I spent a Saturday morning with my nephews, Ryan and Andrew, baking cookies. Andrew had baked with me before, but Ryan hadn't and he wanted to learn to bake cookies. So that's what we did. Andrew has Celiac disease, so we made him dozens of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. Ryan wanted chocolate chip cookies, too. What kid doesn't want chocolate chip cookies? I decided to make oatmeal cinnamon chip cookies because they would hold up well with whole wheat pastry flour and brown sugar rather than the enriched flour and white sugar. Yes, I felt less guilty eating more than one.
It was kind of early when the boys got there. I'm not sure Ryan was awake yet.
Andrew, on the other hand, takes after his dad and is raring to go in the morning.
Andrew is wearing my Thanksgiving apron that my mom gave me last year. I'm all about coming away with clean clothes once the baking is done. Ryan didn't want to wear an apron. I didn't make him - because I'm cool like that. (Notice the wheat grinder in the background ... that same day I later made homemade whole wheat bread with the wheat I ground in that handy little thing. If I remember right, I killed the yeast, so it didn't turn out nice and light and fluffy, but it did taste good.)
We didn't get a "before" shot of Andrew's cookies, mainly because he was so excited to get them on the pan and then eat two dozen of them. But they looked just like regular chocolate chip cookies when they came out of the oven.
And for a kid who rarely gets to eat such a simple treat, I'm glad we got them in and out of the oven as fast as we did. He really loved them and wanted to share with anyone who walked through the door. Mom had one and said they tasted as close to a chocolate chip cookie as she's ever tasted. I was just glad he had a "normal" treat to eat!
Ryan's cookies got "before" and "after" shots. (We had to do something while we waited for Andrew's cookies to bake. You can't "contaminate" the gluten-free stuff by using the same cookie sheets or spatulas.) Those that ate Ryan's cookies really liked them.
I went for the whole wheat brown sugar oatmeal cinnamon chip cookies. They were also a big hit. If you've never tried cinnamon chips in your oatmeal cookies you are missing out on a really tasty treat. I don't think I can make oatmeal cookies with regular chocolate chips ever again. The cinnamon chips just add something extra tasty.
I swear I got an "after" shot of these cookies, but can't find it. Maybe it got eaten along with the cookies. They didn't stick around long!
The boys really loved helping. I think they both may have sneaked batter, but who's watching and who cares? As long as they had fun that's all that matters.
There was also evidence of a lot of eating going on throughout this process as you can see by the chocolate covered lips.
Somewhere in all of that, the boys had time for a game of chess and demanded (okay, they asked nicely) a picture of the chess board.
What the boys want, the boys get. They each went home with a huge bag of cookies for them to share with their families. I think they had a good time. Just yesterday Ryan asked me when we were cooking next. This might have to be a regularly scheduled thing we do together. I think it's more than great that boys want to be in the kitchen cooking and baking and learning something new. They're going to need to know this stuff when they serve a mission and get married. I'm looking forward to our next cooking session!
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