Cooking with Kids: Festive Pretzel Salad

Make Cooking Fun And Educational: Festive Pretzel Salad

This recipe comes from Chase Bailey,15, an aspiring chef who also happens to be autistic. He has been hosting a hugely successful YouTube cooking show called “Chase N Yur Face” for over two years. He’s cooked with many famous chefs including Roy Choi and Mario Batali (Guy Fieri, is also a fan!). The Official Chase ‘N Yur Face Cookbook is available today at book sellers nation wide. Proceeds from his book will go to his foundation so that he can help others with autism.

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Ingredients Festive Pretzel Salad

• 1-1/2 cups crushed pretzels
• 1 cup honey almond granola
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 (8oz) package cream cheese
• 1 (8oz) container whipped topping
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 banana
• 1 (6oz) packages raspberry gelatin
• ½ cup fresh blue berries
• ½ cup black berries cut in ½
• 1 cup fresh strawberries sliced

Prep and Directions: Festive Pretzel Salad

Adult/Child: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Adult/Child: Stir together crushed pretzels, granola, melted butter, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar.

Adult/Child: Spread pretzel mixture evenly into bottom of 9×13 pan. Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Adult/Child: Follow instructions on raspberry gelatin package, adding the fresh fruit to the liquid gelatin and then pouring the raspberry liquid into a mixing bowl.

Adult/Child: Put liquid gelatin in the refrigerator for appx 3 hours or until the liquid has become slightly gelled. (Should look the consistency of scrambled eggs.)

Adult/Child: In a mixing bowl, use mixer to blend cream cheese, whipped cream, sugar, and banana until smooth.

Adult/Child: Spread the cream cheese and whip mixture evenly on top of the crushed pretzel and granola mixture, making sure to seal all corners of the pan.

Adult/Child: Pour gelatin on top of cream cheese and whip layer.

Adult/Child: Refrigerate until set approximately 2 hours.

Eat! Talk! Enjoy!

Language Time Tips:

1. Build vocabulary: Use nouns and actions. Nouns: Pretzels, granola, brown sugar, cream cheese, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries, cranberries, banana. Actions: measure, mix, add, stir, line, pour, spread, bake, slice, and blend.

2. Colors and size: There are many colors in this Pretzel Salad: Red from the cranberries, blue from the blueberries, yellow from the banana. As you are preparing the ingredients, ask your child, “put the blue fruit in the bowl”, “put the red fruit in the bowl”, etc. This will assess your child’s receptive language of colors. With all of the fruits being different sizes, tell your child, “Should we slice a small piece of banana or a large piece of banana for the eyes? What is smaller, the strawberry or the blueberry?”

3. Comment and describe: Encourage words such as “sweet”, “tangy”, “cold”, “thick” and “crunchy”. Let your child taste each ingredient to the recipe and discuss the flavors. The granola can be sweet and crunchy. The pretzel can be crunchy and salty. This use of commenting can help your child communicate better with regards to requesting specific foods at meals such as saying, “I want a sweet and crunchy breakfast” (granola), “I want a sweet food” (strawberry).

4. Sequencing and recalling information: There are definite steps to this recipe but certain ingredients can be mixed into the salad in no specific order. For example, the fruit can go into the bowl to be mixed in any order. After you are done with the steps to making this treat, ask your child what you did first, next, etc. Discuss what would happen if you were to do these steps out of order?

5. Answering and asking “wh” questions: Sample “wh” questions include: “What is this treat for?” “What food groups are in this recipe (fruit, dairy)?” “What makes this dessert taste so good?”, “Why do we let the salad “set” in the refrigerator?”

literacy! Try a fun syllable activity by counting how many syllables are in each ingredient. What ingredient has the most syllables? How about the least amount of syllables?

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This post originally appeared on our November/December 2016 Magazine