[For Seniors] Recommended Snack Activities: Easy, Large-Batch Recipes
At day service centers and other senior facilities, a variety of recreational activities are held every day.
Among them, snack-making activities are especially popular.
For older adults, planning the steps of cooking and doing fine handwork help stimulate the brain.
Another benefit is that making snacks together deepens interaction among seniors.
In this article, we introduce easy snack recipes that are simple for everyone to make together.
Give them a try in your snack recreation sessions!
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[For Seniors] Recommended Snack Activities: Easy, Large-Batch Recipes (1–10)
mizumanju (a Japanese chilled translucent rice flour dumpling, often with sweet bean paste)
The sweet bean paste showing through the dough looks so tasty…
How about trying your hand at making a summer wagashi, mizu manju? Its delicate appearance might make it seem difficult, but you can actually make it with just potato starch, sugar, sweet bean paste, and water.
Mix the potato starch and sugar, dissolve with water, and simmer in a frying pan until it thickens.
As the moisture evaporates and it turns syrupy like corn syrup, the dough is ready.
Pour it into molds, add the sweet bean paste, chill, and you’re done! The steps are simple, so anyone can give it a try with ease.
Baked churros
Let’s try making theme park–favorite churros as a snack activity at a senior care facility! This recipe doesn’t require deep-frying, which lowers the hurdle for preparation.
Put milk and oil in a pot and heat over medium.
Once it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and add pancake mix, stirring to combine.
Be careful not to burn yourself.
Beat eggs in a bowl, then add them to the dough you just made in two additions.
At first the dough won’t come together easily, but if you use a spatula to cut through it finely and then repeatedly press the dough against the bowl and fold it over, it will come together more smoothly.
Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a star tip, pipe onto parchment paper, and bake in the oven.
The toasty aroma makes this a mouthwatering treat!
Warabi Mochi in Anmitsu Style
In your mouth, warabi mochi has a jiggly, delicate texture.
It’s often dusted with kinako (roasted soybean flour), but topping it with matcha or drizzling kuromitsu (brown sugar syrup) is also delicious.
Warabi mochi is made with warabi flour, though using it can sometimes result in a slightly firmer texture.
Try using store-bought kits designed to make softer warabi mochi, or make a tender version with potato starch (katakuriko) for a different feel.
You can also turn it into an anmitsu-style dessert by adding sweet red bean paste and fruit, then finishing with kuromitsu.
It transforms warabi mochi into a more festive wagashi that seniors might especially enjoy.
[For Seniors] Recommended Snack Activities: Easy, Large-Batch Recipes (11–20)
Apple cake
Autumn is the season when fruit tastes especially good.
Among them, apples are a fruit with many varieties and are easy to find.
How about baking a cake using those apples? Even though it’s called a cake, it’s very simple: just four ingredients, and you make it in the microwave instead of the oven.
The ingredients are apples, pancake mix, milk, and eggs.
Mix everything except the apples thoroughly to make the batter, and slice the apples into quarter-moon pieces about 2 mm thick.
Put the apples in a microwave-safe dish, pour the batter evenly over the top, smooth it out, and microwave for about 5 minutes.
Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Fruit milk agar jelly
Milk kanten somehow has a nostalgic flavor, doesn’t it? I recommend using agar rather than gelatin because it’s easier to handle and sets more firmly.
Using milk also lets you get some calcium.
It’s convenient to use mixed cut fruit that includes several varieties.
The more kinds you add, the more luxurious it looks.
After arranging the fruit in the mold, freeze it once; that way, it won’t come loose as easily when you pour in the agar mixture.
It’s fun to think about how to arrange the fruit to create a lovely design.
Snack activity: apple pie
Rose-shaped apple pies are a great idea to try for a snack activity.
Prepare apples, puff pastry sheets, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice, and let’s get started.
Sprinkle thinly sliced apples with sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon, then microwave for 4 minutes.
When cutting with a knife, make sure you have a stable work surface.
Cut the puff pastry sheet into four equal strips and line the apple slices vertically along each strip.
Roll from the near edge, shape the petals into a rose, then bake in the oven for 20 minutes, and they’re done! It’s the perfect snack activity for Mother’s Day—give it a try!
Crepe
Creating something is fun, but recreational activities like cooking and baking that let you eat what you make are especially popular.
Here is an introduction to crepes—safe and easy to make even for seniors.
With common household ingredients like eggs, sugar, milk, and cake flour, you can make delicious homemade crepes.
Once you’ve prepared the ingredients and mastered the steps, heat a frying pan and start cooking.
Add toppings like fruit, cream, or chocolate, and you’ll have a cute crepe that looks as bright and delightful as it tastes.
