Does your troop love to cook? Here are 11 easy Girl Scout cooking meeting ideas that girls at any level can do.
For the past eighteen years, I have been teaching in my synagogue’s Early Childhood Center and Religious School. Hands down, no matter what age I taught, the favorite thing to do in class is cook. I taught 7th and 8th grade cooking for many years, and it was the one class hardly any student missed.
While there are many badge that involve cooking, a Girl Scout cooking meeting can just be for fun or to decompress. Sometimes the best meetings are ones where there is no formal agenda. Permitting the girls to just hang out and talk, get their hands busy and their bellies full, makes for wonderful bonding moments.
Even if you do not have an oven or a microwave available where you meet, there are plenty of no-bake recipes available. When my troop earned the retired Brownie Make It, Eat it, Try It badge, I had the girls in stations with one adult volunteer at each.
Here are 11 ideas for an easy Girl Scout cooking meeting.
Make Homemade Pizza
There are many ways for your girls to make pizza. It can be as easy as pizza bagel or a pizza English muffin or, if you have the space, making it from scratch. Stores sell pre-made dough and you can cut it into third so the girls can make their own individual pizza.
No Bake Cookies
Many no bake cookies use some kind of nut butter as an ingredient. If you have a child with nut allergies, here is a recipe for Chocolate No Bake Oatmeal cookies that has no nuts.
Recipes in a Mug
Did you know that you could make anything from cake to French toast to mac and cheese in a mug? Find a few recipes that your girls will like and let them bake away.
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
This was a favorite thing for my first grade students to make as a gift.
You will need access to a stove or microwave. Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and pour some into a large red Solo cup. Girls can take turns dipping the pretzel rods into the chocolate and then roll them in sprinkles that are on a paper plate. Have them set on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper.
Salads from Other Countries
There is more to salad than lettuce and cut up carrots. Why not make salads and salad dressing from other countries? Girls can learn proper cutting and measuring skill as they work in group.
Make Parfaits
This is an easy thing for girls to make. A layered parfait can be made dozens of different way.
Make Copycat Recipes
One of my family’s favorite recipes is copycat P. F. Changes Lettuce Wraps from Dam Delicious. Ask your girls what their favorite fast foods or beverages are and find the copycat recipe online for them to make and enjoy,.
Make Bread in a Bag
Here is an easy recipe to make Bread in a Bag. Even if you do not have the time or space to bake it, send the girls home with the dough in a disposable foil pan and the baking directions. Here is a recipe for Bread in a Bag.
Make Homemade Hummus
Another easy recipe that my class loved to make was hummus. I even did it with my pre-K class! There are many recipes online that you can use. Make sure you have plenty of pita bread and veggies for dipping. The girls can prepare the veggies as part of the meeting.
Watergate Salad
This classic vintage recipe is sweet and requires no cooking. Find the recipe here.
No Bake Cake Pops
Remember when cake pops were all the rage? They are easy to make and are something your girls may enjoy creating. Here is an easy No Bake Oreo Cake Pop recipe.
What have you cooked with your troop?
