So Long Old Friend

I have a favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies that I have used for 15 years. I got it from a cookbook at Southlake church of Christ. It has a secret ingredient in it- vanilla pudding mix- that makes the cookies extra moist and wonderful. It is by far my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I used a GF All-Purpose Flour mix in my recipe, and, in the beginning, all things looked and tasted pretty good. I was beside myself! I was singing the praises of my cooking abilities in the kitchen and imagining the smiles on my kids faces as I served them our favorite treat.

So far so good..... the batter is perfect!

Then things got ugly. This is a picture of the end result of my favorite cookie!

It spread out and was paper thin! And gooey!

My dreams of being the best GFCF baker in the world crumbled with this cookie......

You'd think I'd give up, but no! I am one determined woman! I reasoned that the dough needed help holding its shape. Maybe I could make them in little muffin pans, like I used to make with sugar cookies and hersey kisses. Maybe that would work.......

One last attempt to keep my beloved recipe

As you can see below, it did not work. Plus the xanthum gum taste was so strong that it overwhelmed me and gave me a headache. I can almost taste that flavor right now as I am typing. Terrible!!!!

Yeah, that didn't work out well for us

I stared in disbelief at my cookie creation failure. It was a terrible mess. And I had a headache and xanthum gum aftertaste in my mouth. It was then that I knew in my heart that to be GFCF meant to say goodbye to some of our oldies but goodies. It meant that we would have to find new favorites and try new things. It meant that we would have to get out of our comfort zones and food culture and step into a whole new world.

And I felt as if the weight of that GFCF world was on my shoulders.

By this time I am laughing at the failed attempt, but also trying to figure out what went wrong so that I could improve it.