[Snack Activity] Easy and Delicious: Snack Ideas to Make Together with Seniors
The time it takes to chill and set yokan in the refrigerator, the moment you add toppings like fruit, the aroma of steam rising from the steamer.
Making snacks together with older adults lets you share a sense of excitement and create warm memories that go beyond the recipe itself.
Traditional Japanese sweets are familiar to many seniors and are sure to delight them.
There are plenty of ways to enjoy everything while staying seated! When the sweet scent of the finished wagashi fills the room, it will surely bring back fond memories as well.
As hands stay busy, conversation flows, and the joy of savoring the finished treat is truly special.
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Hot Plate & Frying Pan Treats (11–20)
dorayaki (Japanese red-bean pancake)
Here’s an introduction to soft and chewy dorayaki.
To achieve that chewy texture, we use Japanese yam (yamaimo).
It’s often used in okonomiyaki as well, isn’t it? Since the preparation can be done while seated at a table, it’s a great activity to make together with many older adults.
Let’s mix eggs, flour, and other ingredients to make the batter.
Pour the batter onto a hot plate, cook both sides, sandwich sweet red bean paste in between, and it’s done.
As you make the dorayaki, a sweet, pleasant aroma will likely fill the entire room.
Don’t you think dorayaki you make yourself tastes even better? It’s a snack activity menu that’s sure to bring smiles to the faces of seniors.
sweet potato pudding
Let us introduce a soft, easy-to-eat sweet potato pudding.
Microwave the sweet potato until tender, mash it, add sugar and milk, and blend.
Once it becomes a paste, add milk and eggs, mix well, and pour into containers.
Place the containers in a baking tray, add hot water to the tray, and bake in the oven.
After baking, let it cool slightly and top with whipped cream or the cooked sweet potato skins.
You can also steam-bake it by adding water to a frying pan instead of using the oven.
Turning cooked sweet potato into a pudding makes it smoother and easier to swallow than eating it as is.
It should be easier for older adults to enjoy sweet potatoes this way.
Pizza
How about making pizza for a snack-time activity? Put the dough ingredients into a bowl and start mixing.
Since it will be powdery at first, mix it a bit with chopsticks or a spatula, then gather it together and knead.
Once the dough comes together and becomes smooth, place it in a bowl to rise.
If you have an oven with a proofing function, it’s easy; if not, cover the bowl with plastic wrap to prevent drying and let it sit in a warm place for about an hour.
Since making the dough takes time, staff can prepare it in advance, and the older adults can enjoy doing the toppings.
Why not give it a try while everyone chats and has fun together?
Fluffy tofu okonomiyaki
At first glance it looks just like a regular okonomiyaki, but it doesn’t use any wheat flour at all.
Instead, it uses tofu, giving it an irresistibly fluffy, soft texture.
The ingredients are silken tofu, eggs, green onions, bonito flakes, melty cheese, and mentsuyu.
Just mix everything together and cook both sides in a frying pan greased with sesame oil, and it’s done.
When flipping, use a plate to turn it over to avoid mistakes.
The only seasoning is mentsuyu, and the fact that you just mix all the ingredients and cook makes it wonderfully easy.
Chocolate brownie
We often think of making chocolate brownies in an oven, but you can actually make them on a griddle, too! You don’t even need a brownie pan, which makes it easy to give it a try.
Lightly toast the walnuts and set them aside.
Prepare the batter, pour it into a mold made from parchment paper, and bake—then you’ll have delicious chocolate brownies.
Since it’s as simple as mixing the ingredients together, it’s perfect for a snack activity at senior facilities.
Such activities can help stimulate the brain while providing hand exercise, and they also encourage communication among residents, making for an enjoyable time.
Give it a try!
Choco Banana Takoyaki
Let’s make a sweet treat like baby castella using a takoyaki maker.
Since we use pancake mix, it’s easier than takoyaki and you can make lots of tasty sweets without much risk of failure.
This time we filled them with banana, chocolate chips, and peanut butter, but feel free to try other fillings you like.
Making several varieties and letting the filling be a surprise when you bite in is fun, too.
Flipping them carefully so they don’t burn is good fine-motor exercise, so have all participants take turns doing it.
Biscotti with Sesame and Kinako in a Frying Pan
Biscotti, a traditional British baked sweet with a crunchy texture.
While the typical biscotti recipe involves kneading the dough and baking it in the oven, this version is much easier.
Mix plenty of kinako (roasted soy flour) and sesame—both rich in calcium—into the dough, shape it into a round, and cook it in a frying pan lined with parchment.
Flip it over and steam-cook it further.
Slice it into long, thin pieces, arrange them on a heatproof plate, and microwave to dry them out.
Biscotti are known for being very hard, so if that’s difficult for older people, try shortening the microwaving step.