parsley.
Recipe from Taste of Home
How kids can help: Kids can help measure and add the ingredients to the slow cooker. If they are too little to measure, they will have fun dumping in the ingredients that grandma or grandpa measures.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/andreswd