Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies and Homemade Jam Recipe to Cook with Kids

The strawberry season has started in the UK and we’re loving it – fresh British Strawberries in the shops as well as a little adventure going strawberry picking with the kids and it’s perfect for this week’s Cooking with Kids A to Z post which is J is for Jam. A couple of years ago I started making our own Jams, Chutneys and Preserves and we now regularly make our own, the kids and my hubby love them as there is something extra nice about the taste that you just don’t get with store bought Jams. So today I’m sharing my homemade Jam recipe and a quick cookie that you can make with the kids.

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One of the things that we have that makes Jam making extra easy is a Jam Maker, it makes it safer to make with the kids and more precise as well – I have tried Jam making on the stove but was a complete disaster using our Jam Maker every Jar that I’ve made from Strawberry Jam, to Cranberry and Orange and even our own Marmalade that I used in the Paddington Bear Marmalade Cake has come our perfect.

Ingredients for Making Homemade Jam and using it in Jam Thumbprint Cookies

For the Jam

800g Sugar Cubes
200ml of Water
Juice from 1 Lemon or around 2 tablespoons of Lemon Juice
1kg of Fresh Strawberries

Ingredients for the Jam Thumbprint Cookies

225g Self Raising Flour
Pinch of Salt
100g Butter
1 Medium Egg

Jam Making with Kids

Using our Jam Maker we set about getting the kids to weigh out the different ingredients for the Jam – we used Sugar Cubes this time as literally any sugar can be used with strawberries, sugar cubes are easy for the kids to handle.

Then we squeezed the lemon and put everything into the jam maker and set it, according to the instructions.

Whilst it was working we washed the jam jars and put them into a hot oven to sterilise. When the jam was ready and we tested it to see if it would set we poured it into the contains and left it to cool down whilst the children played.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

We line our cookie trays witgreaseproofof paper or silicone coated parchment paper as find that these prevent the cookies from sticking especially with some of our trays that are aging.

With kids I like to use digital scales as well as more traditional scales. This help them to read numbers especially when they are learning to count and measure.

Some of the skills of cooking like rubbing butter and flour together to make a bread crumb texture are useful to teach early. This same method is used in our Rhubarb Crumble.

The kids loved making their thumbprints in the cookie dough.

You don’t have to use our homemade Strawberry Jam recipe to make these storebought Jam is good as well.

Love this recipe – Grow your own Strawberries to Make it Next Year

Grow your own strawberries with this simple kit – you won’t need a lot of space when you use this stacking plant set which will contain 20 strawberry plants.

Buy the strawberry plants this set contains 20 plants and has a good yield even in the first year.

Don’t forget your compost and a fun watering can and the kids can grow their strawberries to make their own Jam and these thumbprint cookies.

More J is for Jam recipes from the cooking with kids blog team

Strawberry Jam and Jam Splogger Cookies – YOU ARE HERE

Super Simple Microwave Strawberry Jam – Still Playing School

Orange Strawberry Jam Surprise Muffins – The Educators’ Spin On It

Jam and Cream Cheese Bites – Frogs Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Jam and Greek Yogurt Fruit Dip – Sugar Aunts

Jam Tarts – Mum in the Madhouse

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