KyKy's Very First Cookie!

Kyleigh's never had a cookie in all her (nearly) 3 years. Ever. But lately she's been asking if she can have cookies at her birthday party! I don't know where she learned of them, we don't even keep cookies in the house. Wherever this random desire came from, I decided I wanted to make such a special treat for my big girl.

Because of all KyKy's food allergies, making chocolate chip cookies is no easy feat. A friend told me of Betty Crocker's new Gluten Free dessert mixes, which include cakes, brownies, and even chocolate chip cookies! The recipe on the box calls for 1 stick of butter, which their website instructed me to replace with 1/2 cup oil (due to dairy allergy), and for the 1 egg required we simply used 'egg replacer'. The box did give the description that the dough would be crumbly, but this wasn't crumbly...it was like sand!

I couldn't get it to stick together enough to make anything that resembled a cookie. I did more online research and tweaked the dough a bit, and kept baking.

To get a result that did resemble cookies, I had to bake them until they were crispy and grainy, and their form reminded me of peanut butter cookies. I almost threw away all I'd made during the kids' nap time, feeling bummed that they weren't the soft, gooey chocolate chip cookies I'd imagined for my princess. But I kept them and hoped for the best.

After dinner I let Kyleigh try one, and she LOVED it! In fact, after her first cookie, she also enjoyed tasting a second and then third! That was so awesome! When it comes to anything new for the kids to try (be it first steps or riding bikes or playing with jump ropes or eating cookies) I try to make sure Chris is home for all those milestones. But today was different...

I wanted to make the cookies today so KyKy could try them before taking some to her lil' friend's birthday party tomorrow. I certainly wouldn't want her to try a new food and for some mysterious reason have an allergic reaction or aversion to it in the middle of a party. So today ~with Chris's knowledge~ I baked and offered cookies to KyKy, and made a video for her daddy since he had to miss out on the live reaction.

Some of the other fun specialty foods Kyleigh's recently tried and very much enjoyed are chips and popcorn.


























I know snacks seem like a silly, simple thing to most people...and I agree that's what they typically are. But sometimes it's the simple things in life that bring the greatest joy. And today, in our home, we had joy--the joy of cookies!