DIY Candy Bars

So you’re looking for a way to get your kid interested in helping out in the kitchen? Get them started by using chocolate! We recently had the chance to try out the Easy Chef Chocolate Bar Maker from Imports Dragon/Moose. Who doesn’t love DIY candy bars?! Fun AND Delicious!

Miss O was super-excited to make her very own candy bars – what kid wouldn’t be? I knew it would be a hit not only because of the chocolate but because the kit is from the makers of Shopkins and Glitzi Globes – two of her favourite things. So we decided to take some time in the afternoon on Family Day to get in the kitchen!

Get Creative

First thing’s first: the kit does not include the chocolate or any of the fixin’s. It’s simply a fun kit that provides the tools to make your chocolate bars: a fancy yet very easy-to-use container for squeezing out the chocolate, some fun moulds and various decorative pieces and some bags & labels for storing your chocolate bars. It also includes the tools to make gooey centres. There’s also a special tip for doing designs on top of the chocolate bars using another type of chocolate such as white or dark. You will need a few plain chocolate bars (we used an Aero bar) and fun items to put inside your chocolate bars. I opted for raisins, Teddy Graham cookies, mini m&ms, Reese’s Pieces and cashews. If you are going to make gooey centres, you’ll want some caramel or chocolate sauce.

Toddlers in the Kitchen

I tried to involve Miss O in the preparation as much as the actual activity of making the chocolate bars. She will be 3 in June. The thought of involving a two year old in the kitchen may sound daunting to some but they’re actually quite helpful.

She helped put the chocolate into the bowl, she pushed the buttons on the microwave with my help and she stirred the chocolate once it was melted. Next came the fun part: making the chocolate bars!

As the kit is marketed for ages 5+, her little hands had a bit of trouble squeezing the chocolate into the moulds so I did that step for her. I filled three moulds half way and she selected all of her ingredients for the middle layer which included a little bit of everything! This is a great activity to hone those fine motor skills. I added another layer of chocolate and we put them in the freezer to set.

Waiting 20 minutes for our chocolate bars was the hardest part. To pass the time, we coloured the labels included in the kit (while eating some more of the mini m&m’s!) and we played with her Glitzi Globes and we Skyped Grandma – that’s always a fun way to pass the time!

Delicious DIY Candy Bars

Once the chocolate bars were ready, she was more than happy to dive right in. We made 2 fun-size bars and 1 large one. She demolished the fun size ones (with a little help from mommy and daddy). We saved the big one for another day by placing it in one of the fun foil bags included in the kit.

This was a great way to spend Family Day. The baby took a nap. Daddy was on stand-by in case he woke up. Miss O and I got to spend some great quality time together having some fun in the kitchen. Little J is a bit of a handful and takes up most of my attention when he is awake (which is most of the time). As a result, Miss O has really be craving some one-on-one time with mommy. Even if the end result was junk food, I’m glad we got to work together in the kitchen.

Check out some of our other quick & easy recipes here.

This banana cream pie is another easy recipe to make with kids.