Cooking With Kids - Cupcakes

For Women Only was a great experience over the weekend. Thousands of women - women with their moms and grandmoms and daughters - had a wonderful weekend experience.

My daughter, her friend and I presented on Sunday a session on cooking with kids. Something I am passionate about, since I started cooking at age 6 or 7 courtesy of a neighbor. I couldn't play piano, she explained, but my hands were made for bread.

I started cooking with my daughter when she was 2. She is now 7. She is more interested in the decorating and licking of the bowl than in the science, but I believe that being exposed, in a positive way, will make cooking and food less of a chore and more of an exploration and celebration.

On Sunday she and her friend decorated cupcakes -- pumpkin cupcakes. Allowing the child to have some creativity makes food fun.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup pureed pure pumpkin (not the pie mix)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt

Makes about 36, depending on how you fill the muffin cups.

Heat oven to 350.

Place liners in your mini muffin tins.

Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour and pumpkin pie spice. In another bowl whisk together wet ingredients: eggs, pumpkin, brown sugar, vegetable oil, sour cream. Combine wet ingredients into bowl with dry. Stir to combine. It should be the consistency of a muffin mix. (You may need to add more flour).

Ladle into liners in muffin tin until almost full. Bake for 16-18 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then remove from pan and allow to completely cool.

Frost and decorate.