Snacks

Dip chocolate into homemade shortbread and you have a yummy treat for morning or afternoon tea, a picnic dessert or a welcome addition to a school or work lunchbox.

This rice paper roll dish can be served on its own, or with your favourite dipping sauce. Great for lunch boxes, drinks parties and a healthy mid-meal snack.

These golden biscuits are delicious and great to make with the kids. Full of crunchy walnuts and chewy apricot pieces, they'll be a sure-fire hit!

This decadent chocolate and raspberry slice is devilishly good - try and resist a piece!

Perfect for an after school snack or a tasty lunchbox treat - these cheese and vegemite embrace classic Aussie flavours in a delicious baked bread.

The whole family will love these cranberry and oat cookies, fresh from the oven.

This filling, fruity, low-fat yoghurt smoothie is a great after-school drink for kids.

This Marshmallow Slice takes almost no cooking and minimal preparation. Serve for morning or afternoon tea, take to work to share with your friends, or put a batch together for a children's party.

Served with two simple dips, this homemade damper is a perfect accompaniment ... or make the damper as a stand-alone part of any family meal.

Makes 20 squares. Note

Tubby the well-rounded bear makes the cutest birthday cake, and there's no baking involved! You could even opt for a fairy-tale theme and make three for a Goldilocks tableau.

You will need 3 passionfruit to make 1/4 cup pulp. If ice block moulds are unavailable, double the recipe and freeze in a plastic food wrap-lined loaf pan for 6 hours or overnight. Scoop to serve. Note

Sprinkled with a light dusting of icing sugar, these pretty biscuits add a celebratory note to your Christmas or birthday festivities. Use your favourite jam to fill.

Put a healthy swing on hot chips with these beautiful home-baked kumara chips. We've used sweet potato in this recipe to lower the starch content, but maximise flavour. Enjoy!

Juicy and delicious tropical fruit with rosewater syrup. You can use pineapple or even watermelon instead of the papaya if you prefer. You could also use 4 cardamom pods and a cinnamon quill instead of the rosewater.

If preferred, buy ready-prepared chicken schnitzel and cover, freeze and cook it as required. Note

Suitable from 8 months Note

A delicious twist on our classic cornflake cookies these white chocolate cornflake cookies with peanuts are crunchy and delicious.

EQUIPMENT deep 22cm (9-inch) square cake pan 25cm (10-inch) square cake board. While it is cute, it’s best to serve this to older children as the small noodles can be a choking hazard for younger children. Using a small serrated knife cut ‘V’-shaped indents into the middle of each piece of cake. Note

These beef burgers with roast tomato and caramelised onion will quickly become a family favourite.

Chocolate mixture can be prepared a day ahead. Keep covered in refrigerator and reheat just before serving. Note

Use toothpicks to position paper pattern on cakes, ready to cut out. Assemble cake on prepared board ready for icing. Note

You need to press the cake mixture into balls using your hands – do not roll as the mixture will crumble. You will need 25 lollypop or paddle pop sticks for this recipe. When dipping the cake pops in melted chocolate, tilt the bowl of chocolate to one side, so the chocolate is deep enough […]

Use any jam you prefer. Note

Surprise and delight the kids with these delicious white chocolate and macadamia muffins, or better still, get them involved in making them. They're dead easy and ready to be eaten in around 30 minutes.

For children under one year old, peel and remove seeds from tomato before chopping. Note

These tasty baked arrabbiata muffins are packed full of flavour and texture. Filled with melted, oozy cheese, they will be loved by kids and adults alike. Enjoy them warm as a light lunch or dinner or pop them in your lunch box for work or school.

This is one way of getting some good raw vegies into the kids. The sweetness of the honey and the nutty crunch of toasted sesame seeds are delicious combined with the fresh vegies and slippery noodles. This is the salad in its simple form, but chicken or other meat can be added to make it a bigger meal for bigger kids.

Make a cake in shape of a football jersey, ­decorate it with the colours of your child’s favourite team to make him the hero of the day. Note

Vegemite and cheese pinwheels are perfect tasty treats for kid's lunchboxes.

If you have overnight guests or friends coming for breakfast, prepare the recipe ahead for a breakfast of muffins fresh from the oven! The muffin batter is partially made the day before and refrigerated overnight, needing only a few more minutes of preparation before baking and serving. Note

6 serving plates, or a large serving tray Use a mixture of jam and cinnamon doughnuts, mini jam doughnuts and doughnut holes, if you like. Note

Cover macaroons with foil halfway through baking time if fruit on top starts to brown. You need about 50g (1½ ounces) of each glacé fruit. Note

You may find it easier to bake just two crisps on a tray at a time. Re-use the baking-paper lining. Store crisps in an airtight container for up to a week. Note

Quick and fun toffee chocolate spoons from Australian Women's Weekly.

A classic modern pie with beef and caramelised onion from Australian Women's Weekly.

Make this exciting and fun cake for your child's birthday party.

You can make glacé icing without butter (or oil) but, a tiny amount of butter will add gloss to the icing and make it easy to cut neatly ­without butter, glacé icing tends to shatter when you cut it. Note

Add some extra colour to the marshmallow by tinting half of it lightly with your choice of food colouring ­the range is limitless and can be added to suit the colour theme of your party. Note

Black sugar is available from health food stores; brown sugar can be used as a substitute. Note

Banana purée is best eaten on the day of making. Note

Colourful, chocolatey and utterly moorish, these tasty spotty cookies are perfect for a bake stall or school fete.

Tarts can be made one day ahead; store, in a single layer, in an airtight container. The stars of the day can act all grown-up like their favourite celebrity with a flute of pink fizz in one hand and a canapé in the other. As well, there’s the kids’ all-time favourite jam tarts made into […]

You can use halved cherry, grape or mini roma (egg) tomatoes if you like. This recipe would make a delicious breakfast or brunch dish. Serve with a green salad or steamed asparagus. Note

We used watermelon, mandarins, kiwifruit, mango and strawberries. Use any combination you like. Note

Equipment: 30cm x 40cm rectangular cake board You can also use raspberry and vanilla marshmallows, halved crossways, or a variety of chocolate buttons to decorate the balloon. If using butter cream instead of the strawberry frosting, you will need one quantity of butter cream which ­ you can tint pink or leave plain. Note

Heat ungreased gem irons in hot oven for 5 minutes just before use; grease with cooking oil spray. Note

Assemble pieces ready to be iced. Use a palette knife to make scales. Position paper pattern on cake. Note

Try serving the fruit kebabs with chocolate sprinkles and desiccated coconut as well as 100s & 1000s. Note

The kids will love these delightful teddy bear biscuits. You can experiment with different coloured smarties to have a variety of coloured noses, if you like.

Keeping time: 1 week. Note

It is very important to allow biscuits to cool completely before you attempt to remove them from trays, to avoid breaking Note

Unbaked pinwheels can be frozen for up to a month. Bake them straight from the freezer, adding about 10 minutes to the baking time. Note

8cm x 25cm x 7cm (3¼-inch x 10-inch x 2¾-inch) bar cake pan deep 25cm (10-inch) round cake pan 45cm (18-inch) square cake board. Be careful when cutting the jubes as they tend to stick to the knife. To avoid this, dip the knife in hot water and dry it before cutting. Note

Fast and easy barbecued chicken pizza - perfect for children's lunches.

Have butter at room temperature. Beat butter in a small bowl with electric mixer until very pale. Add half sifted icing sugar and half milk; beating until well combined. Add remaining icing sugar and milk; beat until mixture is smooth. Note

Equipment 21cm x 32cm number 1 cake pan (see tip) 35cm x 45cm covered cake board. After turning the first cake out of the pan, wash the cake pan and rinse it in cold water, then dry, to remove any residual heat. Note

Makes about 24 Note

Inspired by Aboriginal legend, this striking cake is distinctively an Australian original. Note

Store the balls in an airtight container, separated with baking paper, at room temperature, for up to 1 week. Note

Chicken can be crumbed one day ahead; keep, covered, in refrigerator. Cook chicken just before serving. Note

Store in an airtight container for up to a week. Note

Equipment: 3 x 12-hole (1/3-cup/80ml) standard muffin pans, 30 standard paper cases. The icing will set quickly, so return it to the pan of water and reheat it gently until it’s runny again. Don’t overheat the icing or it will crystallise. A tiered cake plate is the perfect way to show off these ever-popular patty […]

20cm x 30cm (8-inch x 12-inch) rectangular cake pan; 8cm x 25cm (3¼-inch x 10-inch) bar cake pan; 35cm x 45cm (14-inch x 18-inch) rectangular cake board Note

You'll get more howls of delight than of fear when you bring this spooky ice-cream cake out! A firm favourite from The Australian Women's Weekly Kids' Perfect Party Book.

Fun and great for sharing; white choc-chip orange and cranberry muffins from Australian Women's Weekly.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Note

Did you know? Children need to eat mini-meals throughout the day. Most children can snack up to 5 or 6 times a day, thanks to their small stomach capacity and large appetites, providing them with a third to a half of their energy needs. Note

EQUIPMENT 26cm x 35cm (10 inch x 14 inch) baking dish 30cm x 40cm (12 inch x 16 inch) rectangular cake board bamboo skewer. The grommets have gone a-surfing — even fussy teenage boys and girls will want to ‘hang 10’ with this cool pair of board shorts. Use a skewer to make holes for […]

If you're looking for a sweet treat that will appeal to young and old and isn't too full of sugar, these frozen coconut bananas with passionfruit dip are for you!

35cm (14-inch) square cake board These cute little cakes would also be a welcome treat at a halloween party for younger children. Cupcakes should be decorated the day of serving as the Minties will dissolve if left overnight. Store cakes in an airtight container at room temperature. If you can’t find un-iced cupcakes, use iced […]

Boris the clown is a fun and delicious cake for children's birthday parties.

Replace toys with caramello koalas or teddy bear biscuits, edible flowers and lollies shaped like picnic foods, such as fruits, hot dogs and pizza. You’ll find lots of toys to easily decorate cakes in variety shops or toy stores. Note

Keeping time: 2 days. We used 3 bananas for this recipe. Note

When too much chocolate is never enough, take one more step over the line and there you'll find these decadent little triple choc muffins. They make a great treat for the kids, or for you.

A simple chicken, zucchini and parsnip purée that is great for the young ones.

A super-fast and easy turkey and tomato salsa quesadillas for the whole family to enjoy as a snack.

EQUIPMENT 20cm x 30cm (8-inch x 12-inch) rectangular cake board We used Tic Tacs to make the ladybird `trail’. Use as many ladybirds as you like to decorate the cake board. Use any critter lollies you can find, sour worms work well, or even use plastic spiders, if you like. If using non-edible decorations, make […]

Honey may contain harmful bacteria and is not recommended for children under one year old. Note

A trick to cutting turkish delight is to place it in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up, then cut it with an oiled knife, making sure to oil the knife regularly. You need a 6cm (2½-inch) fluted square cutter, or alternatively use a 7cm (2¾ inch) fluted round cutter. Note