i enjoy baking sugar cookie cut-outs, even though it is a messy process and i never have enough counter space. (i dream of having marble counters for baking.) i have been the official sugar cookie baker for the family since high school.  so much that if i skip an occasion, i may hear about it from my uncle.

my favorite recipe is from the joy of cooking, rich rolled sugar cookies and i basically stick to it for every occasion. this past week however, i made some alterations for a special treat. my youngest son has severe food allergies since birth (another post and then some). with the new addition of egg to his diet, i altered the traditional sugar cookie recipe for him.  i substituted in rice flour, rice milk and olive oil. so no dairy, no wheat, barley, oats, corn or rye. i also used india tree sugars for decorating, great if you are concerned about allergies. they contain no corn syrup or any other fillers. you can also download each product’s information online to check. and the cookies- they turned out! (as good as rice cookies can)

for his homemade cookie session i found an adorable basic baking set from ikea, that is perfectly sized for small hands. as a montessori child myself and with my children in montessori, i really try and have them participate in as many  practical life activities as possible. how did they taste out of the oven? he was so excited that he ate all the cookies in one afternoon. and if you are wondering why there is a gingerbread man cutout for valentine’s day baking… my four year old is in love with the gingerbread shape after reading the jan brett book, gingerbread baby, over and over in the months prior. plus he said “mommy he has a heart… see?”

ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT OF JOYABABY 2010.