Spreads

Baking with M, Week 8

This weekend was a busy one at our house. Matt had some guy pals in town for the UT / USC football game, so they were out and about around town. The girls and I had a lazy Saturday morning getting a little too much screen time, BUT we saw this fun spreads recipe while watching The Pioneer Woman on Food Network. We decided this would be our baking project of the week.

Spreads are basically a giant sheet cookie, smothered with frosting and decorated with fun toppings. I imagine you could make these for about any occasion, and decorate them accordingly. It’s a great hands-on activity for kids!

In our case, we had some leftover chocolate frosting from our banana muffins with sprinkles that we decided to use, some M&M’s, and some sprinkles. If we had burnt orange, we could’ve gone with those. (Hook’m horns!).

We made no modifications to the original recipe, but you can find it here: Spreads on The Pioneer Woman

Tips With Kids

I do have a few tips for doing these with littles:

• Beware of the hot pan! You’ll want to decorate the spreads while they are still warm so the frosting is soft and the toppings stick. We waited for the pan to cool a little, then I wrapped a towel around the side the kids were reaching over so there would be no accidents with arms and elbows.
• Children will eat the toppings. Remember to be cautious with candy they can choke on.
• Try not to stress about a little mess and have fun!