Mods, I hope this is OK 🙂 My single dad friend is always looking for things to do with his two young kids. I was making several batches of apple crumble for friends and family, so I thought I’d put together a deconstructed one with instructions as a fun hands-on activity for him and his littles. They absolutely loved it and it made my heart so happy. Recipe in 1st pic!
by flipflapdragon
42 Comments
This is so sweet of you💕 & also a great idea!🤍
What a kind and unique thing to do.
Oh I LOVE this. How creative and kind ❤️
Geez, some angry, bitter people in these comments.
Waaa so cute and creative!! And a yummy treat too!
That’s an excellent gift and so kind.
What a great idea kudos to you.
Aww! I love this idea. Would be great for a babysitting activity
This is really awesome of you
Forget the negative Nancy’s in the comments, this is definitely a thoughtful and fun thing to do especially with young kids. I’m a SAHM with three under 4 and a super novice baker (cooking is my outlet, not baking) I’d appreciate little kits like this. I don’t bake enough to justify buying a 5lb bag of flour which will end up sitting in my cabinet for a year plus, nor do I use a lot of butter in my household so I’d definitely appreciate this.
I wonder if people are aware that companies sell baking kits exactly like this. but noone bats an eye at that. yall need some joy.
I said this is another comment but OP I want you to know this is GREAT!
My parents would do something similar with my daughter when she was 3-4 (maybe even as young as 2, I don’t remember exactly). She loved being able to dump things in and mix like crazy! She never had the patience for standing there while someone else read the recipe and she would always want to do the measuring herself but was terrible at it. Having everything already measured and ready made it so much more fun for everyone involved.
It was honestly such a fun memory for me and I’m sure her as well. Your friend is so lucky to have you. This was so thoughtful and kind, I’m sure the kids had a blast and dad too.
I really appreciate everyone’s kind words, blunt words, and everything in between! I thought I’d pop in here and clear up a couple things:
* This dad is a lower income (relevant context, keep reading) recently single dad who is working two very physical jobs.
* I acknowledge the comments challenging whether he can read, portion, follow a recipe, and so on. I want to be clear: The goal here was to provide the gift of an activity itself. The gift was activity and bonding time with his kids, with the removal of the additional money and time needed to make it happen. The gift itself was not the actual crumble, it was the time with his kids, with the crumble building just being the vehicle for it.
* He is a wonderfully caring, loving, attentive dad. I have no kids (F33 but medically unable to have a baby) so his kids are my unofficial little nieces. I love to spoil both him and them. So while he is, of course, able to read recipes and come up with activities, I just wanted to offer a gift that would give him this time back in an area that is fun, but unfamiliar to him.
* Lastly, I wouldn’t look at this as a “woman babying a grown ass man”, lol! He has hobbies that I suppose could be seen as both feminine and masculine. Baking is just not one of them, and I think that’s okay. 🙂
I hope this clears a few things up! Who knew that something like a deconstructed crumble pie would be so controversial? Someone in the comments had made an apt comparison, “If someone baked you a pie, would you refuse it and tell them you can bake your own damn pie?” This made me chuckle and was a good distinction of what I was going for here. At the end of the day, it was an activity gift, not a strictly baked good gift (although I thought this sub could always use a nice apple cinnamon crumble recipe going into fall). It was about the journey, not the destination 🙂
Cook by numbers. Immensely fun idea!
This is the kind of thing that reminds me the world is not all bad. There is so much good that is quiet and kind.
Depending on the age of the kids, having them grab the bags and dump them out is definitely easier and sometimes more for fun than having them measure it themselves. Don’t know why some comments are making it seem like it’s a crime to simplify things. Also not needing to wash extra dishes is a win in my book, I’d love this for myself. He’s lucky to have someone like you ♥️
How much flour? i want to make this recipe haha but i don’t see flour amount. I do see the sugars and butter amounts
That’s awesome
This is a very thoughtful & kind thing to do. Anyone making negative comments about it needs to get a life. Well done OP, I applaud your generosity & initiative.
This is so sweet and cute but that unicorn drawing sealed the deal. How thoughtful!!
Such an amazing idea!
I just love this!!
This made me smile, you’re a kind person OP 🙂
I think this is the cutest , sweetest most thoughtful gift ever! ❤️
What a lovely idea!
Love this. So thoughtful, and a beautiful way to build community 🥲💕💕💕
That’s so sweet!
🎵 ”Won’t you be…my neighbor“ 🎶
your post made me think of Mr. Rogers 🙂🥰
This is sweet
Unrelated but I thought the bag looked familiar and sure enough it was Uncle Tetsu lol. I love their cheesecakes. And also love this idea of baking by numbers and such a great gesture on your part!
this is incredible!! I wanna do this for a friend sometime.
That’s so awesome!!! I did something similar with my kids and their cousins. I typed up the ingredients using decimals, the scientific name for ingredients, and the chemical composition for salt. My old English teacher showed the chemistry teacher the idea, not sure if they did something similar though.
I think this is actually a wonderful idea
This is a great gift!!! Wow!!
Love!
I’m really just jealous of your apple selection 😛because I haven’t had a Braeburn or Honeycrisp in years😕
Such a good idea!! It looks tasty ☺️
Brb omw to downvote all the haters
this feels like a baking lego set
Awesome idea. How do you keep the chopped apples from browning?
1) I thought the title ended at “for him” and was so delighted by the fact that we’re now giving enrichment activities to our friends! This seemed so sweet! Like I bet a single dad would appreciate some wholesome solo-baking time.
2) I still really liked it when I read the “kids” part. This is such a fun activity.
3) I might steal this idea for meal prepping!
Honestly, as a mom with two young kids… this would be the best gift ever. It’s extra work and effort to measure and gather and sometimes, you just don’t have the headspace for finding the damn 1/4 cup.
I’ll remember this for when my mom/dad friends could use a fun kid friendly gift!!