I am passionate about getting kids in the kitchen and getting them cooking, and anything that makes that easier and simpler is great by me. So when Salter asked us to take a look at their revolutionary Salter Cook range, which includes the Salter Cook 10kg Pro Bluetooth Kitchen Scale and the Salter Cook Bluetooth Cooking Thermometer that links to their cooking app, we decided to adapt one of the recipes we found on the app and make chocolate shortbread.

Using the Salter Cook App with Kids to bake Chocolate Shortbread

Initially, you need to download the free Salter Cook app, which is available for iOS or Android devices. The app comes preloaded with a range of both sweet and savoury recipes which is fab as according to research by Salter, a third of mums think it is important that their children experience a wide variety of food but struggle to make this happen. 

You can also import your own recipe from external websites (so you could add our chocolate shortbread recipe to your app)! Did you know that 43% of mums resort to convenience foods every week because they’ve run out of meal time inspiration, using an app like this is a great way to collate recipes that have worked well for your family.

Another brilliant feature is that you can personalise the recipes and change the quantity or serving size, so if you don’t want 20 shortbread then you can alter the quantity and the app will adapt the instructions and ingredients accordingly.  The recipes are so simple and easy to follow, and once you have weighed an item you can cross it out by clicking on it.

Whilst Maxi was weighing his ingredients I could watch from the other side of the kitchen and see what he was up to on my iPad. As per the recipe, you cream together the butter and sugar before adding the flour and cocoa powder.  Then you need to pop the dough in to cling film and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

When you get to a part in the recipe that needs to be timed, the interactive app allows you to click on it and it will set the timer.  With shortbread for example, you have to rest it in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Once your shortbread has rested roll it out to 1cm thick and then cut out.  You can either stamp like Mini did or you can just prick with a fork.

When it comes to the cooking time, you just have to touch the time listed in the recipe and it sets the timer ready for you to start.  Then you can pop your shortbreads in the oven to bake and start the countdown.

We were really impressed that the shortbread was perfectly cooked when the timer went off, there was no need to put them in any longer.  Using both the thermometer and the app took out all of the guesswork and ensured that our shortbread was just perfect.

Chocolate Shortbread Recipe

Ingredients

• 125g softened butter
• 55g caster sugar
• 40g cocoa powder
• 140g plain flour

How to make Chocolate Shortbread

• Preheat your oven to 190c or 170c for fan ovens
• Cream sugar and butter in a mixer or a mixing bowl. The secret to knowing when butter and caster sugar is creamed is to look out for the change of colour (It will go lighter).
• Add cocoa powder and flour and mix until you have a smooth paste.
• Wrap the dough in cling film and pop in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• Take out and roll out on a floured to 1cm thick and cut out your shapes.
• Prick with a fork or stamp.
• Cook for 18 minutes.
• Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.

The Benefits of the Salter Cook Scales

The Salter Cook 10kg Pro Bluetooth Kitchen Scale made supervising cooking so much easier.  I could leave the boys with the scales and step back with my phone or iPad and clearly see how much they had already added and they loved using it.

The fact that the scales have an “add and weigh” function is perfect for younger children, as they can reset them and weigh into the same bowl.  I always try to get my boys to use their maths skills and add the amounts together and having the weights in front of me allows me to double check.

You can change the units to ml or fl.oz to measure liquids, which is perfect for making sure all quantities are correct

The Benefits of Salter Cook Bluetooth Cooking Thermometer

We used the cooking thermometer to firstly check the accuracy of the temperature of our oven, and secondly, to keep an eye on the temperature from another room using our iPad, so we knew when the oven was the correct temperature for cooking.

The food probe will also be incredibly handy when the boys are cooking meat joints as they will be able to tell when it is cooked, which takes a lot of the guess work out of learning to cook.

The scales and thermometer have already made cooking with my boys so much more enjoyable, as I do not need to stand so close.  I can keep an eye on them from a distance giving them much more freedom. Not only that, the products have also added a new dimension and confidence to my cooking.

5 from 2 votes

Print

Chocolate Shortbread

Course Cookies

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes

Total Time 28 minutes

Servings 20 cookies

Author Jen Walshaw

Ingredients

• 125 g softened butter
• 55 g caster sugar
• 40 g cocoa powder
• 140 g plain flour

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 190c or 170c for fan ovens
2. Cream sugar and butter in a mixer or a mixing bowl. The secret to knowing when butter and caster sugar is creamed is to look out for the change of colour (It will go lighter).
3. Add cocoa powder and flour and mix until you have a smooth paste.
4. Wrap the dough in cling film and pop in the fridge for 20 minutes.
5. Take out and roll out on a floured to 1cm thick and cut out your shapes.
6. Prick with a fork or stamp.
7. Cook for 18 minutes.
8. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Check out these other Shortbread Receipes:

• 3 Ingredient Shortbread
• Chocolate Shortbread
• Dinosaur footprint shortbread
• Tea flavoured Shortbread Recipe
• Shortbread star wands
• Chai Tea Bag Cookies with Free Printable

The Salter Cook Bluetooth Recipe Scale is £79.99 and the Salter Cook Bluetooth Thermometer is £49.99, but there is a fab offer on at the moment where you can get both for under £100. They are available now from John Lewis, Steamer Trading, Argos, Amazon and the Salter website.