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Litearcy Activities in the Kitchen: Hot Chocolate Banana Muffins

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Are you ready for this month’s Virtual Book Club for Kids?  Our featured author this month is Laura Numeroff.  We decided to feature If You Give a Moose a Muffin and we created a yummy recipe to make with the kids.  There is even a FREE printable writing activity to tie everything together!

If you are new to Virtual Book Club for Kids here is a little background.  The Educators’ Spin On It, Toddler Approved and Rainy Day Mum have put together a wonderful line-up of great authors to explore.  On the second Thursday of each month, talented bloggers will be share one of the three featured books by the highlighted author that month.  Each blogger shares an activity or craft to compliment one of the three books.  You are invited to try out as many of the ideas that you feel would be a good fit for your kids.

Now, onto the Laura Numeroff book and activity we chose this month.

Make these yummy Hot Chocolate Banana Muffins to compliment the book If You Give a Moose a Muffin. Fun literacy activities in the kitchen including a free printable!

Full Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links.

Literacy Activities in the Kitchen

The Book:  If You Give a Moose a Muffin

If You Give a Moose a Muffin is part of a very fun series by Laura Numeroff.  When a moose comes to visit, you will have to give him a muffin.  And of course if you give him a muffin, he will want some jam to go with it.  One thing will remind him of another until eventually we circle back to him wanting a muffin again at the end of the story.

The Activities:

Hot Chocolate Banana Muffins

Cooking and baking with children is a wonderful way to develop vocabulary, teach following directions, and bond with kids.

This recipe was created by mistake and has become one of our favorites.  One day while making banana bread, my 2 year-old dumped a jar of hot chocolate mix into the bowl.  It ended up turning out really well! We’ve tweaked the recipe a bit more and have now come up with our go to muffin recipe.  They would be perfect for any moose!

Ingredients: 

ingredients for hot chocolate banana muffins

  • 1½ cups white whole wheat flour (you could also use All Purpose flour)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 TBSP cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 3 large very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ⅓ cup butter, melted
Directions:
mixing the batter for hot chocolate banana muffins
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat muffin pan with non-stick spray, or use paper liners.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cocoa powder, chocolate chips and salt; set aside.
  3. Combine bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla and melted butter in a large bowl.
  4. Fold in flour mixture, and mix until smooth.
  5. Scoop into muffin pans.
  6. Bake in preheated oven. Bake muffins for 25 minutes.

This recipe makes 12 delicious muffins!  While the muffins cook enjoy reading If You Give a Moose a Muffin again.

Ready to Write

Build more literacy skills by having your child think through the muffin making process.  Print this book (Muffin Book)template and staple the pages together.  If your child isn’t writing yet, he or she can draw a picture on each page.  Young writers can add words and sentences based on their abilities.

The book makes a wonderful keepsake of your baking experience.

Are you looking for more great literacy ideas?  Join our FREE newsletter email list!

Now, it’s time to explore some other great activities and crafts to compliment Laura Numeroff’s books.

Virtual Book Club for Kids

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie activities:
 
If You Give a Moose a Muffin activities:

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About Jodie Rodriguez

Jodie Rodriguez is a mom of two young boys and an early childhood/elementary educator with over 20 years of experience. Jodie's passion is helping parents, teachers, librarians and anyone else interested in nurturing and reaching ALL of our youngest growing readers.

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  1. Jill says

    This is such a fun book! The muffins look like a tasty way to keep the fun of the story going!

    Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!

    Reply

  2. Rachel says

    That writing prompt is a great idea! I wish I’d thought of it two weeks ago when my preschoolers made applesauce muffins after reading this book :). It would be a great way to share with parents. I especially like the “About the Illustrator” page. Maybe we’ll have to make some more muffins 😉

    Reply

  3. Kristina says

    Not only do these look delicious, but the photos are gorgeous! I have never tried making muffins with chocolate in them… and I need to remedy that ASAP!

    Reply

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