Readers' Recipe Swap: Kids

Young chefs have taken over the kitchen this week with their fun and adventurous creations.Some great recipes from younger Cook readers this week - I really wish I could have included them all, plus the lovely picture of two-and-a-half-year-old Finlay with his Smartie buns.But I can only choose six recipes, so here's just a few - including Tom and Peter Morice's easy-peasy delicious biscuits. If you don't like orange, you could use lemon zest, or chocolate chips, or just leave them plain. If you're brave enough to try Theo's stinging nettle pesto, wear gloves to pick them, and only use the leaves, not the stems!

The winning recipe: orange crisps

We love cooking, especially my brother, Peter. This is our great biscuit recipe, called orange crisps. It always tastes really good. If you have never done any baking before and you follow the instructions, it will work for you.
Tom (age 11) and Peter Morice (age 9), CornwallMakes 16
125g self-raising flour
100g butter
50g caster sugar
Zest of an orange1 Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and rub together. Roll the dough into a sausage shape. Cut the sausage into 16 equal pieces and roll into balls.2 Put the balls on to a greased baking tray and press gently with a fork.3 Bake at 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for 10 minutes or until lightly golden.4 Sprinkle with caster sugar and allow them to cool slightly before lifting on to a cooling rack.

Stinging nettle pesto

I made this with my dad on Sunday and ate it with spaghetti.
Theo Hayhurst (age 9)5g stinging nettles
20g whole hazelnuts
5g basil
15g parmesan, grated
Olive oil1 Blanch the stinging nettles in boiling water for about 30 seconds, or until they have wilted.2 Put the hazelnuts in a blender and blitz them until they have been finely chopped.3 Put the basil, stinging nettles and parmesan into the blender as well, and blend them up too, adding just enough oil to make the mixture smooth. Now you should have made a lovely pesto.

Paola's favourite tomato sauce

Paola and her brother and sister would happily eat this sauce every day of the week. It tastes slightly sweet, so kids love it. For adults it's nice too, because it tastes different every time, since you can vary the type of tomatoes and herbs, and how much oil is used. You could also add some red wine vinegar to vary the taste even more.The sauce also keeps really well when transferred to jars when boiling. It can then be used as a super-quick meal, with pasta, gnocchi or on pizzas.
Paola (age 6), Woking, via guardian.co.uk/witnessServes 3 kids
1 onion
500g tomatoes
Olive oil, for frying
4 garlic cloves
10 basil leaves
Salt and black pepper1 Peel the onion and cut it into small pieces. Be careful, it can make you cry: have an adult with you.2 Chop the tomatoes into small pieces. Cut out the small green pieces.3 Put the pan on the hob and turn it on. Pour in a little bit of olive oil till it covers the bottom of the pan.4 Make sure the oil is hot enough by putting the bottom of a wooden spoon into the pan. If there are bubbles around the spoon it is ready. Add the onions. Let them cook for 5 minutes. Next use a garlic press to crush the garlic into the pan. Make sure you stir it in well or it will get all bitter. Cook for 2 minutes.5 Next you will need to put in the tomatoes and stir well for a bit till it is saucy. This takes about 10 or 15 minutes.6 Add a little bit of salt and pepper and stir it in well. You have to taste it. Blow it first, because it will be very hot.7 Rip in the basil leaves. Stir them in.8 Now you have finished, let it cool down a bit. Then it is ready to eat.

Chicken kievs

This is my favourite recipe that I like to cook. I Iike this recipe because it tastes nice and it is really fun to make. I like getting my hands messy in the eggs and flour! I like chicken kievs best with chips, but they go with most things.
Harvey Carroll (age 11)Makes 4
4 skinless chicken breasts with the mini fillets still attached
200g plain flour
6 eggs, beaten
400g breadcrumbs
Oil, for frying
Lemon wedges, for servingFor the garlic butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
100g butter
A squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and black pepper1 To make the garlic butter, tip all the ingredients into a bowl and season slightly with pepper and a bit of salt. Beat until combined, then tip on to a piece of clingfilm. Roll into a log shape and then put into the fridge until hard. 2 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6, while you make the kievs.3 One breast at a time, lay the chicken smooth side down and remove the mini fillet. Make a cut down the middle of the chicken breast halfway into it, to make a pocket. Lay on a piece of clingfilm and flatten it out slightly with a rolling pin. On another part of the board, bat out the mini fillet slightly. 4 Divide the butter into four. Stuff each of the pockets you made with butter. Cover each with the mini fillet and fold the sides of the breasts over it. Put aside for later. 5 Tip the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs into three separate containers. Then, completely coat each breast in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, then in egg then breadcrumbs again.6 Heat a good layer of oil in a large frying pan. When hot, turn the heat down to medium. Fry the kievs for 2‑3 minutes on both sides until dark and golden. Lift them on to kitchen roll to absorb any oil then transfer them to a roasting tin.7 Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the kievs feel firm when you poke them with a cocktail stick at the widest part.8 Serve with the lemon wedges, and chips!

Chocolate-chip cookies

We decided to send you our favourite cookie recipe as this week's challenge is for kids. These cookies are so much fun to make and they always work. Another good thing is that, apart from the oven bit, you don't need an adult to help you. All the kids we know like the choc-chip cookies, including our dad, who has been known to take one from the tin when no one is looking.On a healthy note, mum says you could replace the chocolate with dried fruit, but we never have.
Jazzy (age 12) and Phoebe Nathan (age 9), CardiffMakes 18
1 egg
170g soft brown sugar
225g margarine or butter
280g self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g chocolate chips or chunks
A pinch of salt1 Line two baking trays with parchment. This saves you from having to wash them up. Put the oven on at 180C/350F/gas mark 4.2 Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until they have turned into a sticky dough.3 With an ice-cream scoop or spoon, blob the mixture on to the trays. Make sure you leave plenty of space between the blobs, as these cookies will spread out while they are in the oven.4 Cook for about 15 minutes or until you can see that they have turned golden brown.5 Let the cookies cool slightly and eat on their own or, for a real treat, warm with a ball of vanilla ice-cream.Ned's tapenade
Here is my recipe for tapenade.
Ned Townsend (age 8), Leamington Spa A small jar of pitted green olives
10 capers
1 tbsp olive oil
Black pepper1 Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend till you get a smooth paste.2 Serve on bread or biscuits.Tom and Peter's orange crisps: Photograph: Jill Mead for the Guardian