Baking with Toddlers: Raw Vegan Baking

Raw vegan baking and toddlers might just be a match made in cooking heaven. While we don’t really subscribe to a particular way of eating ( raw, vegan, vegetarian, paleo etc. ect. ) I’m certainly a fan of raw and vegan when it comes to working with a toddler in the kitchen. Here’s why:

1) Raw baking is well..raw! This means no hot oven to worry about. Not only does this rock during summer time and save energy but it also eliminates some of the inevitable danger of using a hot oven for both kid and parent. I’m happy to report I’ve been very successful in keeping my two year old safe in the kitchen but I can’t say the same for myself.  Just in the last two weeks I’ve managed to julienne my finger AND hand ( on two different occasions) and cut myself with a bread knife. Clearly I need to minimize kitchen danger for my own sake.

2) Most of the raw vegan recipes I’ve seen use really healthy ingredients and natural sweeteners like dates instead of refined sugars. This is good if you have a little kid who just can’t resist shoveling batter into their mouths. This is good for moms and dads who also can’t help shoveling batter into their mouths ( maybe its genetic?). Either way, the reason we don’t bake a lot is mostly due to the fact that I have no self control when it comes to sweets and will pretty much consume whatever was made within a 24 hour period. I feel much less guilty with recipes like this one from raw chef Emily von Euw in the latest issue of Vegetarian Times.

3) Back to the batter: since there are no raw eggs used in vegan baking I don’t have to be quite as vigilant about Fig taking a mouthful of raw eggy batter. He once ate a huge spoonful of raw egg batter and I spent a week thinking he would contract some kind of brain eating bacteria (totally a 1st time mom reaction) . Needless to say, I’ll take a baking recipe sans eggs if possible.

4) Raw baking takes less time than regular baking. Fig and I whipped up our latest raw baking dish in around 20 minutes total. Believe me, there is nothing worse than being knee deep in a 40 minute baking session,  batter everywhere, only to have a toddler decide he’s had enough, throw a tantrum, and then conveniently need a diaper change ( typically the mail lady will arrive at this time, the dog will flip out and try to kill said mail lady and that super important telephone call you’re waiting for will ring). 20 minutes or less is where its at!

If you’re considering bringing a little person into the kitchen with you for some baking sessions, both Fig and I would highly suggest testing out some raw vegan recipes even if you’ve never eaten raw or vegan before….it might just be the easiest and most delicious thing you’ve ever baked!

What baking with a two year old really looks like!

Our raw cashew cookies with fig and strawberry jam