Proportional Reasoning-Cooking Fun

Math and cooking go hand-in-hand...well, math is everywhere.  Let's have some fun making something to eat.  All the while, we will be learning about proportions.  What would cookies taste like if you put 1 cup of salt in instead of 1 teaspoon?  YUCK!  How about pancakes with 3 cups of sugar instead of 3 tablespoons?  Some kids might like that, but most people would think those pancakes would be too sweet.
*How much of one thing compared to another is proportion.  In preparing foods, it is very important to have the correct proportion of the ingredients being used.  Below is a recipe with proper proportions and alternate recipe to change the proportions and still have the cookies taste good.

Here we go!  We are going to make "No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies".   The original recipe came from my grandmother, who lived through the depression.

Mix these ingredients in a large sauce pan:
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 c. butter
Bring just to a boil and remove from heat.

In a mixing bowl combine:
3 cups dry oatmeal
1/2 cup coconut
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup chocolate chips

Add oatmeal mixture to sugar mixture and stir quickly.  Drop by rounded teaspoons onto wax paper.  Let cool and eat.

Let's change some proportions in this recipe.

What about butterscotch chips instead of chocolate?
     Keeping the proportions the same as they were, how many butterscotch chips should we use?

1 cup  That is correct!  We used one cup of chocolate chips in the original recipe, so if we are keeping the proportion the same then we still need one cup.

What if we don't want any coconut?  Can we just take it out?

No.  The mixture would be too runny and make a mess when we try to scoop it onto the wax paper.

What could we add more of to replace the coconut?

I was thinking oatmeal.  Is that what you were thinking?

Hmmm...how about making the cookie more caramel flavored?  To do that we can change half of the granulated sugar to brown sugar.  Our original recipe calls for 2 cups of granulated sugar.  How much of that should we change to brown sugar?

1 cup.  That's right!

Alright, now you found out that you will be having company.  You want to make more than you did for the last batch of cookies.  When you check your oatmeal, you find that you only have 4 1/2 cups of oatmeal left.  If you want to keep the proportions the same as the original recipe, how much of the other ingredients would you need?

3 cups of sugar

3/4 cup milk

3/8 cup butter

4 1/2 cups oatmeal

3/4 cup coconut

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 cup chocolate chips

Proportions are fun!  Enjoy eating your correctly proportioned cookies!
For additional math recipes check out this website:  Cooking with children kindergarten-12 grade