Who would’ve thought that we’d still be working from home, while our toddler(s) are running around the house, in mid-November? It’s been 8 crazy months of wfh as a result of this pandemic and my guess is it will go on for another year or so, given there has been another huge spike in cases. What else can you do but try to manage, stay positive and keep yourselves occupied with work, your children and fun activities to do to keep the entire family SANE!
If you follow me on Instagram (@rackoflam), you’ve seen posts of my toddler preparing pizza dough and baking pizza with her mama. She LOVES being my little helper. Earlier during the pandemic, I added this gluten free chocolate chip cookie mix by Bob’s Red Mill into an online shopping cart for 2 reasons: 1) so I can bake with my toddler and 2) so I can make something gluten-free for Steve, who claims he may be sensitive to gluten 🤷♀️. I used half the package shortly after receiving it, and recently used the remaining half … well, also because I completely forgot about it and found it in the back of my cabinet while doing some organizing 🤣.
Here’s a short 1 minute video of my toddler using the product 🥰.
And as far as my thoughts go, quite frankly, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a regular chocolate chip cookie and this Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free chocolate chip cookie. Not that I don’t know how a chocolate chip cookie should taste, but I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint that this is gluten-free. What I did like about the product is the convenience that it has created for me and the mess-free kitchen that almost NEVER happens when you have a 3-year-old toddler assisting you. The package comes with a mixture that already contains the flour, sugar, morsels and baking agents, so all that was necessary were the additions of an egg, few tablespoons of water and softened/melted butter. This is the best thing ever for a mom who wishes to bake with their toddler.
I followed the recipe behind the package and baked the cookies at 375°F. Instructions asked that you bake it for 10-13 minutes, until golden brown, so I baked it for 11 minutes just to avoid under or overbaking the cookies, to find that the bottom was baked until it was a tad too brown. In hindsight, I would’ve baked it for 9-10 minutes.
Nonetheless, I thought the cookies turned out pretty well. They were super, super soft straight out of the oven, which is how I prefer my cookies (not just chocolate chip). The problem with baking your own cookies is, depending on how you store them, they may harden over time or even within the next few hours. Surprisingly, this does not happen with these cookies. I stored them in a Ziploc bag and left them on my counter for 2-3 days and they were still chewy on the 3rd day (guilty – I was just eating one as I was typing this. Still pretty soft to me!)
Would I buy this product again? Hell to the Y-E-S!
Does Steve think it is a bit too sweet? Yes, but he also ate 4 out of the 10 we made, per the video above. So does his opinion matter? No, thank you 😂.
