Baking With Help. . .

My little helper was very particular. Each cookie needed to have a colored candy on it and Emma especially enjoyed smashing the candy into the dough!

An incredible recipe from my friend Karla. . .

BUSTED!! Somebody was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, or plate!
I call these Karla's Giant Cookies. This happens to be the best batch of cookies I think I've ever, ever made! So moist and soft and chewy. . . Oh, could it be that I used over three cups of chocolate chips instead of the two cups the recipe called for??

Her first cookie. . . savoring every bite!

Well, she's two years and four months old as of a few days ago. On Sunday afternoon, I decided to make cookies. Just as I finished mixing the dough, Emma woke up from her nap! Perfect timing! She eagerly climbed up on the step stool, which happened to be the perfect height for her to decorate the cookies with little chocolate-covered candies. She had a blast! I had a blast! She was very particular about how many and what color candies were placed on the dough. Precious. She didn't even try to eat a candy because she was so interested in the placement!

I was incredibly excited when the first batch of cookies came out of the oven! Yay! I didn't ruin them! It's always exciting to pull something out of the oven here and realize that I didn't completely botch what I was making! We had so much fun baking together. I kept telling Emma that she was such a great help and I was so proud of her. She was beaming, grinning from ear to ear. I can't remember the last time I made cookies, but I was just so happy that she's at the age where she can help me! Her reward, other than the joy of getting to delicately place a gazillion candies in the dough, was a warm, chewy, candy-filled cookie, straight out of the oven! OK, like I said, Emma's two years and four months old. I guess I didn't really see the need to give her cookies or candy because she eats a ton of fruits and veggies. . . and she likes them! (Do I follow that same logic? Um... no!!) Anyway, Sunday afternoon, Emma had her first cookie! She's had a bite here and there, but I've never given her her very own cookie. It was worth documenting! She was ecstatic!! She savored every bite. She licked her lips and enjoyed the chewiness of the cookie. It was so much fun to watch her! Her response to me after finishing the last bite, very sweetly, "Mommy, I ate all my cookie. Now I want some more." And that, my friends, is why I neglected to give her cookies until now.