With Thanksgiving coming up next week and the winter holidays riding on its coattails, my thoughts turned to a sugary-and-cinnamon-y treat for November’s Books and a Snack. For this activity, you’ll need some Thanksgiving-themed books. See below for my picks from Lerner’s library. You’ll also need the following supplies:

1 spice cake mix

1 angel food cake mix (this mix forms the “base” of the recipe and is necessary for it to work)

A mug for each young book lover who’s participating

What you’ll do next is mix the spice cake and the angel food cake mix together and store them in an airtight container. A resealable bag also works—just be sure the seal is tight! Then place 3 tablespoons of the combined cake mixes into each of the mugs. Kids can help with the measuring. Next, place 2 tablespoons of water into each of the mugs. Again, kids can help. Stir the dry mix and the water a bit. Finally, microwave each mug separately for one minute. Voila! You’ll have Spice Cake in a Mug for each person taking part in Books and a Snack.

If you want, you can also spray some canned whipped topping onto each little mug cake. Kids usually love this.

Once the cakes have cooled a bit and are a safe temperature to eat, hand out the mugs and some spoons to the kids. Then head to a comfy reading spot and treat the kids to a read-aloud session from your selection of Turkey Day reads while they eat their mini spice cakes. Happy Early Thanksgiving! (BTW: If Thanksgiving just isn’t Thanksgiving to you without a pumpkin-y dessert, you can also try the recipe from this Books and a Snack post.)