E is for Elephant Ears - ABCs of Homeschooling

During week five of the ABCs of Homeschooling, we continued to use the children's cookbook called Alpha-Bakery produced by Gold Medal Flour. (We are using the cookbook for one aspect of homeschool home economics.)

For each letter of the alphabet, there is a corresponding recipe. Out of the five recipes we've made so far, four have been desserts or breads; and one has been a main dish.

This week, we're back to desserts with Elephant Ears. The recipe only makes four cookies since you cut the dough into four pieces and are supposed to press them out to be about six inches wide.

Elephant Ear Cookies.

Yes, there are only three cookies instead of four.

Someone apparently wanted to eat a cookie right out of the oven.

For some reason, ours didn't press out to be that wide nor have the cinnamon-sugar swirl pattern as illustrated in the cookbook. Nonetheless, the cookies were very good and we all enjoyed eating them.

We thought that cutting them into smaller pieces would be better next time so there are more cookies to eat over a longer time period.

Elephant Ears

Ingredients

1/4 cup margarine or butter (we used dairy-free butter)
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk (we used dairy-free milk)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Sugar

Directions

Heat the oven to 425°. Oil a cookie sheet. Heat margarine until melted; set aside.

Stir flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in milk and 3 tablespoons of the melted margarine until dough forms.

Sprinkle a surface lightly with flour; turn dough onto surface. Knead 10 times. Roll dough with a rolling pin or pat with hands into a rectangle, 9x5 nches. Brush with remaining melted margarine, using pastry brush; sprinkle with mixture of 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon.

Roll dough up tightly, beginning at narrow end. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Cut into 4 equal pieces with sharp knife.

Place cut sides up on cookie sheet; pat each into a 6-inch circle. Sprinkle with more sugar.

Bake until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet with a spatula. Let cool on wire rack. Makes 4 elephant ears.

An African elephant that Sophia, Olivia, and I saw

at the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island in September 2011.

We were able to see this elephant and two others

get their feet checked and cared for while we were there.

They were such gentle and fascinating animals to watch.