Yummy Granola - Enlisting the help of a toddler

Today I decided to make something with my daughter.  She loves to cook, stirs better then anyone I know... and she even has a chef outfit.

Cooking with little kids can be overwhelming but it is such a blast. Be ready for some extra-work, a mess and lots of giggles.

First the recipe. It is really simple:

Ingredients:
4 cups rolled oats (I used Gluten-Free Oats)
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1-2 tbsp coconut flake
1-2 tbsp milled flax seed
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup almond butter (or any type of nut butter)
(You could add, take away or make substitutions)

Directions:
Heat oven to 250 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients.  Mix in coconut oil (heated to a liquid).  Mix in honey.  Mix in almond butter.  Place in a greased baking pan.  Cook for 30-40 minutes.  BE SURE to stir every 10 minutes until granola is golden brown and the most of the granola is no longer sticking to the bottom of the pan (the gooey honey is gone).

Here is how I made it today.

Before cooking with my daughter I make sure I have all my ingredients and tools out and ready on the dining table.

I let her help me dump all the dry ingredients in a big bowl and then let her loose with the spoon. She has many mixing styles...

The traditional stir:

Using her hands to put the ingredients on the spoon before stirring:

And using the measuring cups:

Once it is mixed you should always smell it:

And of course lick some of the spoons!

Luckily this time most of the granola stayed in the bowl! 40 minutes later it was done and my house was put back in order... until she decided to pull everything off her toy shelf and proudly exclaim "I made a mess!"