Whole Wheat Blueberry Crumble - Baking with Grandpa

(28 Months)

Little Miss loves to bake muffins (which is good, because we eat a lot of muffins).  Last weekend, we decided to make a whole wheat blueberry crumble from Off the Shelf.  It had everything that a tot and a Grandpa could want, few ingredients, few directions and a quick cook time.

Slightly adapted from Off the Shelf's Whole Wheat Jamberry Crumble

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (I would recommend only using 1/4 of a cup, it was a bit sweet for us since we doubled the amount of preserves)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 
• 3/4 cup blueberry preserves (we used 1 1/2 cups- my daughter loves blueberries)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter an 8x8-inch pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, except preserves, until the mixture is crumbly. 
3. Reserve 1 cup oat mixture. Using hands or a rubber spatula, press remaining oat mixture firmly into prepared pan. 
4. Spread preserves evenly over bottom crust. 
5. Sprinkle reserved oat mixture evenly over preserves layer.  
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until top crust is lightly golden brown. 
7. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then run a sharp knife around edge of pan to loosen. Slice into nine bars and remove from pan, let cool completely. 

Grandpa was a bit skeptical at first, "I'm not a baker".  Little Miss quickly changed his mind with a simple"please Grandpa".   She's not even 2 1/2 and she has him wrapped around her adorable little fingers - the magic of grandchildren.

Grandpa and Little Miss went straight to work, measuring, pouring and mixing ingredients.  Look at those little fingers hard at work.  So busy concentrating on what she's doing.  Using those fine and gross motor skills simultaneously.  Listening and, more importantly, following instructions.  It was so precious to watch.  She had such a great time baking with Grandpa.  I have a feeling we'll be doing more of this.

I completely forgot to take a picture of the finished dessert- we started eating it right away.

We're already looking forward to baking these again.  The next time we make this, we're going to add some unsweetened flaked coconut to the crust and crumble and probably half the amount of brown sugar (it was a little sweet for us- since we doubled the amount of preserves).  Simple, delicious, and fun to bake.  What more can we want?

"Thank you Grandpa" ~ Little Miss