Cooking and baking kits are a good way to teach your child kitchen skills while making some tasty treats. But, if your child has food allergies, this can sometimes be a challenge because you want to make sure that there are no harmful ingredients. That’s where this review of Little GF Chefs comes in.
Little GF Chefs offers baking kits that are gluten-free and free from the most common allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, wheat, milk, soy, fish, shellfish) and sesame. All of the mixes are also vegan and come with the option to add vegan ingredients.
Little GF Chef prides itself on helping children on restricted diets have a positive relationship with food. The company also aims to help kids realize that they don’t have to live without certain treats or dishes just because of their food allergies. Feeling restricted from certain foods can cause anxiety and even impact a child’s self-confidence. But, if children can see that they can still enjoy the same foods and even help create them, they’ll feel better about themselves.
Let’s Get Baking!
There are several different baking sets to choose from that can either be purchased separately or as part of a subscription service. They offer sweet and savory options, so whether you want pizza or unicorn donuts (pictured above), you’re good to go. Whichever option you choose, a box with nearly all the ingredients you need is shipped to your door.
My daughters and I recently had the opportunity to try the Watercolor Cookie Kit (pictured at the top right). This included:
- Bunny, Easter Egg, and Carrot Cookie Cutters
(All 3 are included in each kit.) - Cookie Paint Brush
- Sugar Cookie Mix
- Icing Mix
- Pink, Purple, Blue, and Gold Plant-based Food Coloring
- 1 Piping Bag
- Recipe instructions and detailed ingredients cards
The only ingredients I had to provide were the vegan butter, vanilla extract, lemon juice, water, and either an egg or ¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce.
Since nearly all of the ingredients were included, making the cookie batter was extremely easy. We opted to use the egg instead of the apple sauce. You do need an electric mixer, so you may want to help your child with this part depending on their age. Once we mixed all of the ingredients, the dough was easy to gather into a large ball.
Rolling out the dough using a piece of parchment paper (as recommended) made it easier because you didn’t have to worry about the dough sticking to the rolling pin. This is a great little trick because it allows kids to do the job without getting frustrated.
Once the dough was flat, it was time to make our cookie creations. The cookie cutters are durable, easy to use, and cut the dough well. In minutes we had them on the baking sheet.
The recipe calls for a baking time of 8-10 minutes, but I found that I had to keep them in a few minutes longer. Some ovens cook differently, so be ready to adjust. It’s always best to start with the lower baking time and increase it if needed so you don’t burn the cookies (another good lesson for kids).
After the cookies were baked, we made icing — another simple task that kids can do on their own. It only requires mixing the icing sugar, water, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Pouring the icing into the piping bag can get a little messy, so you may have to lend a helping hand, and my kids definitely had fun using the piping bag to frost the cookies. While they may want to rush to decorate them, you do have to wait at least four hours to let the icing dry. If not, the paint will run off the cookies.
Painting the cookies is fun because kids can follow pictures on the recipe card or make their own version by changing the colors up. The food coloring used to paint the cookies is easy to make by just adding a bit of water. We followed the pictures for the most part but added our own flair — and we think they came out pretty cute!
Little GF Chefs Taste Test Review
Now it was time for the all-important taste test. And the big news? The cookie did not taste gluten-free at all. You honestly could not tell the difference. It tasted like a regular cookie and had just the right consistency. It didn’t have that cardboard taste/feel as some gluten-free products do. It was so good that we all wanted another one!
The icing was a bit on the sweet side for us, but everyone’s taste buds are different.
Final Thoughts
The Little GF Chefs Watercolor Cookie Kit was easy, fun to make, and tasty. For us, decorating the cookies was the most fun part. From putting the icing on to painting them, my kids had a great time.
The Little GF Chefs kit can make a great gift or just something to do with your kids yourself. It lets kids be independent in the kitchen, which is a wonderful idea for children who have to follow a food-restricted diet. When you combine learning kitchen skills with tasty treats, you can’t go wrong!
