Baby burgers recipe

Sunshine burgers

 

Teach children rolling and shaping skills with these beef patties from CBeebies' 'i can cook'

Makes 6 small burgers

Ingredients

• 2 handfuls cornflakes , about 25g/1oz
• 225g/ 8oz beef mince
• small bunch basil leaf , ripped into small pieces
• 1 large egg , beaten
• few handfuls plain flour , about 75g/2½ oz
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 6 each mini burger buns, lettuce leaves and tomato slices
• tomato ketchup , to serve

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 20 mins

Cook 20 mins

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. First, crush the cornflakes by placing them in a freezer bag, then breaking with the rolling pin. This is fun (but mind your fingers) and try not to bash them to dust, just to rough flakes. Put in a bowl.

1. Tip the mince into another bowl, add the basil and a little ground pepper. For lean mince you may need to add 1 tbsp beaten egg to help it bind (stick together), then mix it well. Put some flour on a plate and some beaten egg on another plate.
2. Take about a sixth of the mince mix and shape it into a small burger. Do this by squashing it quite firmly in the palm of your hand. (Burger-shaping will transfer a skill your child may have from playing with modelling clay to the kitchen as they create a ball in their palm, then squash it into a flatter patty.)
3. Next roll the burger in the flour. Then roll it all over in a little egg. Then roll it quite liberally in the crushed cornflakes. Now place it on the oiled baking sheet and start the process again until you have used up all the mix. Try to keep the sizes even so that the burgers cook in the same time.
4. Lightly drip oil onto the top of each burger using a pastry brush and bake in the centre of the oven for 15-20 mins until cooked through. Serve the burgers in the split buns with lettuce, tomato slices and some ketchup.

FOR PARENTS

There's not much formal weighing required here - you can divide up a 500g pack of mince so you have roughly half, your child can take a couple of handfuls of cornflakes to crush, a few more for the flour. 'Free cooking' is a great skill to show children- released from the strictures of a recipe that must be weighed out to the gram, it gives them more freedom to get creative.

EQUIPMENT

To make the burgers you'll need a freezer bag, rolling pin, 2 bowls, fork, cup, 2 plates, oiled baking sheet, pastry brush and oven gloves for adult use.

 

PER SERVING

176 kcalories, protein 10g, carbohydrate 13g, fat 9 g, saturated fat 3g, fibre 1g, sugar 1g, salt 0,2 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, June 2012

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2389637/sunshine-burgers