The key to packing lunchboxes for your kids is to remember the golden rule: Kids want to play!

They donā€™t want to spend their entire recess or lunch break unwrapping beautifully designed food. They want to be on the soccer pitch. They want to be creating a new dance routine. They want to be on the Handball court. They want to be with their friends! So take the stress out of lunchboxes and make what’s in them easy. Better for the kids concentration, dental health and energy levels, and better for your time management, stress levels and hopefully this will result in less wasted food too!

Two Ingredient Pizza Dough

Kids love pizza, and this two ingredient pizza dough is easy, fluffy and foolproof. We love it for mini pizzas, but also use it for sweet and savory scrolls. It freezes well and it honestly doesn’t get any easier than this. Top them however you like, our kids like salami and cheese, ham and cheese, and really plain margherita. Fancy them up with fetta and basil if you wish.

Like a lot of things, we often double the recipe and freeze in air tight bags or containers. Perfect for lunch boxes or slightly warmed for a delicious after school / sport snack. So easy that the kids themselves can make these. That’s a win.Ā 

Ingredients:
1 + 1/2 cups of SR Flour
1 cup Greek Yoghurt

Method:
Preheat the oven (or air fryer to 200 degrees) line a tray with baking paper.
In a medium bowl mix together flour and yoghurt as much as you can, and then get clean hands in there to form a ball. Lightly need on a floured bench, roll to desired thickness (allow for a bit of shrinkage) and cur to desired circle sizes. (You could try an egg ring six, or perhaps use a Tupperware style round container as a cutter)
Top with tomato paste, cheese, mixed herbs, salami or toppings of your choice
Bake for 10-14 minutes or cooked but not too crispy.

Fruit Smash Pikelets

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 5-10 minutes
Serves: 18

Easy and delicious, add three tablespoons of any smashed or purƩed fruit to these cute pikelets, or enjoy them plain. We like smashed banana or raspberries or stewed apple. Suitable to freeze in an airtight ziplock bag and pop into school lunchboxes on those busy mornings!

Ingredients
1 cup self raising flour
1 large egg
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons of melted butter
Extra butter for your frypan

Method
Add vinegar to milk and set aside to sour for five mins
Mix all other ingredients in a medium bowl with a whisk until combined
Add desired smashed fruit (or opt out)
Warm a frypan and add a teaspoon of butter
Add table spoon sized blobs to your pan
When bubbles appear, flip ’em
Cook one minute on the second side
Serve and enjoy or cool and add to zip lock bag with air removed for freezer storage

Lazy Sausage Rolls

Ok so the cheat is, you squeeze sausage meat out of a sausage to make the sausage roll. Whip these beauties up from scratch in under 15 minutes. Freeze them, or send them fresh out of the air fryer to school! Fancy them up with sesame seeds or Everything Bagel seasoning on top.

Ingredients
2 sheets of puff pastry
4 sausages of your choice (we like thick continental pork and fennel)
1 beaten egg for pastry wash
Optional sesame seeds or Everything Bagel Seasoning

Method
Thaw pastry sheets and score vertical down the middle so as two sheets will make four long sausage rolls. (Choose to cut them up into small bite sized pieces if you wish once assembled, before cooking)
Squeeze sausage meat out of skins to make your long sausage rolls.
Roll each and brush the tops with egg wash.
Cut into desired sizes and poke each with a fork.
Sprinkle with sesame or bagel seasoning before placing on a lined oven tray in a preheated, fan forced oven for 10-12 mins 220C (If air frying cook for 8-10 minutes)

Banana Oat Biscuits

Biscuits are always a winner with kids, so when you find a recipe that’s delicious and includes great nutrients for your kid, it’s a win win!

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
2 eggs
2 tbs honey
2 tsps vanilla extract,
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup wholemeal spelt flour,
2 cups rolled oats
Ā¼ cup blueberries,
1 tsp baking powder

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C; Mash bananas then mix in eggs, honey, vanilla and oil.
Add flour, rolled oats and blueberries. Stir all ingredients until combined.
Drop tablespoons of mixture onto tray lined with baking paper – flatten slightly with fork.
Bake for approximately  20 minutes or until golden brown.

Broccoli Bites

Such a winner for kids of all ages, from first finger foods to school lunchboxes. AND, they’re full of flavour and nutrients!

Ingredients:
1 big head of broccoli,
3 large potatoes,
1 garlic clove, minced
 egg, lightly beaten
Ā¼ cup grated Parmesan Cheese,

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Place potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Boil potatoes and until tender but not falling apart. Drain and allow to cool.
Steam the broccoli florets in a steamer for around 5 minutes.
Place steam broccoli into a food processor and pulse until it is all in small pieces. Place into a large bowl.
Grate potatoes and add to the broccoli.
Add the mince garlic, egg and Parmesan to the bowl and mix together until well combined.
Using your hands create 20-30 bite size logs with the mixture. Place onto baking tray and into the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up.
Remove from freezer and brush with olive oil. Bake for 30-40 minutes until they are browned and crispy, flipping halfway through.

Apple & Blueberry Crumble Muffins

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 12

Ingredients
2 Granny Smith apples
1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1 cup plain self-raising flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Ā¾ cup light brown sugar
Ā½ cup (125ml) olive oil
Ā½ cup Greek yogurt
1/3 cup milk
2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ā½ cup fresh blueberries

Crumble topping:
Ā½ cup plain flour
Ā¼ cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
60g unsalted butter, softened and diced
Ā¼ cup rolled oats

Method
Preheat oven to 200Ā°C (180Ā°C fan-forced) and line a 12-hole standard muffin pan with paper cases.
To prepare apples, grate Ā½ cup of apple and finely dice Ā½ cup apple, both with skin on.
For the crumble, mix flour, sugar and cinnamon together. Add butter and rub together until mixture is well combined and starts clumping. Add oats and mix until well combined. Set aside until required.
For the muffins, add flours, cinnamon and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl, stirring to combine.
In a large jug add oil, yogurt, milk, eggs and vanilla, whisking to combine. Pour over the flour mixture, adding prepared apple and blueberries, stirring mixture until just combined.
Evenly divide mixture between paper cases and sprinkle over crumble mixture. Place muffin pan in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Chicken & Hidden Veg Sausage Rolls

Sausage Rolls are a kids staple, thereā€™s not many kids out there who wonā€™t smash a sausage roll for any meal. We love this recipe because itā€™s not only SUPER easy to make, the ingredients donā€™t cost much and itā€™s also got 4 serves of veggies in there! You can also mix it up and add any veggies your kids love, or ones you want them to eat. For a middle eastern inspired alternative swap chicken mince for lamb mince and worcestershire sauce for pomegranate molasses

We cook them in big batches and freeze them so theyā€™re always there handy for when you need them.

Ingredients:
400 g chicken mince
1 grated carrot
1 grated zucchini
Ā½ an onion grated
Ā½ a parsnip grated
4 sheets frozen puff pastry just thawed
Ā¼ cup of finely chopped parsley leaves
1-2 garlic cloves minced
Sesame seeds to top (optional)
2 eggs beaten (one for mixture one for brushing)
salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1/4 a cup of wholemeal breadcrumbs

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, place pastry sheets out to defrost and line a couple of baking trays with baking paper
In a medium bowl mix together mince, breadcrumbs, carrot, zucchini, onion, parsnip, garlic, worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, parsley & egg. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Place one pastry sheet on floured surface and cut it in half. Spoon mixture onto pastry in the shape of a log lengthways along the middle of the pastry, leaving around .5cm at either end. Lift the other side of the pastry over and join it (try not to pull it too tight as it can break). Seal the edges by pressing down with a fork
Place sausage rolls onto baking trays. Brush with beaten egg (or milk) and sprinkle with sesame seeds
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden

Easy Cheesy Bites

We are loving little 91¹ū¶³“«Ć½ business Cook n Create and their healthy achievable ideas. Jacki decided to get the kids on to this quick recipe in the recent school holidays, because it was super easy. The kids easily managed to make a big batch of these for lunch and some spares for the freezer.

Note: The below recipe makes six. We suggest doubling or tripling the recipe and freezing a half dozen or so that can be pulled out on school mornings and tossed in the lunch box or warmed up after school for an easy snack.

Ingredients
Your fillings. We chose a mix of salami and grated tasty cheese and diced ham and grated tasty cheese. Grated veggies go alright too ā€“ you do you.
Some oil or butter to grease a muffin tin (recipe makes six hole tin ā€“ you can double up etc and make more)
3 eggs and a splash of milk whisked

Method:
Pre heat oven to 180oC and grease muffin tin
Whisk eggs and milk
Drop cheese and ham / selreted fillings into each muffin hole
Equally distribute egg and milk mix over the top (each hole should be roughly 2/3 full before cooking)
Bake in a preheated oven for ten minutes or until done
Turn out on to a wire rack to cool slightly and enjoy on their own or with sauce, sweet chilli, chutney or your desired condiment. We ate ours warm on the trampoline!

Easy Peasy Choc Chip Cookies

Easy and baking are two words I like seeing next to eachother and thatā€™s why I love this cookie recipe. Not fancy, not gourmet but definitely delicious! A great one to try with kids.

Ingredients
125g butter
1 1/4 cups of brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup of plain flour
1/4 cup of self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarb
1/3 cup cocoa
2/3 cup Choc chips, M&Ms, cranberries, or your other ā€œchip of choiceā€

Method
Preheat oven to 180Ā°C (160Ā°C fan-forced) and line baking trays with paper.
Beat butter, brown sugar and egg in a small bowl until smooth (use electric beater if you have one)
Sift plain flour, self-raising flour, bicarb and cocoa in a large bowl and add to the other mixture and combine.
Add in your Choc chips and mix
Drop cookie blobs on baking tray with a few cms between each one or youā€™ll end up with one mega cookie (been there)
Bake for about 10 mins and put on wire rack to cool (and wonder how many will actually last long enough to cool)

Cold Rolls with Dipping Sauce

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
8 x 22cm round rice paper wrappers
150g vermicelli noodles
Ā¼ iceberg lettuce, shredded
1 large carrot, grated
1 Lebanese cucumber, cut into sticks
Ā½ avocado, deseeded and thinly sliced
8 coriander sprigs
200g cooked shredded chicken or cooked peeled prawns

To serve:
Sweet chilli or hoisin sauce, for dipping

Method
Cook vermicelli noodles following packet instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water. Place drained noodles in a bowl and snip with kitchen scissors.
To make rice paper rolls, place all filling ingredients together on a large plate and fill a large shallow bowl with hot water.
Place rice paper wrappers one at a time into the hot water for about 10-15 seconds until just soft, as they become difficult to work with, the softer they become. Place wrapper onto a clean sheet of baking paper and assemble cold roll ingredients across the centre (like a sausage), allowing about 4cm of wrapper at either end. It is important not to add too much filling, as it will be difficult to roll and the wrapper may tear.
To roll the wrapper, start with the edge closest to you and encase the filling. Fold the outside edges in over the filling, to hold the ingredients in at each end. Roll filling over remaining wrapper and place cold roll on a platter to serve. Repeat process with remaining ingredients.
Serve cold rolls with dipping sauce of choice.

Healthy Banana Bread

I am yet to meet a kid who doesn’t love banana bread! It’s perfect for freezing and pulling out when needed. Delicious fresh or toasted. It’s just the perfect snack!

Ingredients
ā…“ cup melted coconut oil
Ā½ cup honey
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 Ā½ medium or 2 large bananas)
Ā¼ cup milk of choice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ā½ teaspoon salt
Ā½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Ā¾ cups spelt flour.

Method
 Preheat oven to 165 degrees Celsius and grease a 9Ɨ5-inch loaf pan.
 In a large bowl, beat the oil and honey together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then whisk in the mashed bananas and milk.
 Add the baking soda, vanilla, salt and cinnamon, and whisk to blend. Lastly, switch to a big spoon and stir in the flour, just until combined.
 Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and sprinkle lightly with extra cinnamon.
 Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before slicing.

Guacamole

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
2 large avocados, halved and deseeded
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
Ā¼ cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 lime, juiced
Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
100g corn chips
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into batons
1 Lebanese cucumber, cut into batons

Method
Spoon avocado into a small mixing bowl and mash with a fork.
Add spring onions, tomatoes, coriander, lime juice, salt and pepper, stirring to combine.
Serve guacamole with corn chips, carrot and cucumber batons.

Choc Orange Bites

MAKES 12 BALLS ā€“ GF . DF . V . VG . *
Bliss balls are a healthier sweet treat option with protein and healthy fats from the seeds. My staple base ingredients are dates or apricots and seeds (or nuts if schools allow).

Ingredients
sunflower seeds 1/2 cup
pumpkin seeds 1/2 cup
dates 1 cup pitted
cacao powder 1 tbsp
orange zest of 1 + 1tsp juice
shredded coconut 1/2 cup to roll
coconut oil 1 tbsp

Method
In a food processor blend seeds into crumbs. Place rest of ingredients except juice/coconut oil into food processor and blend until well combined. It should look like damp crumbs. Gradually add juice or oil until mixture sticks together and starts to form balls when pressed together.
Roll into balls, then roll in coconut or simply leave plain. Keep in an airtight container in fridge until ready to pop into your childā€™s lunchbox.

Nutritionistā€™s Tip
Add coconut oil gradually at the end so you donā€™t make them too sticky.
Alternative emulsifiers are lemon juice, orange juice, coconut cream or olive oil
Alternative coverings ā€“ cacao/cocoa powder, melted dark chocolate, carob, crushed nuts or seeds
Alternative flavourings ā€“ 1tsp peppermint essence, lemon rind/juice, cinnamon, dark chocolate chips
Use nuts instead of seeds if allowed ā€“ almonds, cashews & hazelnuts work well

Zucchini Slice

This recipe is easy to make, doesnā€™t have many ingredients, requires ONE bowl, is healthy, tastes good, freezes well, is great for lunchboxes

Ingredients
1 large zucchini grated
1 large carrot grated
1 cup cheese grated
3/4 cup almond meal
6 eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk
salt, pepper, dried oregano to taste

Throw it ALL in a bowl, mix it, pour into a lined slice tray and bake for about half an hour on 180 degrees.
Cut into lunchbox size slices and freeze, or just devour it like we did.

Extras:
Throw in some chopped bacon, ham, mushroomsā€¦..pretty much anything your kids like to eat.
You can substitute almond meal with wholemeal spelt flour if you prefer.
You can substitute coconut milk for normal milk if you prefer.

Note
This recipe has NUTS (almond meal) and EGGS so not suitable for classrooms with food allergies.

Apple Chips

This school year replace the potato chips for Apple Chips! One of my go to additions for the lunchbox or a snack at home.
These homemade apple chips are super healthy and the best yet its soooo simple! Store in an airtight container when cooled

Ingredients
4 gala apples
cinnamon

Method
Preheat oven to 110Ā°C fan-forced. Line one or two baking trays dependent on how many you wish to make with baking paper and set aside.
Using an apple corer, remove the apple cores. Slice into 2mm slices and lay on the baking trays.Sprinkle with yummy cinnamon.
Bake for 2 hours, stopping after the first hour to turn the slices over (set a timer to remind you). Cool on wire racks.

Cleaned Up Bubble Bars

This is a great one bowl recipe that’s easy to make and guaranteed to get eaten! Gluten free and dairy free.

Ingredients
2 cups puffed rice or rice bubbles
1 cup desiccated coconut
2 tbs chia seeds
2 tbs cacao powder
1ā„4 cup coconut oil
1ā„2 cup honey

Method
LINE a medium baking tin with greaseproof paper.
IN a large bowl, combine the puffed rice, desiccated coconut, chia seeds and cacao. Mix together well.
PLACE the coconut oil and honey in a small saucepan and melt together on a low heat.
TIP this mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until everything is well combined.
PRESS the mixture into the lined tray and place in the fridge to set for at least two hours before cutting into bars.

Tips
Using ordinary rice bubbles rather than plain puffed rice will make this recipe quite a bit sweeter. Keep in the fridge! Bars last for up to a week.

Homemade Fruit Roll Ups

Follow these easy steps to make your own homemade rollups from 100% fruit!
The recipe is super simple and a great way to use up extra fruit you have leftover, or if youā€™ve been fruit picking and need ideas for your haul.

Ingredients
3 cups of fruit. I used frozen mango I had in the freezer but you could experiment with mixed berries, apricots, necatrines, pears, apples or anything really. Let us know which combos work best.
Add a squeeze of lemon juice, it helps the fruit keep its bright colour
If you want, add a bit of honey, if not leave it out. We added just one tablespoon as a test and itā€™s YUMMY but you could definitely leave it out if you wanted. Weā€™ve heard a touch of coconut oil is also delicious.

Method
Blend baby blend until itā€™s as smooth as possible. I used my Magimix, but you could use Thermomix, a blender or your Nutribullet. Try and get all those lumps out for a nice smooth roll up.
Spread the smooth mixture on a baking tray lined with baking paper, or a reuseable silicone baking mats (I got mine from ) It needs to be as thin as possible without forming holes, about half a cm.
Turn your oven on as low as it will go (mine was 70 degrees) and wait wait wait until the fruit is no longer sticky to touch. Mine took around 6 hours. Sometimes the edges might go a bit dry if they are thin, you can rehydrate them a bit by rubbing a bit of water on them.
I then peeled the fruit off the silicone mat and placed it onto a sheet of baking paper. I then cut strips using scissors keeping the baking paper with the fruit strap. And then you just roll them up and whack them in your lunchbox.
Theyā€™ll keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks ā€“ theyā€™ll likely be gobbled up before then though!

Easy Peasy Scrolls

Make this easy peasy 2 ingredient dough and add your choice of scroll fillings. Always a hit with the kids!

Ingredients
1 cup greek yoghurt
1.5 cups SR flour

Filling options:
Vegemite and cheese
Pesto and cheese
Cinnamon sugar
Ham and cheese
Bacon, BBQ sauce and cheese
Chopped apple and cinnamon

Method
Mix yoghurt and flour together and bring together with your hands (add more flour if it’s too sticky).
Press and roll dough onto floured bench until it’s to your desired thickness
Cover dough with your chosen fillings.
Roll up and cut into your desired thickness (I prefer about 2cm thick)
You can brush with melted butter or an egg wash to create a nice golden finish if you wish.
Cook in the oven or air fryer at 180oC for 15 minutes, or until golden.

Check it out – add a few ingredients to your next shopping list and get stuck in with the kids this World Sushi Day, or any day. Fill the lunch boxes or the dinner table. Got a train set? You could even make your very own sushi train. For the super health conscious, you could even use brown rice – but yeah, my kids are not eating that.

OR if you have no idea why you have landed on this page, you might prefer to check out our favourite places to buy Sushi HERE

To make enough sushi for four kids lunch boxes you’ll need:

1 cup sushi rice

3 sheets sushi nori (seaweed paper)

1 sushi mat (or you might like to use a sushi press)

2 table spoons sushi seasoning (or make sushi su with 2 table spoons rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons sugar + pinch salt)

Suggested fillings:

Panko crumbed chicken schnitzel, avocado slices, kewpie mayonnaise, tinned tuna, cooked prawn, cucumber sticks, capsicum sticks, left over roast chicken, smoked salmon, cream cheese, sesame seeds, pretty much any thing you feel like putting in and rolling up……

Steps:

Cook your rice (can be done ahead, but warm rice is also fine). You can use a rice cooker or use the stove top absorption method. Follow your packet instructions or this is what we do:

Absorption: 1 cup rinsed uncooked rice and 1+ 1/2 cups of cold water into a saucepan with a lid on it. Bring to the boil, turn down to a slow simmer and leave it for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool (lid off) for 10 minutes.

Mix in 2 tablespoons of sushi rice seasoning, or your home made vinegar sushi su (give it a taste, some people like 3 tablespoons – less is more for us.)

While your rice is cooking, prep your sushi fillings. Think veggie strips, and maybe a protein.

We like to panko crumb strips of chicken breast. You could buy chicken schnitzel already crumbed. Even better, plan your dinner the night before to include left over sushi fillings. Some kids like it as simple as a strip of cucumber or avocado only.

Place a sushi mat on your clean bench – sticks running horizontal. Place a sheet of nori shiny side down.

Using wet hands, press a thin layer of cooked cooled rice all over the sheet, leaving a 3cm wide strip along the edge furthest from you.

Place your fillings along the middle of the rice in a line. Stack them on top of each other, or keep them close together. Don’t forget to add a generous line of mayo – if you are that way inclined.

Now we roll!!!! Hold filing in place while you roll the mat over to envelope the rice and filling. Roll it up with gentle pressure, imagine you are rolling wrapping paper back onto the roll.

Unroll the matt and use a sharp knife to slice sushi into 1.5cm rounds or larger rolls.

Our tip if you are sending in school lunchboxes, leave them as long rolls and tightly glad wrap them to keep the rice soft and fresh, slice when packing lunch boxes, or simply cut the long sushi into two 10cm lengths and send bigger.

Don’t forget to serve with your favourite dipping sauce, some pickled ginger, soy or perhaps wasabi for the brave, and then stuff that sushi into your head flat out!

(We like to eat these with in 24 hours for freshness, we also like to wash our drink bottles out every day, but now I’m just bragging honestly.)

Make them by hand, make them in a food processor (honestly this is the worst option) or make them in your fancy pants Thermomix using the ‘kneeding’ function if you like scrubbing that stupid bowl and blade. Doesn’t matter how you make these, they are rustic, rough and so so good. Your bench and hands are going to get messy. Last thing, if you have one of those silicone mats, you are perhaps a class above me, but also, it would be a great opportunity to pull it out from the back of the cupboard.

Here’s what you need:

260 grams plain flour

125g butter (salted, unsalted, you choose)

60g brown sugar

40g cocoa powder (or raw cacao if you are a hippy) use more if you are a risk taker like me

2tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

150g choc chips (or more or less, we probably used 150g and ate another 150g because #worldchocolateday)

1tsp bicarb (found ours in the slime cupboard)

1 egg lightly beaten (preferably from a chicken, not from Easter)

200g milk (any kind)

Bang it all together like this:

Preheat fan forced oven 180oC

Throw your flour, butter, sugar, baking powder, cocoa, bicarb and salt in to a mixing bowl and mix until just combined

Add your choc chips, milk and egg and stir with elbow power (use a kneed function 30 seconds if cooking with a Thermomix)

Dust you hands with flour and transfer you chocolatey goodness to a floured bench or silicone mat

The dough will be the stickiest thing ever

Press it out to a rectangle that’s about 3cm thick and maybe 15cm wide and 20cm long

We added a few extra choc chips to the top at this point, lightly pressing them in

Cut into scones (we just used a knife and made twelve big rectangle scones)

Place individually with a little room to grow on baking paper on a tray and pop into your oven for 17-20 minutes

These will freeze well or keep in an airtight container on the bench for 48 hours (longer in the fridge)

If you’re anything like us when you go fruit picking though, you often get over enthusiastic and end up with more than you can eat. Luckily, Cook n Create has come to the rescue with some great recipes to use up your surplus apples.

Give these recipes a go and tag us in your photos of the finished products!

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 (three-quarters) cup coconut
• 125g (4 oz) butter
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• Ā½ (half) teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tablespoon boiling water

1. Combine oats, sifted flour, sugar and coconut.
2. Combine butter and golden syrup and stir over gentle heat until melted.
3. Mix bicarb with boiling water until it froths up
4. Add bicarb froth to melted butter mixture, stir into dry ingredients.
5. Take teaspoonfuls of mixture and place on lightly greased oven trays; allow room for spreading.
6. Bake in slow oven (150Ā°C ) 10-12 minutes for chewy / 15-20 mins for crunchy
7. Cool on a rack and try your best to not eat them all in one day.

What you will need (This is the full recipe but if you want to make less, you can simply half the recipe ā€“ I often do this or I will munch away on the extras!)

• 300g Digestive biscuits (You can use others of course but digestives work the best)
• 100g coco pops
• 270g unsalted butter
• 400g Chocolate (You can use white, milk or dark!)
• 6 tbsp golden syrup
• 150g marshmallows

Thatā€™s the basic recipe BUT we love to add:

• 50g popcorn
• 100g mixed nuts
• 100g mixed dried fruits

You can get creative!

Method

1. Break up your chocolate into a large glass/heatproof bowl
2. Fill a saucepan with boiling water and place the bowl over the saucepan over a low heat (Make sure the bottom of your bowl isnā€™t too near the bottom of the saucepan and that you donā€™t take the bowl off the pan)
3. Keep stirring the chocolate until melted ā€“ this is a slow melting method called a ban marie and it wonā€™t burn your choccie like in the microwave!
4. Whilst your chocolate is melting place your digestive biscuits in a food bag, get out most of the air before sealing tightly.
5. Using your hands (or a rolling pin) crush the biscuits in the bag ā€“ there should be a mixture of textures, some crushed finely and some small chunks
6. Add your crushed biscuits into a mixing bowl as well as your coco pops, marshmallows, and any other fillings you chose e.g popcorn, nuts etc
7. Melt your butter
8. Add your butter into the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly (be careful when you remove the bowl from the saucepan- the steam can burn you)
9. Add your syrup into the butter and chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly
10. Pour your combined butter and chocolate mixture into your bowl with your fillings
11. Mix the ingredients together until everything is coated in the chocolate mixture
12. Transfer the mixture into a 20 x 20 baking tin (You can use any tin/dish really) or you can make mini rocky roads into cupcake/muffin cases
13. Using the BACK of a metal tablespoon press down the mixture firmly into your tin/dish/case to it isnā€™t too crumbly
14. Put into the fridge to cool for 45-60 mins
15. Slice, enjoy and ā€¦ tag Cook n Create in your masterpieces!

Psssst ā€“ You can also add toppings to your Rocky Roads or even trickle over some white chocolate etc! Get creative!

Cook n Create are a fantastic, 91¹ū¶³“«Ć½ mobile cooking school who offer classes for all ages and abilities. Find out more about this awesome team here, or try their easy pizza recipe here too.

We started making this because we have found spinach one of the easiest things to grow in our garden. Note, you can halve the spinach if you don’t think your kids will be keen. You can also use frozen if it’s more convenient.

What you will need:

20 ish large pasta shells

400g ricotta

1 cup grated mozerella

1/2 c grated parmesan

1 Tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2-4 packed cups spinach (chopped and washed)

8 basil leaves (roughly torn or chopped)

1 large egg

1 t sugar (any kind)

1 tin of crushed tomatoes OR 400g pasata

salt and pepper

Make it and bake it:

Cook your large shells in a big pot of salted water and set aside (stir a drizzle of olive oil to prevent them sticking together)

Preheat oven to 180oC

Add olive oil to fry pan, medium heat, add crushed garlic until aromatic, add spinach until half wilted. Stir. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl stir all all of the cheeses, egg, salt, pepper, half of your basil until combined.

Add the other half of your basil to a can of crushed tomatoes plus your sugar and salt and pepper to taste.

Use 1/4 of the tomato mix to coat the bottom of a medium baking dish.

Spoon big dessert spoonfuls of the cheese and spinach mixture into shells and place them into the baking dish.

Pour remaining tomato over the shells / bakiing dish

Top with a handful of cheese of your choice and cover with foil.

Bake at 180oC for 20 mins. Remove foil and bake a further 15 mins.

Sprinkle with Parmesan and basil leaves to serve.

2 cups SR Flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup water

1 tsp sugar

30g chopped cold butter

suggested optional flavours

Handful of:

Frozen raspberries and white chocolate chips OR

Frozen or fresh blueberries OR

Sultanas OR

Grated cheese and chopped chives

METHOD:

Place butter and flour together in a large bowl and rub with your fingers until resembles breadcrumbs. Add sugar, milk and water and chosen flavour, if any, and stir until a sticky dough.Ā 

Place dough on a floured surface and knead gently into a ball, then squash or roll it to 2cm thickness, cut with a cutter and place in a greased or lined tin. Brush with milk to glaze and bake for 12-20 mins at 200 degrees, this will depend on your oven so watch them!

Serve with butter and enjoy!

Big thanks to our friend Amy from for sharing her recipe and photos with us!