Ooey-gooey cookbook

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids by Jill O'Connor is all about baking and treats with and for kids. And it recognizes that it isn't easy to do this -- you get messy, things don't go as you think they will. Kids don't necessarily understand how or are able to shape, perfect little balls of dough. This cookbook is about having fun making things in the kitchen with children but I think of it as the ooey-gooey cookbook.


The recipes are very kid-friendly with plenty of chocolate, some peanut butter and marshmallows (even a recipe for making your own). The layout is designed to be kid-friendly with lots of color, plenty of photos, cute recipe names and a scalloped edge. I hate the scalloped edge -- it is hard to flip through the book and find the recipe that caught your eye before -- tabs for chapters would have been useful. There also is so much white space that recipes often run over a page which makes cooking more difficult as you have to flip back and forth between the ingredients and the instructions.


It is a book which an inexperienced cook could use. There are some instructions at the beginning on recommended equipment, ingredients and techniques. There are also notes for specific recipes which provide more directions. There are chapters for breakfast foods, everyday treats, and special occasion treats. There are recipes for familiar foods such a Hunka Chunka Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Best Chocolate Birthday Cake Ever and then more unusual such as A is for Apple-Pie Stuffed French Toast, Ode to Oodles Oatmeal Flapjacks and Miraculous Mile-High Strawberry Fudge Ice-Cream Pie.


We tried a few recipes from the book. First up was Wicked Good Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pudding. It was similar to many chocolate pudding recipes but a little richer with egg yolks and whole milk, and peanut butter. My family loved it, even though I was not willing to make the Chocolate Balloon Cups which were in the picture. Next up were the Banana Split Pancakes. The pancake recipe was fairly typical, with mashed banana in it -- serving it with heated Nutella and sliced bananas made it in to a banana split which my kids loved. The grown ups preferred the Buttery Brown Sugar syrup from the accompanying recipe.


We also tried the Chock-a-Block Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Muffins -- gingerbread with a touch of chocolate. These were quite tasty with chocolate chips (and a few leftover cocoa nibs which was great but not in the recipe) and some leftover cream cheese icing. The recipe made more than the 18 muffins it said -- more like 30.


But the favorite recipe, which we'll definitely make again, was the Holy Moly! Strawberry Jam Roly-Poly. This is a sweet biscuit dough rolled out, filled with jam and rolled up like a roll. Then baked and sliced like a log. A recipe for making your own jam is optional (we used what we had in the fridge). I was surprised to find that this was still tasty a day or two later. I did not bother heating the jam to pour over.


Holy Moly! Strawberry Jam Roly-Poly

serves 6


2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, frozen
2/3 cup (or more if needed) ice water
3/4 cup strawberry jam (or raspberry jam or cherry preserves of Jumbled Berry Jam)
1 tablespoon whole milk for brushing


Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400 F.


In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside.


Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture. Using your hands, lightly toss the flour and butter together. If the butter starts to soften, pop the mixture into the freezer for about 5 minutes to allow the butter to harden.


Stir enough ice water into the flour and butter mixture to form a soft, shaggy dough that comes together to form a loose ball. If the dough is too dry, add more ice water by tablespoons.


Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured board, gently kneading it just to combine (5 or 6 turns), but not allowing the butter to melt.


Rub a rolling pin with flour and, on a flat service, lightly sprinkled with flour, roll the dough quickly into an approximately 9 by 13 inch rectangle.


Spread 4 or 5 tablespoons jam over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Starting from one long end , roll up the pastry like a jelly-roll, brushing excess flour off the pastry as you go.


Seal the end seam with a little water and tightly pinch the ends to prevent the jam from seeping out. Place the pastry, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with milk and sprinkle liberally with granulated sugar.


Bake until the pastry is puffed and golden brown, and little rivulets of jam are bubbling out the ends, about 30 minutes. Let cool briefly on the baking sheet and slice into 6 portions using a serrated knife. Warm the reserved jam in a small saucepan, or in a bowl heated in the microwave, and drizzle over slices of the pastry, if desired.