“The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play so we sat in the house on that cold, cold, wet day.”

Dr. Seuss

 

A classic line from a classic children’s book portraying a classic situation in the life of a child. Even if your child doesn’t venture outside every single day of their life, the mere knowledge of knowing that they can’t because of disappointing weather is enough to frustrate them. Rather than allowing the situation to ruin their day, having a rainy day back-up plan is the perfect solution. Rather than just waiting to see what is going to happen, (which often means allowing extra screen time) having an arsenal of activities stored up is an excellent idea. In this post, I am going to share with you ten treats you can make in the kitchen. In following posts I will share Five Games to Play on a Rainy Day and Ten Books to Read on a Rainy Day.

 

Cookie Cutter Rice Cereal Treats

3 Tablespoons butter

1 10 oz. package marshmallows

6 cups rice cereal

  1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.
  2. Remove from heat.
  3. Add rice cereal. Stir until well coated.
  4. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut using your favorite cookie cutters.

 

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls

2 cups creamy peanut butter

½ cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons shortening

12 oz. chocolate chips

  1. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper.
  2. Mix peanut butter, butter, and vanilla together in a large bowl.
  3. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, to the creamy mixture, mixing well each time.
  4. Form balls with your hands. Place the peanut butter balls on the prepared cookie sheet with the wax paper.
  5. Melt the chocolate using a double boiler.
  6. One at a time, drop your peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate chips. Lift the ball out of the milk chocolate with a skewer (a fork will work) and then transfer it to the wax paper.
  7. Once all of your peanut butter balls are coated, put the cookie sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes to make sure the coating is completely hardened.

 

 

Caramel Popcorn

8 cups popped popcorn (¼ cup of kernels)

6 Tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

6 Tablespoons light karo syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda (heaping)

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

  1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
  2. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper.. Add popcorn to pan in an even layer and place in the oven to warm.
  3. Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt until smooth.
  4. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. As soon as the caramel starts to gently boil, boil for 2 minutes, stirring.
  5. Remove from the heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla.
  6. Immediately pour caramel over popcorn. Mix gently with a spatula until coated.
  7. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring the popcorn every 15 minutes.

Homemade Granola

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 ½ cups sliced almonds

½ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ cup butter, melted

1 egg white

  1. Heat oven to 300 degrees F.  Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.
  2. Mix the oats, almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in a large mixing bowl until combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, stir the melted butter, honey, vanilla, and egg white together. Drizzle over the oat mixture. Stir together.
  4. Transfer the granola mixture to the prepared baking sheet and spread it out in an even layer.
  5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through for even toasting, until golden and crispy and the almonds look lightly toasted.

Cookie Cake

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup unsalted butter

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

  1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C degrees. Grease a 9-inch pie dish or cake pan.
  2. In a medium bowl sift together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
  3. Beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until creamy and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
  4. Press cookie dough into the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown but still soft at the center, covering it loosely with aluminium foil after 15 minutes so the edges won’t burn.
  5. Remove cake from oven and set the pan on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream or chocolate frosting!