Name: School holidays saviour: Easy, air fryer cookie recipe
Prep time: 31 min
Cook time: 14 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 175g butter, softened; ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar; 1 tsp vanilla essence; 1 egg; 1½ cups plain flour; ¼ cup cocoa powder; 1 tsp baking powder; 280g packet vanilla and raspberry marshmallows; Melted dark chocolate, to decorate

With my daughter in need of extra childcare in the last school holidays, I was booked in for a couple of days of babysitting duties with my grandkids, Harper and Rowan.

From past experiences, I know having some planned activities is key to a fun day to minimise the inevitable chaos and for me to avoid a migraine at the end of the day.

Of course, my Food Editor brain jumps straight to cooking activities. Like most kids, Harper and Rowan love to get into the kitchen and cook up a treat.

But there are few prerequisites:

The recipe needs to be quick and easy – their concentration span is short!
It has to appeal to their fussy tastebuds – you can’t go wrong with chocolate
Requires a fast clean-up – because I don’t want to be cleaning up a bomb site in my kitchen when they choof off home at the end of the day

Working in the New Idea Test Kitchen on yet another round of Air Fryer recipes recently, our Managing Food Editor, Karen came up with a super easy choc cookie/smores fusion that we named the Smores Giant Cookie.

Easy to make and delicious to eat, we knew it would be a huge hit with little kids and big kids alike.

As it turned out, it was the perfect choice. Eight-year-old Harper loved helping with beating up the chocolate mix and managed to spread it into the tins herself. Four-year-old Rowan took charge of sprinkling the marshmallows over the top, eating more than a few in the process.

The highlight though, without a doubt, was drizzling the melted chocolate over the top of the finished cookies. So much for minimising the mess – argh! They ended up with it all over themselves (sorry mum!).

Delighting in licking the spoons clean, surely, I was in the running for Nanna of the Year. Now, onto the next activity – finger painting anyone?

Ingredients

175g butter, softened

¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

1½ cups plain flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

280g packet vanilla and raspberry marshmallows

Melted dark chocolate, to decorate

Method

Step 1

Lightly grease two 20cm non-stick loose-base round cake pans.

Step 2

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl of an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add egg. Beat until combined. Transfer to a large bowl. On low speed, beat in sifted flour, cocoa and baking powder until combined.

Step 3

Divide mixture evenly between prepared pans. Press evenly over bases.

Step 4

Place one cake pan in a 7-litre air fryer basket. Air-fry on 170°C for 10 mins. Carefully pull out pan and basket. Top biscuit base with half the marshmallows. Air-fry on 200°C for 4 mins until marshmallows are lightly golden. Carefully transfer cake pan to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining cake pan.

Step 5

Cut into pieces. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Serve.

Jane Ash Food Editor

Jane’s love of food began at a young age and led to her studying home economics at TAFE before embarking on a career in food media and TAFE hospitality teaching that has spanned over 30 years. Today, as a Food Editor across New Idea, New Idea Food and Woman’s Day, she’s all for sharing fresh, delicious and achievable recipe ideas, plus the tricks of the trade so everyone can experience the joy of cooking. Attaining a certificate in Nutrition and Diet from Beck Health & Nutrition, Jane has a sound knowledge of the role a wholesome diet plays in overall health and wellbeing, and a growing interest in developing recipes for those on special diets. A believer in everything in moderation, her love of food extends to sweet treats too, especially cakes and desserts, of which she’s developed hundreds while working in numerous leading magazine test kitchens. She knows she’s in the right job when she finds herself still dreaming up new creations to share and inspire others.

Lara Carlucci Editorial Assistant

Lara is an Editorial Assistant to Managing Food Editor Karen Buckley for New Idea, New Idea Food, Woman’s Day, Take 5, and That’s Life, and an Assistant and Writer for Diabetic Living. With a Bachelor of Media (Communications & Journalism), a Bachelor of Arts, and a Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences (Honours), she’s always nurtured a passion and love for writing in whatever form it takes, wanting to share stories that matter. Food is her second love: shaped by her Italian heritage, and the countless large family gatherings that are always comprised of wholesome, generous meals prepared by loved ones. If not around the banquet table, she’ll take every opportunity to sample Sydney’s endless supply of cuisines – having visited over 70 food joints in the last year alone!