Y.U.M.

Today Maddie came up to me and said, "I'm bored.  Can I make some cookies?"

Now, I thought these Bingo cards would hold off this statement.  But, then I realized that one of her squares actually said, "Bake/Cook something using a recipe you've never tried."  So, it's still coming in handy.

Anyway - we searched through a couple books for a chocolate cookie recipe with powdered sugar that she had in mind.  We found a similar one in a Mrs. Field's book I have - can't go wrong with Mrs. Fields.

First up was mixing the chocolate cocoa in.

Does anyone else see what I started to see at step #2?  A mess.  Cocoa powder everywhere. 

Maddie had never cooked with cocoa powder before.  So I told her she should go ahead and try it.  I mean...it's chocolate for goodness sakes.  [snicker...snicker]

I'm so mean.  But I enjoyed it.

Anyway - back to the recipe.  I was in and out of the kitchen; I had been playing the piano when she asked to bake and I had no intention of making these.  Only taking the occasional picture.

Maddie did learn what a whisk is and where it is stored in our kitchen.

I had moments of OCD while I watched the pile of "stuff" get bigger and wider.

And everytime we cook or bake together, there are always some trying moments when I have to show her how to do something, and then realize she's left handed and I have to do it backward.  We both get a little frustrated but manage to laugh it off.

Anyway - back to the cookies.  These were rolled and now that I look at the pictures, I realize they didn't look very appetizing when rolled up.

Or when put in the oven...

Or when removed from the cookie sheet.

It's just not an attractive color or shape to be honest.

This stuff helps:

Powdered sugar can fix anything.

Then it was the big moment.  Tasting batch #1 - and the results were:

10 fingers up!  I missed the "thumbs up" sign and when I went to get the shot, she upgraded her review.

Then she tried batch #2...

Shortly followed by batch #3 which was declared the winner of all by her. 

Honestly, I couldn't taste a difference between any of them.  All were slightly crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle, and tasted of chocolatey sweetness.

And she not only bakes, but cleans up!

With these habits - and results - she can bake anytime in our house!