Preparing treats for my family has always been so much more fun when I've been able to involve the kids in the actual preparation. In order to have a successful baking session with young ones, though, you should use recipes that are simple and don't have too many steps. And so, this week, I'll be offering you a few recipes for treats that are fun for adults and kids both to prepare and to eat. The pancakes can be served with fresh fruit, maple syrup, powdered sugar or even fruit yogurt. The recipe below for coconut cookies is perhaps the easiest Moroccan cookie recipe of all time. You make small round balls in a variety of colors and then cover them with coconut flakes. The third recipe is for peanut and chocolate treats, which is one of my all-time favorites to prepare with kids. They taste amazing, and the crunch they make when you bite into them is incredible. Fourth is chocolate-covered orange peels. What you do is boil them in sugar, then cover them in chocolate and coconut flakes, crushed almonds or nonpareils. Enjoy! Translated by Hannah Hochner. Coconut cookies For some reason, people tend to think that all Moroccan delicacies are difficult to make and require a high level of professional skill. But that is certainly not true for this recipe, which is extremely easy to prepare. Makes 50 cookies ■ 5 egg yolks ■ 1 egg ■ 1 cup sugar ■ 4½ cups coconut flakes ■ Zest of one lemon Coating: ■ ¾ cup coconut flakes ■ ¾ cup sugar ■ Cupcake holders (No. 1.5) For decoration: ■ Cloves Put the yolks and egg in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip on high while you add the sugar. Keep mixing for a few minutes until it's light and fluffy. Fold in the coconut and lemon zest. In a separate bowl, mix the coconut and the sugar for the coating. Take a little bit of the coconut mixture and form a ball. Then, roll it in the coconut and sugar coating. You can form the coconut mixture into cones or pears, or any fruit shape you want. Place the balls on a sheet of baking paper and insert a clove into each one. Bake at 180° for 7 minutes or until balls have turned golden. You can also decorate them with colored candies that can be bought in baking stores. Chocolate-covered orange peels This is the perfect way to use leftover orange peels. Makes 400 gr. of orange peels ■ 2 oranges ■ 2 cups sugar ■ 3 Tbsp. lemon juice Coating: ■ ½ cup sugar ■ 200 gr. bittersweet chocolate Decoration: ■ ½ cup roasted coconut flakes ■ ¼ cup pistachios or almonds, crushed ■ Sprinkles Using a wide vegetable peeler, peel off the top layer of the oranges and rinse the pieces well. Cut them into 1-cm.-thick strips and place them in a pot with the sugar and lemon juice and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the pieces from the pot and roll them in the sugar. Melt the chocolate and dip half of each strip into the melted chocolate. Then sprinkle coconut flakes or crushed pistachios and almonds on top of the melted chocolate. Set the strips on a metal rack and place in fridge to set. Peanut and chocolate treats This is another great recipe to prepare together with kids. Makes 20-25 cookies Tipascale You can use a variety of different toppings to sprinkle on top of the melted chocolate, such as roasted peanuts or other candies. Tipascale If you'd like to prepare these treats for adults, just swap out the peanuts and use almonds instead, and sprinkle a little coarsely ground cayenne pepper. Adorn with cranberries or goji berries, and sprinkle with coarse salt. The juxtaposition of sweet, spicy and savory flavors is wonderfully surprising. ■ 300 gr. roasted peanuts without skins ■ 100 gr. bittersweet chocolate 60% cocoa ■ 100 gr. Belgian chocolate ■ Colored or chocolate sprinkles Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a bain-marie until smooth. Add the peanuts and mix. Line a tray with baking paper. Take teaspoonfuls of the mix and place them on the tray. Make sure they're evenly spaced. Cover with sprinkles and cool in fridge until they set. Transfer to cupcake holders and serve. Pancake tower This is a wonderful treat to prepare on important mornings, such as back-to-school days. Makes 18-20 pancakes ■ ¾ cup self-rising flour, sifted ■ ¼ cup matza meal ■ ¼ tsp. baking powder ■ ½ tsp. salt ■ 70 gr. parve butter, or oil, or coconut oil ■ 3 eggs, beaten ■ 4 Tbsp. sugar or honey ■ ¼ cup almond milk or water ■ Vanilla extract Serving suggestion: ■ Wild berries, strawberries or hazelnuts ■ Maple or chocolate syrup, or silan (date syrup) ■ 2 containers fruit yogurt Place the flour in a bowl and add the salt. In a separate bowl, mix the melted butter with the eggs. Add the sugar or honey, the liquid and the vanilla. Beat the mixture vigorously. Pour the wet mixture into the flour, while beating with a whisk. Mix well. Put bowl aside to sit for 30 minutes. Heat a lightly greased pan and then pour some of the mixture on the pan. Tilt the pan so that the mixture spreads out evenly and forms a large pancake. If you prefer to make lots of small pancakes, use a larger pan and pour on 3 or 4 smaller pancakes. With the back of a spoon, make sure the pancakes are all round and uniform. Alternatively, you could use a pancake pan with indentations. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles appear on pancake. Flip them over and fry for another few seconds. Transfer to a plate. Continue until you've used up all the mixture. Serving suggestion: Stack a bunch of pancakes on a plate and serve with cut-up fresh fruit, maple syrup, honey, silan, hazelnuts, powdered sugar or a fruit yogurt. Pancakes should be served after they've cooled down a little.
(photo credit: PASCALE PEREZ-RUBIN)