Allergen: Contains Gluten

The berry best strawberry recipes to make your mouth water

Delicious, healthy, versatile and in season right now, there’s no better time to whip up one of these delicious strawberry dishes.

strawberry-pancakes-with-mascarpone

If you (and your kids) are sick of the same old snacks, you (and they) will go crazy for these strawberry treats that are as tasty as they are healthy.

1. Strawberry mice

When is a mouse in your kitchen a welcome sight? When it’s a cute widdle stwawbewwy one that encourages your toddler to eat fruit. That’s when.

2. Strawberry yoghurt with crunchy bits

Don’t let the posh title confuse you. It’s really just strawberry yogurt with crunchy bits.

3. Pancakes with strawberry mascarpone

For when you’re feeling a bit mother-of-the-yearish and want to whip up something extra special.

4. Strawberry honey and buttermilk muffins

A delicious take on your traditional berry muffin, be prepared to make it more than once as they’ll be begging for repeat offerings.

strawberry cheesecake slice

Be that cool mum with all the yummy treats that all the other kids talk about. You know the one.

5. Strawberry cupcakes

What better way to decorate cupcakes than with some gorgeous ruby red strawbs?

6. Healthy strawberry no-bake cheesecake slice

As far as cheesecakes go, this one’s about as virtuous as they come. Meaning, of course, that you can have a very large slice.

7. Strawberry jelly slice

I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly. I know you are. (Sorry. That was bad.)

8. Strawberry pops

Strawberries + chocolate + marshmallows = lots of very happy children.

strawberry-quinoa-smoothie

Added to a smoothie, milkshake or refreshing juice … strawberries turn a standard drink into a sublime experience.

9. Strawberry quinoa smoothie

If your family would sooner stab themselves with forks than willingly eat quinoa, then get sneaky and secretly feed it to them in a delicious strawberry smoothie. Mwahahahaaa!

10. Strawberry banana milkshake

A delicious treat on a hot day, this is the stuff that childhood memories are made of. That and jumping off the roof of the house dressed in a cape and undies.

11. Healthy strawberry smoothie

Made with milk and ricotta, this makes a great healthy and filling brekkie – perfect for those kids who struggle to eat a meal in the mornings.

strawberry surprise cake

Nothing says special occasion more than a cake where strawberries play the starring role.

12. Chocolate dipped strawberry flower birthday cake

Perfect for a flower-themed birthday, partygoers can snack on the chocolate dipped ‘flowers’ as well as the cake itself.

Leftover sausage bake recipe

Leftover sausage bake recipe

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 300g short pasta
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 red capsicum, finely diced
  • 1 zucchini, thickly sliced and quartered
  • 8 leftover sausages, chopped
  • 420g jar pasta sauce
  • 400g can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 cup grated tasty cheese

Method

Cook pasta and drain.

Preheat oven to 180°C conventional or 160°C fan forced.

Heat olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan. Saute garlic, red capsicum and zucchini until softened.

Toss through pasta, sausages, pasta sauce and crushed tomatoes.

Pour into a casserole dish and top with grated cheese. Cook for around 30 minutes until cheese is melted and golden.

Serve with a salad.

Find related casserole recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • If you need to make this s-t-r-e-t-c-h further, stir through some drained red kidney beans before popping in the oven.
  • Add a gentle heat with the addition of a little chopped chilli.
  • This recipe was created by Alana House for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Homemade tomato soup with basil and mozzarella grillers

Homemade tomato soup with basil and mozzarella grillers

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 25g butter
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 2 x 400g tins diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
  • 25g butter
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced

Grillers

  • 4 large slices of rustic bread, cut in half
  • oil spray
  • 100g bocconcini, sliced
  • handful of basil leaves (about 8 large leaves should do it)

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C or 180°C fan-forced.

Heat a medium-sized saucepan on low heat and melt butter. Add onion, garlic and a pinch of salt and cook for 8-10 minutes until onion is soft and translucent. Add tomatoes, stock and smoked paprika.

Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and process tomato soup until smooth. Return soup to the heat and bring back to the boil.

Serve in bowls with a drizzle of cream.

Spray each slice of bread lightly with oil and make sandwiches with the cheese and basil leaves. Place sandwiches on an oven tray and bake for 10 minutes, turning over half way, until golden brown on both sides and cheese has melted.

Serve with homemade tomato soup.

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • You could add some leg ham to these grillers if your family want meat in every meal.
  • This soup is a great rainy day freezer soup. Just make sure you leave out the cream until you are ready to serve.
  • You could also do this in a frying pan or a toasted sandwich maker.
  • This recipe was created by Jay Rogers for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Rock cakes

Rock cakes

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 2 cups self-raising flour
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 90g unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup caster sugar
  • 1 cup sultanas
  • 9 mixed glace cherries (I used 3 red, 3 yellow and 3 green), chopped.
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • ½ cup milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Sift flour and cinnamon into a large bowl, then rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Stir in sugar and fruit.

Stir in egg and enough milk to give a stiff dough (should still be moist).

Place one tablespoon of mixture onto the trays, about 5cm apart.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack.

Notes:

  • I had forgotten how dull it is rubbing butter into flour.
  • Therapeutic, I guess. However, the kids love it because they get to play with flour and make a mess.
  • Traditionally rock cakes have mixed peel — everyone say ‘ugh’ — so I have replaced it with ‘traffic light’ glace cherries.
  • This is an excellent recipe for kids because it is all done in one bowl, with no heat (or help!) required until the oven is needed.
  • Hmm, you may need to chop the cherries if your kids are not safe when knife-wielding.
  • Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

Serving Suggestions

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Medal Cookies

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cups butter, softened
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste or 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
  • 1 cup wholemeal flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup milk chocolate buttons

Method

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Stir through the vanilla and then the self-raising flour and salt until you have a nice soft dough. Wrap this in plastic and pop in the fridge for at least an hour (or overnight or freeze for a few weeks but in this case just let defrost gently in the fridge overnight).

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll to about 1/2cm thickness. I find the easiest way to do this is to break the dough off and do small amounts at a time – that way you don’t end up having to handle big sheets of dough that invariably tear down the middle or stick to the bench.

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a biscuit tray with baking paper. Cut the rolled out dough into circles using a round 6cm cookie cutter or similar. Gently push a hole through near the top edge of each circle with the thick end of a chopstick and then, using the narrow end, tidy that hole up so it’s nice and neat. Place the dough circles on your prepared baking tray and bake for 10 minutes or until a light gold colour. Let cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler over simmering water. Spoon melted chocolate into a small plastic bag with a little cut in one corner or piping bag with the narrowest nozzle attachment you have, and once the biscuits are cool, pipe the numbers one two and three on the biccies. Or you could just let the kids go freestyle!

Notes

  • Try to avoid rolling out the pastry too thinly as this generally means the cookies will burn or be too fragile to decorate. About 1/2cm thickness works for me!
  • This recipe can also be made with a food processor, a fact I discovered only today after remembering that I’d lent my standing mixer bowl to a friend.
  • This recipe was created by Local is Lovely

Serving Suggestions

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Spinach feta slice

Spinach feta slice

Serves:

 

Ingredients

  • Large bunch spinach leaves
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 250g feta
  • 125g cheddar cheese, grated
  • 5 free range eggs
  • 8 sheets filo pastry
  • Olive oil spray (or olive oil to brush on)

Method

Wash spinach and dry in a lettuce spinner.

I had to spin dry in three batches, even with a largish spinner.

Remove spinach stalks and discard, shred leaves finely.

Combine spinach and onion in a large colander and sit for 1 hour to drain.

Preheat oven to 180C.

Butter a deep rectangular dish (mine was 26cm x 32cm, but a slightly smaller one would be fine).

Add crumbled feta and cheddar cheese to the spinach mix and mix well.

This will be testing your colanders volume capacity to the limit if you have a small colander, perhaps transfer to a large bowl to mix.

Place four filo sheets on the bottom of the dish, spraying oil between sheets.

Press spinach mixture into dish.

Beat eggs with a whisk in a small bowl until frothy, pour evenly over spinach.

Cover with remaining filo sheets, spraying oil between sheets and on top sheet.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until lightly browned.

Notes:

  • A wonderfully crunchy, cheesy pie even my kids will eat the green bits
  • I buy the 375g box of filo sheets in the refrigerator section of the supermarket. You will have heaps left!
  • Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

 

Serving Suggestions

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Chicken baguette

Chicken baguette

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 1 cooked chicken breast, skin removed, chopped
  • 3 shallots, white and pale green parts, finely sliced
  • 1 stick celery, thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • salt and white pepper
  • 1 baguette/long bread stick (about 50cm long), or 4 bread rolls
  • small amount of butter
  • 1 cup rocket
  • 1 Lebanese cucumber, sliced on the diagonal

Method

Combine chicken, shallots, celery and mayonnaise in a bowl.

Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Split the baguette lengthwise and thinly spread the bread with butter.  (This helps prevent the bread from going soggy.)

Lay the rocket along the bottom of the roll, then top with cucumber.  

Spoon the chicken mixture into the baguette and cut into four pieces.

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • f you haven't got any shallots to hand, try adding half a finely chopped red onion instead or 1 tbsp fresh chopped chives.
  • Use a wholegrain baguette with seeds if you can for more of a nutritional punch.
  • This recipe was created by Julie Goodwin for GLAD

Spring chicken braise with lemon, herbs and almonds

Spring chicken braise with lemon, herbs and almonds

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken, jointed
  • 4 tbsp flour
  • 30g butter
  • zest of 2 lemons
  • 20-40ml (1-2 tbsp) olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon thyme leaves, chopped
  • 1/4 cup marjoram, chopped
  • 1/4 cup rosemary leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 brown onion, finely diced
  • 2 sticks celery, diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 250 ml (1 cup) white wine
  • 250ml (1 cup) chicken stock
  • couscous, toasted almonds and cress to serve.

Method

Preheat your oven to 140°C (or 120°C fan-forced). Dust the chicken pieces with flour, melt the butter over a medium heat in a heavy-based saucepan and brown the chicken well on all sides. Lay the chicken in an oven-proof baking dish.

Add olive oil to the frying pan and cook the onion, celery and carrot for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the herbs and white wine and let it bubble for a few moments before pouring in the chicken stock and bringing mixture to the boil.

Pour this sauce over the chicken pieces, cover tightly with foil and cook in the pre-heated oven for 3 hours.

Serve with couscous, toasted almonds and parsley or cress.

Find more chicken recipes:

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • Having a chicken jointed means cutting a whole chicken into six portions. You can get  this done at your local chicken shop.
  • I like to give this dish two layers of foil so the juices are sealed in well.
  • This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.  You can follow Sophie on Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Sausage pot pies recipe

Sausage pot pies recipe

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 8 leftover chicken sausages
  • 125ml (1/2 cup) white wine
  • 375ml (1 1/2 cups) of chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp caramelised onions
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with a little water to make a paste
  • 2 sheets puff pastry
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • steamed veggies and mashed potato to serve

Method

Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and gently saute the celery and carrots until softened.

Add the sausages, wine, stock and caramelised onions and thyme. Stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180°C conventional or 160°C fan forced.

Stir in the cornflour paste to thicken the mixture. Simmer another 5 minutes.

Divide mixture among 8 ceramic dishes. Cut circles of pastry, place over the dishes. Brush pastry with beaten egg.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden.

Serve with steamed veggies and mashed potato.

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • If using beef sausages, substitute beef stock for chicken stock and red wine for white wine.
  • Ramekin dishes make cute mini pot pies to feed the kids. Use pastry scraps to personalise the pies with their initials.
  • This recipe was created by Alana House for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder. You can follow Alana at Housegoeshome and on Twitter.

Double choc slice

Double choc slice

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 1 block of dream or any other white chocolate
  • 1 cup self raising flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbs cocoa
  • 1 tin condensed milk
  • 125g melted butter

Method

Mix all ingredients together.

Sppon mixture in a lamington tin and press broken pieces of chocolate into mixture.

Bake at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cooked.

Serving Suggestions

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Scones

Scones

Serves:

Hot or cold with whipped cream & your favouite jam

Ingredients

3 Cups SR Flour
Pinch of Salt
1/2 cup of Cream
1 1/2cups of Milk

Method

PREHEAT the oven to 260’c and grease a baking tray.

SIFT the flour and salt then add the cream and the milk into the centre. STIR with a knife to form a soft dough.

TURN out onto a floured board. KNEAD lightly. ROLL to about 1.2cm in thickness & using a 5cm cutter, cut out the scones.

PLACE on a tray and turn the oven back to 250’c before putting the scones in to back. BAKE for about 10minutes.

When baked brush tops with melted butter to enhance their appearance

Serving Suggestions

Note

Healthy glazed meatballs

Healthy glazed meatballs

Serves:

Ingredients

Meatballs

  • 500g extra lean beef
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

Glaze

  • 1/4 cup (60ml) soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) oyster sauce
  • 1/2 (125ml) cup orange juice
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced

Method

Heat oven to 210°C (190°C fan-forced) and line an oven tray with baking paper.

Mix meatball ingredients together and roll 1 tablespoon of mixture for each meatball.

Place on the oven tray and bake for 10 minutes.

Place glaze ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove meatballs from the oven and pour a teaspoon of glaze over each meatball.

Continue to bake for a further 10 minutes.

Remove meatballs from the oven and toss through the remaining glaze.

Serve on a salad, steamed vegetables, rice noodles, rice or a combination of any of these.

Find related meatball recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • Using lean mince keeps the fat and calories down.
  • Make twice as many and send meatballs along in a lunchbox the next day.
  • This recipe was created by Jay Rogers for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder. You can follow Jay at The Moodie Foodie and on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Homemade baby cereal

Homemade baby cereal

Serves:

 

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 1/4 cup water

Method

Put the water in a pot, then add the oats.

Bring the liquid close to a boil while stirring.

Turn the heat off, cover the pot and let the oatmeal cook in its own steam till soft (about 10 minutes).

This process is similar to making instant rice.

Flavor the oatmeal with a little expressed breast milk or formula, if desired.

Be sure oatmeal is not too hot when served.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Spicy Pumpkin Hummus with Pita Bread

Spicy pumpkin hummus with pita bread

Serves:

A delicious twist on regular hummus, this spicy pumpkin version goes well with warm pita bread wedges as an appetiser.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked butternut pumpkin pulp (see Notes below)
  • ¼ cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp ground cumin, plus extra for sprinkling
  • olive oil, to drizzle
  • pita bread, to serve

Method

Mix all of the ingredients except the olive oil and pita bread in a bowl.

Drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with some extra ground cumin. Wrap the pita bread in foil and warm in the oven.

Notes:

  • You can buy tahini in the health food section of the supermarket.
  • To roast butternut pumpkin for this recipe: split a whole butternut pumpkin in half, remove the seeds and cook it in the oven at 180°C (160°C) for 45 minutes. There is no need to peel it. You can just scoop out the pulp when you remove it from the oven. If you have some leftover it is great for soup or filling for pasta.
  • Butternut pumpkin is best used for this recipe because of its sweetness. You can use other varieties, but you may need to add a teaspoon of honey.
  • This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Find more Vegetarian recipes

Serving Suggestions

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Chicken matzo ball soup

Chicken matzo ball soup

Serves:

 

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup parsley, roughly chopped
  • 2 cups coarse matzo meal
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • half a cup soda water
  • 4 cups salted water or chicken stock for cooking the matzo balls
  • 2 small carrots, sliced
  • 2 litres chicken stock
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method

In a large mixing bowl, stir the eggs (don‰t whisk) and add the oil, soda water, matzo meal and salt and pepper to taste. Stir gently until just combined, cover and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Fill a small bowl with iced water and keep nearby. Dip your hands in the iced water and gently form 4cm balls from the matzo meal mixture. Dip your hands in the iced water between making each ball.

Fill a large saucepan with enough salted water or chicken stock (about 4 cups) to allow balls to move freely, boil then reduce to a simmer. Allow to cook for thirty minutes. Remove the balls and set aside on a plate, discarding the cooking liquid.

Bring a large heavy-based saucepan to medium heat, add 2 tablespoons oil. Saute carrot, then add the additional stock. Prepare bowls by adding two balls and ladling the soup over this. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

Notes

  • The stock or water you use to cook the matzo balls will go cloudy during the cooking, so don‰t be tempted to reuse it in the soup as the finished soup should be clear.
  • The better the chicken stock you use here, the better the soup. I recommend homemade chicken stock for this recipe, not store-bought (unless its made by the butcher etc.)
  • I‰ am not Jewish but this rates as one of my favourite soups!
  • This recipe was created by Kristine Duran-Thiessen for Kidspot, New Zealand‰s best recipe finder

Serving Suggestions

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Haloumi and Silverbeet Fritters

Enjoy these tasty haloumi and silverbeet fritters on their own or pop them into a bun with some salad for a great veggie burger alternative.

Ingredients

  • 180g haloumi, coarsely grated
  • 2 cups silverbeet, finely shredded
  • 1 tbsp mint, chopped
  • 1 lemon, zest
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup plain flour
  • 40ml (2 tbsp) olive oil

Method

In a large bowl, combine haloumi, silverbeet, mint, lemon zest, eggs and flour. Season well.

Heat olive oil in a large fry pan over medium heat. Scoop 1/4-cup serves into fry pan, flatten slightly and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden. Remove to a plate lined with absorbent paper towel.

Serve with lemon wedges.

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • To prepare silver beet, wash well, remove stalks then roll leaves tightly and slice very finely.
  • English or baby spinach would be a good alternative to the silverbeet.
  • Recipe by Greer Worsley, a working mum whose desire to make and bake things has grown in inverse proportion to the amount of spare time she has since her three gorgeous girls came along. Her blog is typically red.

Homemade fish fingers and baked fries

Homemade fish fingers and baked fries

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 4 red potatoes, large
  • 1 tbsp rice bran oil + 2 tsp extra
  • 4 salmon fillets (preferably the long, narrow ones), cut into ‘fingers’
  • 3 wholemeal bread crusts
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • Sea salt

Method

Preheat oven to 220°C or 200°C fan-forced.

Cut potatoes into chip shapes. Toss the chips in 2 teaspoons rice bran oil – just enough to coat them but not drench them or the chips will be soggy. Place on baking paper on a baking tray. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Chop the bread crusts in a food processor to make crumbs.

Beat egg with Dijon mustard.

Dip salmon pieces in the egg mixture then in the breadcrumbs.

Heat one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and cook until golden. If pan gets a little dry, add a dash more oil.

Remove chips from oven when golden and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve with the salmon and salad or steamed veggies.

Notes

  • You can make your own aioli to serve with the fish fingers. Use a stick blender to mix 1 crushed garlic clove, 2 egg yolks and 1 tsp salt. Continue pulsing stick blender as you add 1 cup of olive oil in a very slow drizzle until it’s all combined and thickened and a lovely, creamy colour. Stir in 1 tablespoon water, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tsp dijon mustard. Serve.
  • This recipe was created by Alana House for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder..

Find more fish recipes

Serving Suggestions

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Thai seafood salad

Thai seafood salad

Serves:

Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 1/2 kg green prawns (peeled, deveined, tails intact)
  • 1 squid tube (cleaned, finely sliced)
  • 400 g firm fish fillets
  • 1 punnet cherry tomato
  • 1 Lebanese cucumber
  • coriander (for topping)
  • mint (for topping)
  • lime (cut into wedges, for topping)

For dressing:

  • 1 bunch coriander (washed, roughly chopped)
  • 1/2 bunch mint (roughly chopped)
  • 1 long red chilli (seeds removed, roughly chopped)
  • 4 clove garlic (crushed)
  • 2 tbs soy sauce
  • 2 tbs lime juice
  • 1 tbs fish sauce
  • 1 tbs brown sugar

Method

Make dressing by blitzing all ingredients in a food processor.

Heat a barbecue or grill plate over high heat. Toss seafood in a little oil. Cook calamari for a couple of minutes until just cooked through. Remove to a bowl. Cook prawns for 1-2 minutes each side. Add to bowl with calamari. Cook fish for 3-4 minutes each side, depending on thickness, until just cooked. Allow to cool slightly then flake carefully into chunks.

Carefully fold dressing through seafood using a large spoon.

Halve cherry tomatoes and dice cucumber. Add to seafood and fold through. Spoon salad out onto a serving plate and garnish with extra herbs, sliced chilli and lime wedges.

Related Christmas recipes:

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • Choose seafood according to your taste. Mussels, scallops and even lobster would be great.
  • Choose a firm white fish, e.g. Blue-eye Trevalla.
  • Feeding a crowd? Buy extra seafood and simply double the quantities in the dressing.
  • The long red chilli makes this mildly spiced. If you like your Thai salads hot, add a couple of bird’s eye chillis instead.
  • This recipe was created by Greer Worsley for Kidspot.

Pepperoni and bocconcini pizza

Pepperoni and bocconcini pizza

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 1 pizza base
  • 1/2 cup pizza sauce
  • 15 slices (30g) pepperoni
  • 6 bocconcini balls
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C fan-forced or 220°C conventional. Spray a pizza tray with canola spray and lay the pizza base on the tray.

Spread the pizza sauce over the base. Place pepperoni slices out over the base.

Slice bocconcini and place slices in between pepperoni.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bocconcini is melted.

Remove from oven and scatter basil leaves over the top.

Serve with salad.

Related pizza recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • This pizza is quite economical and has lots of flavour with few ingredients.
  • You can use large mozzarella balls sliced if you can’t get bocconcini.
  • The fresh basil cannot be substituted in this recipe.
  • This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder.

Rubber duckie cupcakes

Rubber duckie cupcakes

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 125g unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ cup (185mL) milk

 

Icing

  • 2 cups icing sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoons water
  • blue food colouring

 

Decoration

  • 650g white ready-to-roll fondant icing*
  • yellow and orange gel or paste colouring (liquid food colouring not compatible with the fondant icing)*
  • icing sugar, for dusting
  • green writing gel
  • 1 cup desiccated coconut
  • green food colouring

*from cake decorating shops

 

  • You will need 12 large cupcake papers (base 52mm x height 30mm) for this recipe. I found the duckie cupcake papers in my local cake decorating shop.

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Place cupcake papers in a 12-hole muffin tray.

In an electric mixer, beat butter for 2-3 minutes until pale in colour and creamy. Add sugar one third at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about a minute between each addition. Add the vanilla essence and beat until combined. Sift flour and baking powder and add half to butter mixture with half the milk, beat until well combined. Repeat with remaining flour and milk.

 

Spoon into cupcake papers (I use an ice cream scoop) and bake for about 15 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer to wire racks and allow to cool completely.

 

Icing

Combine icing sugar and enough water to form a smooth, spreadable paste. Add 2-3 drops of blue icing to get a suitable ‘pond’ colour.

 

Decoration

Chop 600g white fondant icing into small pieces and knead until starting to soften. Add a small amount of yellow colouring using a toothpick. Knead until the colour is even, add more colour if required, knead again. Use 25g (about 2 tablespoons) of yellow icing to form an oval shape body 3cm long; make one end pointy for the tail. Use 15g (about 1 tablespoon) to form a 1.5cm round head. Use a small dot of water to attach the head to the body. Repeat until you have 12 wingless duckies. Reknead the scraps and roll out on a surface dusted with icing sugar to 3mm thick. Use a small scone cutter to cut 6 circles. Cut each circle into 4 quarters/wings. Attach two wings to each duck using a small dot of water.

 

Knead 50g white icing until starting to soften. Add a small amount of orange colouring using a toothpick. Knead until the colour is even, adding more colour if necessary. Form 12 small triangles for the beaks. Use a small sharp knife to cut into the peak of the triange, but don’t cut all the way through. Attach beak to duckie using a small dot of water.

Use the green writing icing to pipe two eyes onto each duck. Have a practice before you attack the ducks – the trick is to stop squeezing the tube before you pull away. Don’t worry if there is a little peak – it will drop down into the circle after a few minutes.

 

Spread a tablespoon of blue icing over the top each cupcake. Combine coconut with green icing and sprinkle an edging of ‘grass’ around the side of each cake. Place a little duckie on the top of each cake — it will stick to the blue icing.

Serving Suggestions

Note

 Notes

  • Preparation time: 15 minutes, baking time: 15 minutes, decorating time: 1 hour.
  • The fondant duckies can be made the day before, stored in an airtight container and then placed on each cupcake just after icing.
  • Make the cupcakes in advance and freeze until needed; it is also easier to ice the frozen cupcakes. I usually freeze some cupcakes from each batch I make, so my duckies were a combination of chocolate mud cake, red velvet and vanilla cupcakes.

Lemon delicious pudding

Lemon delicious pudding

Serves:

Ingredients

  • Zest of one lemon
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • 50g unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup castor sugar
  • ¼ cup self-raising flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs, separated

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a 1-2 litre oven-proof serving dish with butter.

Using a mixer, beat butter, sugar and lemon zest together until combined, approx 4-5 minutes.

Add egg yolks one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add lemon juice and beat well, scraping down the sides.

Turn mixer’s speed down low and add the flour followed by the milk, which needs to be poured in gradually.

Once a batter has formed, whisk egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks forms.

Fold the egg whites into the batter mixture and pour into the serving dish.

Place serving dish into a larger baking dish and fill baking dish with water about half way up the sides of serving dish. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven rest for five minutes before serving with whipped cream.

Notes

  • This is a really zesty pudding- sharp and sweet with a fluffy sponge crust.
  • Resting the pudding before serving allows the sauce at the bottom to thicken slightly making the sauce extra delicious.
  • Recipe created by Camilla Baker for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Serving Suggestions

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Choc chip beetles

Choc chip beetles

Serves:

 

Ingredients

  • 125 g butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 1/2 cups (225g) self raising flour
  • 3/4 cup (190mL) milk

 

Icing:

 

  • 3 cups (480g) icing sugar, sifted
  • 1 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup (60mL) hot water
  • red food colouring

 

Decoration:

 

  • 1 cup (150g) Dark Chocolate Melts, melted
  • 1/2 cup (95g) White Choc Bits
  • silver cachous, for decoration

 

Method

Preheat oven to 180c/160C fan forced. Grease two 12-hole round-based shallow patty pans.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add egg and vanilla, beat until just combined. Add flour and milk, beat until smooth.

Divide mixture amoung prepared pans; bake 12-14 minutes until golden; turn out onto wire rack to cool.

To make icing: combine sugar, butter, water and a few drops of food colouring; stir until smooth. Spread icing over the rounded side of each cake.

Spoon Dark Chocolate Melts into a piping bag or freezer bag with the corner snipped; decorate cakes as pictured. Use White Choc Bits to create spots on the beetle and use silver cachous for the eyes. Allow to set before serving.

Related baking recipes

Find more recipes at Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

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Easy steak Diane

Easy steak Diane

Serves:

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, finely crushed
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 cup (125ml) pouring cream
  • 2 x 200g sirloin or scotch fillet steaks

Method

Heat oil over gentle heat in a small saucepan. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, being careful not to let it colour. Add Worcestershire sauce and cook for a further 2 minutes until garlic is soft. Add cream, bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes, until the cream has reduced and thickened. Set aside.

Heat a grill or fry pan over high heat. Season steaks well and cook for 4 minutes on each side (for medium cooked). Remove to a plate and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.

Serve steaks with roasted potatoes, steamed green vegetables and the warm Diane sauce.

Find more dinner recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • Make sure your pan is very well heated before starting to cook the steak.
  • Naturally, cook for less time if you prefer rare steak, more if you prefer well done.
  • Recipe by Greer Worsley from the blog Typically Red.

Cheesy chicken sticks

Cheesy chicken sticks

Serves:

8-12 fingers

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken breast cut into 2-3cm-wide fingers
  • 1/4 cup (40g) plain flour
  • 1 pinch garlic salt (optional)
  • 1 pinch paprika (optional)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 2 cups Panko crumbs
  • 2 tbsp parmesan cheese

Method

Lay out three bowls on the bench in front of you. In the first bowl put the flour, salt and paprika; mix gently. In the second bowl beat the two eggs with a little milk to make a crumb wash. In the third bowl add a good quantity of panko crumbs and stir through the parmesan cheese.
 
Moving from one bowl to the other, dip your chicken fingers in the flour first, then the egg wash and finally the crumbs. 
 
Shallow fry each coated chicken stick in a large pan for approx 2 mins each side, or until golden brown, crunchy and cooked on the inside. Serve with a helping of your kids' favourite veggies or some boiled pasta shapes.

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Serving Suggestions

Note

  • If you're in a rush, you can buy pre-cut chicken tenderloins instead of chopping up a chicken breast.
  • Don't overcook the chicken or it will be too chewy for toddlers.
  • If you prefer, you can bake these chicken sticks in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes.
  • This recipe was created by Jodie Clarke for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder

Super easy chocolate cupcakes

Super easy chocolate cupcakes

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups (225g) sifted flour
  • 1 cup (225g) raw sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup (115g) cocoa powder
  • 1 pinch instant coffee
  • 1/2 cup choc chips
  • 1 cup (250ml) milk
  • 1/2 cup apple sauce
  • 1/2 tsp vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced).

Line a 12 cup tray with patty pans and set aside.

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix using a mixer until smooth.

Fill patty pans two-thirds full and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.

Find related cupcake recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • Did you notice – no oil or butter! You can substitute oil or butter for the applesauce if you’re weary of apples and want a fat boost.
  • Omit the choc chips if you don’t have any in the pantry (they don’t last long at my place, either).
  • The cupcakes will be a little less chocolate-y, but everything still works.
  • This recipe was created by Maxabella of Maxabella loves… Follow Maxabella on Facebook or Pinterest.

Party Lamingtons

Party lamingtons

Serves:

Makes approx. 20 small lamingtons

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
  • 2/3 cup (100g) self-raising flour, sifted
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
  • 2 cups (300g) icing sugar
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 cups (170g) desiccated coconut
  • A few drops of rose pink food colouring

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced)  and line a lamington tray with baking paper.

Place the eggs and caster sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high for a few minutes or until pale and fluffy.

Gently fold in the flour and vanilla paste, then spoon into the prepared tray. Smooth over the top and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and firm to touch. Once completely cool, slice the cake into 20 or so even-sized squares.

To make the icing, place half the icing sugar in one bowl with the cocoa powder and stir in 2 tbsp boiling water. Stir, adding more water if necessary, until you have a smooth, slightly runny paste. Place the coconut in a separate bowl. In another bowl, place the other half of the icing sugar and a couple of drops of pink icing sugar, again adding boiling water until you have a smooth, runny paste.

Dip half of the sponge squares into the cocoa icing mixture, coating them on all sides before tossing in the bowl of coconut until all sides are flecked with white. Place on a rack so the icing can ‘set’. Repeat this process with the pink icing mixture.

Find related lamington recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

  • Double the recipe to make bigger lamingtons. You could also then cut the sponge in half lengthways and fill with jam before slicing into squares and coating with icing and coconut.
  • You might like to add a third colour to the mix; perhaps a nice sunny yellow?
  • Make double-chocolate lamingtons by adding cocoa to the sponge mixture, folding through with the flour.
  • This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder. You can follow Sophie on Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Breakfast burritos

Breakfast burritos

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 500g potatoes, cubed
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 rashers middle bacon, chopped
  • 6 eggs
  • ¼ cup parsley, chopped
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 8-10 tortillas

Method

In a large frying pan, heat the oil and cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Add onion and bacon. Cook until the onion is translucent.

Crack the eggs over the pan and scramble until the eggs are cooked.

Toss in parsley. Serve egg and potato mixture with salsa sauce, wrapped in warmed tortillas.

Notes:

  • You can make the filling for these ahead of time and re-heat it for a meal on the go.
  • If you prefer, add some mushrooms and tomatoes to the pan.
  • This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

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Santa strawberries

Santa strawberries

Serves:

These super cute Santa strawberries are really easy to make and put a festive twist on a dessert favourite. A simple Christmas dessert the kids can make.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup thickened cream
  • ¼ cup sifted icing sugar
  • 2 punnets strawberries
  • 2 soft liquorice sticks or baking chocolate chips

Method

Step 1. Gather all ingredients together.

Step 2. Whip cream and icing sugar together until quite firm.

Step 3. Hull the strawberries and then cut the tip off each. Sit each strawberry on paper towel to soak up the juice.

Step 4. Fill a piping bag (or icing press) with a fluted nozzle with the cream mixture and pipe it onto the cut surface of the strawberry to create a head.

Step 5. Using the tip of the nozzle, join the cream and pipe a liitle “beard” for the Santa halfway down the side of the strawberry. It’s imoportant to make these join up so the cream on the head takes the weight of the cream from the beard. Place tip of strawberry on cream. Aternatively you can just pipe two puttons.

Step 6. Pipe a “pom pom” onto the top of the strawberry. Place liquorice or chocolate chips for eyes and serve.

Notes

  • Adding the icing sugar to the cream gives it a bit of structure so it pipes and supports itself firmly. Even though this mixture is firm, you may need to refrigerate these until required so the cream doesn’t collapse in the heat.
  • It’s really important to place the strawberries on the paper towel or you will have a red mess.
  • You can add half a teaspoon of vanilla to the cream mixture if you want vanilla cream.
  • This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

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Veggie cake

Veggie cake

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 4 rashers bacon, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 medium carrots, grated
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1 cup grated cheese
  • 2 cup self raising flour
  • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup buttermilk or milk

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Butter a deep 20cm cake tin and line with baking paper. Heat oil in a frypan over medium heat and cook bacon and onion, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until soft.

Leave to cool while grating carrot and cheese. Combine vegetables, cheese, bacon and onion in a bowl. Sift in flour and stir well to coat ingredients evenly (this prevents clumps of flour forming), then stir in eggs and milk. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes or until golden and set in the middle.

Use a knife to make sure edges are not stuck to the pan, turn onto a wire rack and remove baking paper. Cut into serving wedges and serve warm.

Notes:

  • This cake is a twist on a zucchini slice recipe and another easy way to get vegies into the kids!
  • Leftovers are great for (chilled) lunch boxes.
  • Make this cake vegetarian by omitting the bacon. Add some salt or dried herbs to add more flavour.
  • Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

 

Slow cooker bread

Slow cooker bread

Serves:

Ingredients

  • 3 cups (750ml) warm water
  • 1 tbsp granulated yeast
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 6 1/2 cups (975g) plain flour

Method

Step 1. Place water, yeast and salt in a large container and whisk together. Add in flour and use a large wooden spoon to make sure all ingredients are combined.

Step 2. Cover loosely and leave to rise for 2 hours.

Step 3. Sprinkle flour over the risen dough and turn out onto a sheet of baking paper.

Step 4. Sprinkle top of dough with flour and shape. Lower paper into your slow cooker.

Step 5. Set slow cooker for 2 hours.

Step 6. When cooked, remove from oven and place under grill for 6-8 minutes to brown the top.

Slow_cooker-bread

This makes a very large loaf, which is fine because I have a very large rectangular slow cooker. This made around 1.2kg of dough.

For a regular round crockpot-style slow cooker you can divide the dough in half and cook for 1-2 hours, finishing it off under the grill the same way I did with the large loaf.

Any unused dough can be placed in the refrigerator until you need it. Just return it to room temperature for 5 minutes before you put it into the slow cooker. It should keep up to a week.

Find more bread recipes:

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Note

 

 

This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

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