Bakearella and Gluten Free Cowgirl Cookies

First of all, my apologies for not posting at all this week. I promise it was a problem with Blogger and the photo uploading and not me...because you all know I can't blog without photos because I want you to experience my professional photography. When you're through giggling about that last little comment, read on.

Last week my daughter had her fourth birthday party and in preparation I scoured the internet for cowgirl themed birthday products and inspiration. I found the cutest party idea on TomKat Studio's website, which if you've never been to TomKat Studio and you have ever given a party for a child, you must exit this website and click over on hers this instant. Then come back here and finish reading my recipe. It is so divine and so darling. I had to copy the pom poms hanging from the ceiling and the banner that says, "Pony Corral." I also would have bought the printable downloads for the cupcake toppers and bag labels from her shop, but she didn't have them in there, so I enlisted the fabulous JoLayna and we came up with some pretty cute imitations on our own. I think it turned out to be such a cute little party.

(Cupcakes from Grandma and not gluten-free.) Anyway, TomKat's site had a link to a cookie mix from Bakerella, who is famous for her cake pops and brownie pops (so cute and so clever). Her recipe comes with little labels you can print out on your own for the jars, too, which made me completely happy that I didn't have to reinvent that wheel. I decided to make one of the mixes for the nice lady that was letting me bring the kids over to her stable and feed her horses as part of our party. (By the way, I am sooo making these for neighbor gifts for Christmas with red and green m&ms...sorry to blow the surprise, neighbors.) I made the mix up with wheat flour for her, but I wanted to try Bakearella's recipe with Grandpa's Kitchen flour so I could see what she was getting. I nearly ate the whole batch.Apparently "cowboy cookies" are sort of an "everything but the kitchen sink" type of recipe that have the perfect blend of flavors and textures to make it one you could eat while wrangling up some strays, y'all. They have m&ms, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and pecans. We made ours into "cowgirl" cookies by using, you guessed it, pink m&ms. They were so good by themselves I wrapped some up and gave them to the kids (and a few of the moms) and not one of them said, "These taste gluten free!" They all just ate them and raved about the yumminess.
So when you find something cute on the internet, definitely try it at home with your gluten free products. Don't discount it because you supposedly "can't eat cookies anymore." Get in that kitchen, fire up the stand mixer, and try it out! And make sure the gym membership is current so you can work off the effects...

Happy eating!