Chocolate Chip Butter Bars & Teaching Kids To Cook Guide!
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This post for Chocolate Chip Butter Bars includes a free Teaching Guide for parents teaching their kids how to cook using this recipe. Be sure you print it out by clicking the link at the bottom of this post and share this post with parents, grandparents, church workers, or any friends who may want to teach little ones to cook. Thanks! 
Hey Friends! We’ve been having a lot of cooking lessons lately because Katy’s best friend, Sara Jane, has taken an interest in it. Whenever I am in the kitchen and she is here, she ends up right there in the mix wanting to help and learn. As a result, Katy is right there with her and that right there is how cooks are born!
As a result, not only am I bringing you a great recipe to bake with today, I’m also bringing you a complete Teaching Guide to go along with it, too! The recipe is in card format at the bottom of this page for anyone who just wants to add it to their files. For those of you with children in your lives, you can click on the Teaching Guide at the bottom of this post to open that up and print it out. I encourage you to check it out and share it with your friends who are parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or anyone else who enjoys sharing their love of cooking with kids. Because, let’s face it, your kids will have to eat. We can teach our kids how to order at a drive through or we can teach them how to cook.
You’ll need: Butter, Sugar, Flour, Vanilla, Egg, and Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips.
Place your butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Just as SJ was doing this I said “Now be careful so you don’t spill sugar all over the table…” and you see where that spoon went. So I quickly added “But the good thing about mistakes is that they help you learn to do things the right way…”. Apparently she took this to heart because later, when I was mixing something and turned my mixer up two notches instead of one, causing flour to fly all over the place, she reassured me “Well, mistakes help you learn to do things the right way!”
It’s important, when teaching kids, to show kids how to measure out ingredients. You may not realize it but most kids, before they cook for themselves, don’t realize we are being exact. They see us dip a cup into the sugar or flour canister and just think we’re using it to scoop out a random amount of flour. I’ve had more than one child tell me that in their family, they just put a bunch of stuff in a bowl and add in chocolate chips and stir all of that up and BAM cookies. This is absolutely normal thinking for a child so we just have to gently explain and show them there there is a little more of a method to our madness and that those measuring cups and tablespoons have an important job when it comes to cooking. More about that in a minute.
Cream butter and sugar together using an electric mixer.
Like this.
Add in flour, egg, and vanilla.
This is a photo of Katy leveling off a cup of flour before adding it. Do I measure like this normally? No. But I know how and that is the point. It is like handwriting, in school you are taught how to properly make the letters and once out from beneath the regulations of a classroom, you can make them your own. If our cooking is rooted in the most accurate ways to do things we will have the knowledge we need to not stray too far from that when we personalize things. And most importantly, they will be able to read most any recipe and know exactly how to do it.
When Grandmothers taught us how to cook with a “little bit of this and a pinch or two of that” they were usually nearby to ask questions later on as we got used to making the recipe so that method of teaching worked just fine, even without written recipes. In today’s world it is very important to be able to read a recipe card and share recipes in a way that is reproducible by any cook without further instruction.
Oh my goodness, I sound all cold and official. I’m sorry. I lose my writing accent when I’m trying to be clear and make as much sense as possible.
Mix these again with an electric mixer until a dough is formed, scraping down sides as needed.
Look at these happy girls! When I cook with them, I let them do as much as possible entirely on their own. Most kids do not want you to do it for them and it is best if you don’t. Let them do it. If they need help or have a question, then help, otherwise just kinda stand back and explain what needs to be done.
The worst thing that could happen is that you end up with a messy kitchen, some great memories, and a lot of laughter.
The best thing that could happen is that you end up with a messy kitchen, some great memories, a lot of laughter, and something good to eat.
Add in chocolate chips and stir those in by hand until well incorporated. This may take a bit of elbow grease.
Spoon dough into greased 8×8 or 9×9 pan. Wet hands lightly and pat it down until it is evenly distributed. Bake this at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges, careful not to overcook.
Enjoy!
The link to the Teaching Guide for this recipe is below the recipe card 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter at room temp
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In large mixing bowl, place butter and sugar. Cream together with an electric mixer until well combined and fluffy.
- Add in flour, egg, and vanilla. Beat again until fully incorporated and a dough is formed, scraping down sides as needed.
- Add in chocolate chips and stir by hand until mixed in.
- Spray 9x9 or 8x8 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Spoon dough into dish. Using wet hands pat out into dish until it is even.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until just lightly browned on the edges, being careful not to over bake. Allow to cool before cutting.
Nutrition
Download my full Teaching Guide for Chocolate Chip Butter Bars by clicking here
“It’s not how big the house is, it’s how happy the home is.”
~Unknown
This recipe featured in the Weekend Potluck at Country Cook!
Oh YUM! These sound perfect for a treat.
I have 7 kiddos and an 8×8 won’t cut it lol….would I double the recipe for a 9×13?
Thank You!
Yes, you can double the recipe 🙂
These look delicious! Must try them soon.
I had never thought about putting all the details in the recipes I have written down until my birthday this past December. My kids (18 and 24) made supper for us and then my daughter wanted to make my favorite for dessert, strawberry pie. I was very surprised and I loved it.
I had the recipe wrote down but I didn’t have the crust I use. My mom, and now me, have always used Pet Ritz pie crust. My kids have helped make this pie before but they had no idea what kind of crust to get. I’m sure I’ve never actually told them. It was just a given.
They ended up getting a graham cracker crust. It was still good but very very sweet. 🙂 My daughter informed me I didn’t have that wrote down so she didn’t know. After all the times she has watched or helped me fix pies and put them in the oven she still needed guidance from my recipe.
Lesson learned….write everything down in detail. I won’t be here forever and when they want something mom made it will all be there so they know. Thanks for the reminder.
That is so true, many a recipe has been lost or abandoned over the years because it was unclear or only partially written out and the next generation is unsure of how to make it.
The teaching guide for making these with children is wonderful! Do you have any more teaching guides for children on your website anywhere? I am helping my sister with a kids’ camp for her 3 grandchildren this summer, and cooking would be a great activity to include. Thank you for everything you do for us.
I don’t just yet Nancy, but I hope to do some more soon 🙂
Holy moly! These are so buttery and delish. Personally I hog all the edge pieces with their awesome buttery crunch. Very easy to make!
I am so glad you like them Josey!!!
~sigh~ I made these twice last week, there was not a speck of any evidence left! And there’s just my darling husband and me!! must…..destroy…..recipe……
LOL, I am thrilled and sorry, at the same time. I love them too!!
Christy,you sound like the “Home Ec. Teacher” still in me. I’m retired and live alone, but I still want to download your teaching guide, and at least read it before I make myself and friends some Butter CC Bars . (My usual abbreviation for me.)
Love all your recipes.
Thank you so much Jackie!! I hope you and your friends have a wonderful time in fellowship and eating CC Butter Bars 🙂 !!
My 2 1/2 year old twin boys already love to cook! I try to get them involved as much as I can in the kitchen. Yes it results in a huge mess but the smiles and memories made are worth it! One of my sons helped make a fruit salad with marshmallows for Easter and he loved telling everyone that he “cooked marshmallows”!
How precious!!!!