Kitchen Classroom 2021: Week 27

Welcome to week 27 of Kitchen Classroom, where America’s Test Kitchen Kids is sharing a weekly kid-tested and kid-approved recipe, hands-on experiment, or activity paired with a Learning Moment that brings learning to life in the kitchen.

This week’s Kitchen Classroom is Cooking for You! Young chefs can transform plain bagels into a downright delicious snack: Bagel Chips. And, they can take their chips over the top by serving them alongside a homemade cream cheese dip with four flavor variations to choose from: scallion, chives, everything seasoning, or honey. Kids will set aside one bagel slice before baking, and then compare the unbaked bagel slice with a cooked bagel chip. Finally, they can tackle some brain-bending bagel trivia in Take It Further as they munch on their chips and dip.

Don’t forget to share what your family makes by tagging @testkitchenkids or using #ATKkids on Instagram, or by sending photos to kids@americastestkitchen.com. Visit the America’s Test Kitchen Kids website for more culinary content designed especially for kids.

Here’s what’s cooking for the week of July 5th through 11th, 2021.

A bagel with cream cheese is a beloved breakfast, but when you turn the bagels into chips and the cream cheese into a flavored dip, it becomes a slam-dunk snack! Kids can jazz up the bagel chips with granulated garlic or Parmesan cheese, and they can customize the cream cheese dip with one of our suggested mix-ins—savory or sweet. The bagel chips can be stored for up to five days, so they make for the perfect snack to munch on throughout the week.
[GET THE RECIPE]

What You’ll Need
2 whole (unsliced) plain bagels
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons milk
Scallions, chives, Everything Bagel Seasoning, or honey (see "Food For Thought" at the bottom of the recipe for more)

Learning Moment
Physical Science (Structure and Properties of Matter, Chemical Reactions):
Before starting to cook, have kids make a prediction: How will the bagel slices change as you bake them? Will they change in appearance? Texture? Flavor? Use this activity to find out:

• Before cooking, have kids set aside one bagel slice at the end of step 2 (make sure they do NOT bake this slice). Then, have kids cook through the recipe as instructed with the remaining bagel slices. 
• Once the bagel chips are cooled and ready to be served, ask kids to place one bagel chip and the bagel slice side by side on a plate. Then, have kids observe any changes in size, texture, and color.
• Have kids bend each until it breaks in half. What happens? Does the bagel chip/ bagel slice slowly bend, or do they quickly snap in two?
• Have kids take a small bite of each, taking a sip of water in between bites. Are their flavors the same or different? How about their textures? How so? (Remind kids that flavor is a combination of what food tastes like and smells like, while texture is what food feels like.)
• If kids made a cream cheese dip, have them dunk the bagel chip and the bagel slice in the dip. Was one easier to scoop with than the other?

Explain to kids that bagels contain water. When you bake the bagel slices, the dry heat of the oven causes some of the water in the bagels to evaporate, so the bagels dry out. The dried-out bagel slices are more brittle, crunchier, and much easier to break into pieces. 

Take It Further
Trivia (General Knowledge):
As kids enjoy their bagel chips, test their bagel knowledge with these fun trivia questions. They’ll learn a little bit of “everything!” Kids can choose to answer the questions below, or be the Quiz Master and challenge other family members to answer them.

1. The word “bagel” comes from a German word meaning:
        a. Hole
        b. Bread
        c. Ring
        d. Circle 
2. Which of these ingredients gives bagels their sweetness?
        a. Malt syrup
        b. Honey
        c. Sugar
        d. Maple syrup
3. How is a St. Louis bagel different from a normal bagel?
        a. It’s deep-fried
        b. It’s sliced vertically rather than horizontally
        c. It has ice cream in the middle
        d. It’s twice the size
4. The first written mention of bagels was in the country of Poland in which year?
        a. 1610
        b. 1948
        c. 1231
        d. 1720
5. Bagels first came to the United States in the late 1800s. Which U.S. city did they first arrive in?
        a. Boston
        b. New York City
        c. Chicago
        d. Philadelphia
6. How are bagels different from most other breads?
        a. They don’t include yeast
        b. They taste best when they are a week old
        c. They don’t need to rise
        d. They are boiled before they are baked
7. In January 2021, a unique everything bagel–flavored food was released. What was it?
        a. Chicken nuggets
        b. Soda
        c. Ice cream
        d. Smoothie
8. The world’s largest bagel was made in Syracuse, New York, in 2004. How much did it weigh?
        a. 57 pounds
        b. 195 pounds
        c. 324 pounds
        d. 868 pounds

Answer Key: 1 (C); 2 (A); 3 (B); 4 (A); 5 (B); 6 (D); 7 (C); 8 (D)

Catching up on Kitchen Classroom? Find previous weeks using the links below:

• Kitchen Classroom 2021
• Kitchen Classroom 2020