Cooking With Kids - Damper

I think by now we all know that kids love cooking. They love learning how things are made and being part of the process of creating something that they can eat. It gives them a great sense of satisfaction and achievement and can even sway a fussy eater into trying something new if they have 'cooked' it themselves.

I am always looking for ways to get the kids involved in the kitchen like Sunday night 'build your own pizzas'. When it comes to the kitchen though, what my kids like most is getting their hands dirty. That usually means cakes and cookies and while that is OK on occasions I am always looking for alternatives that are both fun and (at least moderately) healthy.

Enter damper. If you are Australian you know damper as bush tucker, a quintessential part of your childhood. Pulled over a stick and roasted over an open fire or backed in the coals of a camp fire there was no better way to spend a cold, wet winters day... ahh good memories...

For those who have no idea what I am talking about damper is basically bread without yeast.

The base ingedients for damper are flour, salt, butter and milk / water (maybe a bit of baking soda) and then you can add pretty much any ingredients you and the kids fancy. We added sultanas and blueberries but the options are almost endless (cheese, herbs etc). There are plenty of recipe variations online, we used this one for our base.

The kids loved getting stuck into it and choosing the ingredients that we added.

While roasting in the coals of a campfire is nice and all it can just as easily be baked in an oven.

We just ate ours with some butter, but next time we might have to try some golden syrup.

Fun, educational and a lovely rustic snack on a cold winter's day (or any day to be honest).