Materials list:

Help your child find these materials or a close substitute: 

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cup white flour
• 1/2 teaspoon custom batter ingredients; could be: 
  • Ground spices like cardamom, cinnamon, or ginger.
  • Herbs like rosemary or thyme
  • Zest like lemon or orange zest
• 1/2 cup of muffin add ins; could be:
  • Fruit like apples, blueberries, mango, shredded coconut
  • Shredded vegetables like carrots, zucchini
  • Chocolate chips
  • Raisins
• Optional: 1/4 cup shredded cheese
  
• Custom topping ingredient; could be:
  • 1/2 teaspoon spices or powders like cardamom, cocoa powder, cinnamon, ground ginger
  • 1 tablespoon zest like lemon or orange zest
  • 1/2 teaspoon flavoring like vanilla

Equipment

• Mixing bowls
• Measuring spoons and cups
• Electric mixer
• Oven
• Muffin tins
• Fork

Activity GUIDE:

Refer to these steps to keep young innovators on track as they create:

1.  Design your recipe.

• Support being courageous—If kids are reluctant to step outside of their flavor comfort zone, emphasize that taking a chance could help them discover new tastes they never knew they liked. Also picking out-of-the-box ingredients will make their muffin sound super fancy!
• Ask: What is a flavor that you’ve never tried (in a muffin) before?
• Ask: What do you think would go well with the flavors you’ve chosen so far?

2.  Preheat oven to 375°.

3.  Cream butter and sugar—Help kids with using the electric mixer as necessary.

4.  Add egg, milk, baking powder, salt, and custom batter ingredients.

5.  Add flour—Remind kids to hand-mix at this point and not to over mix.

6.  Prep and add mix-ins. 

7.  Distribute batten into muffin cups.

8.  Cut butter for crumble.

9. Add flour, sugar, and custom crumble ingredients.

10.  Mash crumble mixture together.

11.  Sprinkle crumble over muffin batter.

12.  Bake for 25 minutes.

13.   Eat and take tasting notes—Print out the tasting note handout or just have kids answer the reflection prompts on a separate piece of paper.

More Ideas:

Every project presents opportunities to add your own twists or extensions. Here are some ideas to get you started: 

• If you didn’t design a savory muffin, try it! Adding ingredients like zucchini or cheese into a muffin may sound really strange, but savory muffins are delicious!
• Perfect your recipe by making it again with a few tweaks. What would you add a little more or less of? Any ingredients you would leave out or add in? Once it’s perfected write your recipe down and make it your signature muffin!
• Have someone suggest one ingredient and design a muffin around whatever they say.

Wrap Up Questions:

Lock in the learning by asking kids these questions about their project and how they practiced the featured Innovator’s Mindset element: 

• What do you like about this batch of muffins? If you made them again what would you do differently?
• How were you courageous when designing these muffins? What did you try that you were unfamiliar or unsure of? What did you discover by trying it?

The last step in the Gallieo Innovator’s Process is SHARE. Great learning can come from sharing successes and failures—to solidify your own experience as an innovator and to inspire others.

SHARE WITH galileo

Take a photo of your courageous muffins and share it with the Camp Galileo Anywhere Facebook Community.

Share with family and friends

Your innovation doesn’t stop with you. Inspire someone else by sharing your project challenge—maybe they’ll try it themselves or maybe your project will give them a new idea.

• Who: someone in your house, a family member, a friend
• How: in person, on the phone, online
• When: anytime, starting now!