Leah Likes...Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Welcome to the first installment of a new fun series I am doing with Leah called “Leah Likes!” Welcome to our chaos!

One of the questions I get the most is “how do you cook with Leah and not lose your mind?” If you’ve ever tried to cook with a child (or really just do anything with a small child) then you know this is a feat and also extremely frustrating. Here’s the deal: Leah has been in the kitchen with me since she was born. Literally, she was a newborn and I would have her strapped to me while cooking. Don’t worry, no hot oils splattering. But she did get some flour on her head from time to time. She’s all good.

Cooking or baking with a kiddo takes time and patience. The more you do it, the more they get used to it and start to enjoy it. But also, Leah is 4 and she is a strong willed kiddo and there are times when she just isn’t into it. And that’s okay.

The biggest tip I can give is to go into it with no expectations and also know that there will be a mess. But with the mess, they are learning so much! Following steps, math, being creative, fine motor skills, new words, confidence and I’ve definitely found that Leah will eat more of the things she has a hand in making.

I am SO excited to share Leah’s favorite things to make as well as show the real parts of cooking with Leah. :) She’s funny and weird and all over the place and I LOVE teaching her to cook.

Here we go!

First up: Mom carried the mixer out onto the counter and got it all set up. She then reminded for the 500th time that I can’t touch the beater unless she tells me I can. I know moommmmm. Mom added the Crisco, the brown sugar and the white sugar. Mom asked if I wanted to pour in the sugars but I said no. But I do sneak a few little tastes of the dough. Mom tries to stop me and says it’s only butter and sugar right now. Um, have you had butter? Good. Have you had sugar, also good.

Next it’s time to add the eggs and vanilla. Mom added the vanilla. Then she asked if I wanted to crack the eggs. I love cracking the eggs but I’m not so happy about the goo that gets on my hands. So I decided to help out my mom and start the cracks for her. I figured I can start it for her, I’m super strong. Have you seen my muscles?

We added the eggs and vanilla then mixed it all up with the mixer. That thing is loud so I plug my ears sometimes. Time for the flour!

Flour , baking soda and salt is all mixed in!

And now my favorite part, the chocolate chips. I get to pour those in. There is no debate about that one. Chocolate Chips and I are besties and I will never leave them. Sometimes I need to test a few out just to make sure they are okay to go into the dough. Safety first. It’s a sacrifice I make for my family. I’m not a hero, I just do what I think is right.

I guess it’s time to mix the chocolate chips in…..but wait! I have an idea. I want to put M&Ms in the cookies. My dad loves M&Ms, he’ll be so excited. On second thought, what if we just put in ONE M&M. One YELLOW M&M. Oh man, I am so smart. This is such a great idea. Then it will be so fun to eat all the cookies and whoever finds the yellow M&M is the winner! Mom is so excited too! This is SO fun!!

Do you see it?

Cookies are baking and my work is done. Clean up? Oh, yeah, uh, I’m just going to clean the beater off while I watch some shows. I’m cleaning, totally cleaning.

Which one do you think will have the Yellow M&M??

I found it! I found it! I found it! Mom said she was happy that we only had to eat a few cookies before we found it. But I was willing to sacrifice and eat all the cookies to find the M&M.

Thank you so much for cooking chocolate chip cookies with me! I am so excited for the next thing my mom and I make. Hmmm….what will it be?

If you want my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, you can find it down below! I highly suggest you add just one M&M. It was so much fun! Leave a comment and let me know if you love chocolate chip cookies too!

Leah Likes Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lolo's Desserts | Jan 2021

• prep time: 10 minutes
• cook time: 8-10 minutes
• total time:20 minutes

Servings: 12-18

Ingredients:

1 cup Crisco (don’t freak out, it’s what makes it good)

¾ cup brown sugar

¾ cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ¼ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Put the Crisco, the brown sugar and the white sugar together in your mixer. Mix on medium for 1-2 minutes until it’s nice and fluffy.

3. Add in the two eggs and vanilla. Mix for another minute.

4. In a small side bowl mix the flour, baking soda and salt all together. Put your mixer on low and slowly add in the flour mixture little by little until it’s all mixed together.

5. At this point, I taste it to see what it needs. If it feels too gritty, add another tablespoon or two of flour. If it tastes like there is too much flour, add a teaspoon of milk.

6. Add your bag of chocolate chips into the mixture and mix on low another minute until the chocolate chips are all combined.

7. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a spray of Pam.

8. Using two spoons, scoop the dough with one and scrape the ball of dough onto the cookie sheet with the other. Each dough ball will be 1-2 inches for each cookie. Put 1-2 inches in between each cookie (they will spread).

9. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

10. Let cool and then pour yourself a big glass of milk and enjoy these incredibly yummy, simple classic cookies.