Kids will like 'mistake' stories

Kids love cookies, cakes and muffins.

But the best way to control the amount of salt, sugar, fat and preservatives in baked goods is to make them yourself.

Wait, scratch that. Get the kids to make them with you instead.

The Kansas City Star's recipe for Chocolate Chip Strawberry Muffins is the perfect recipe to get young kids in the kitchen: The recipe is short, and the results are sweet.

To begin, let the kids measure the ingredients (math skills). Next, they can stir the quick bread batter (motor skills). After pouring each muffin cup half full, let them spoon a teaspoon of jam (fun and messy) and cover with remaining batter. The jam will bake up through the muffin top to yield a fruity surprise in the middle.

Nutrition bonus: This muffin is so tasty and moist it doesn't require a pat of butter.

Making time to include the kids in the kitchen provides an opportunity for you to talk about what makes a healthier muffin (like the quality of ingredients and the portion size). You may wind up talking about what makes a healthier meal.

As you dabble in the kitchen, your kids may be intrigued by mini chocolate chips in these muffins. Encourage them to go to www.inventivekids.com , where they can take a quiz or play a game to learn about inventive "mistakes." The food-related mistakes include chocolate chips.

Turns out that home economist Ruth Wakefield, the inventor of the chocolate chip, substituted bits of semisweet chocolate in a butter cookie recipe. The upside is that the chips got gooey (yum) but didn't melt. The rest, as they say, is history.

Chocolate Chip Strawberry Muffins

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup 1 percent milk

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup strawberry preserves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and mini chips in a medium bowl. Make a deep well in the center of the flour mixture. Whisk together milk, butter and egg. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. (Do not overstir.)

Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray coating. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of batter into each cup. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of strawberry preserves into center of each muffin. Top with remaining batter. Sprinkle tops with remaining sugar.

Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until muffins spring back when lightly touched in the center. Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack.

Yield: 12 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 195 calories (22 percent from fat), 5 grams total fat (3 grams saturated), 24 milligrams cholesterol, 36 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams protein, 198 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber.

Invention tip

Let the kids experiment with different flavors of preserves.

Cooking tip

Mixing the mini chocolate chips with the flour as called for in this recipe keeps them from sinking to the bottom of quick breads.

Pump it up

For more information on Ruth Wakefield and chocolate chips, go to www.joyofbaking.com and www.verybestbaking.com .

Recipe developed for the Kansas City Star by professional home economists Kathryn Moore and Roxanne Wyss.