Art You Can Eat {a birthday recipe}

As promised yesterday, here's the second version of birthday cake for my young artist in residence. I really didn't want to make cupcakes or cake again and while I was brainstorming on something creative to make for my girl's actual birthday, she asked me if I'd make her some chocolate chip cookies. She has been allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts since birth so there are quite a few baked goods that she doesn't get to enjoy. {And plenty of those I've tried to make allergy free and they just didn't pan out.} This time, especially since it was her special day, I decided to find a way to make some for her. Only while I was thinking about it, it hit me that I could make her a giant chocolate chip cookie and decorate it like a cake. I'm all about killing the hypothetical two birds with one stone. Amen? Since I was completely out of 'her' chocolate chips {vegan}, I had to make a trip to Whole Foods. You can imagine how delighted I was to find an allergy-free chocolate chip cookie mix made by Cherrybrook Kitchen in the baking aisle of Whole Foods! This completely made my day because I could use this convenient mix and know that it would most likely turn out well versus trying to make my own from scratch without eggs. So, I snatched it up for $5.99 and was on my merry way.

I love Cherrybrook Kitchen because they make several allergy-friendly mixes, etc. that really help a mom out in situations like these. They are careful with processing and every product I've used of their's has worked out wonderfully and tasted yummy. It makes life with food allergies a little more bearable.

Follow package directions by mixing the mix + 1/2 cup dairy free buttery spread like Smart Balance Light or Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread + 1/4 cup water. Mix until it forms a soft dough.

Spread out your dough onto your greased pan or onto a round baking stone {mine is from Pampered Chef}. I used a piece of plastic wrap to help me smooth out the dough without getting my hands messy. Then, I took my dough roller {also from Pampered Chef} and rolled it on top of the plastic wrap to make it the same thickness all over.

Take the plastic wrap off. Bake at 375 degrees for approx. 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool, then decorate.

It was a big surprise for my girl when she got home from school and saw her giant chocolate chip cookie. The artsy design made with frosting, just made it that much better.

It was a great day! I'm pretty sure she'll remember this one forever.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm sharing this with a few of these friends.

An Artistic Birthday {the 'cake'}

As I mentioned yesterday, my little artist just celebrated her 8th birthday! It was a highly anticipated day, as it is for most children, and she had some high hopes for celebrating. We went out of town last weekend to visit family so that meant we'd be celebrating her birthday there with family and then again on her actual birthday. For the first celebration, I made an artist palette with cupcakes.

For the palette, I used foam board and just cut out a shape that resembled a paint palette. You can buy this at the dollar store or Dollar General - super cheap! An exacto knife or pocket knife will work just fine. I used a box cutter. Just be careful and go slowly. Be sure there is something underneath to protect your counter or whatever surface you are cutting this on.

The cupcakes were made with Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix and a 15 oz can of pumpkin puree with a 1/4 cup water. Just mix it up and pour into cupcake pans about 1/2 full (3/4 full if you want a bigger cupcake). Bake according to package directions. {These cupcakes were dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free using all of these ingredients because my daughter is highly allergic to those 3 allergens. You can bake yours however you want, but these baked with pumpkin are so moist and delicious!}

For the icing, I used Pillsbury Vanilla icing {again because it contains no milk, egg or nuts}. Then, I added food coloring to make different colors for my 'paints'.

As you can see in the pic, I only put 8 cupcakes on the palette. The rest of the cupcakes were iced with plain white icing. My little artist was thrilled with these cupcakes. She declared me the best baker ever.

My job here is done.

Come back tomorrow and see what her second 'cake' looked like! She was just as excited, if not more. I even surprised myself with this one!

Thanks for stopping by! I'm sharing this with some of these friends.