Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

It's Christmas time, which mean it's also time to bake oatmeal raisin cookies with my girls.

Amara watched me gather the ingredients.  I noticed that she seemed particularly intrigued by the oats.

So, I let her play with them.  I thought, "What's the worst that could happen?"

Oh.  That.

Well, we're in it now!  I'm going to have to get out the vacuum cleaner anyway, so I might as well let her have some fun.

Sifting...

Pressing...

Shaking...

Looking...

Throwing...

Oats went everywhere!

...And then she decided to eat them.

That's it for Amara and the oats!

So, we started actually making the cookies.  First, the ladies conferred on the appropriate measuring cups to use.

Then Kiran added the apple sauce and maple syrup while Amara continuing measuring, well, whatever she was measuring.  [Yes, Mom, I'm using a different recipe.  I can never get mine to come out as good as yours anyway, so I will just eat yours when you make them!]

It turns out that toddlers also like to play with the oats...

Kiran did a very good job stirring.

Amara took a break for a two-finger bink and then went back to measuing while Kiran got the raisins ready.

Kiran was very excited about the raisins.

She insisted on placing each raisin individually into the bowl.

Which I thought was just an excuse to steal a few raisins.

But, as it turns out, she was making a raisin masterpiece.  And she got REALLY upset when I stirred the raisins in.

I even got the dreaded evil eye.

I apologized, which didn't help much.  But, thankfully, when making cookies, there is an easy supply of cookie dough available to calm a crying child.

Kiran was back in the game, and did an excellent job forming the cookies.

She even carried the cookies to the oven all by herself.

She patiently waited, and then checked on the cookies to see if they were done.

And then, the best part!  Kiran enjoyed her cookies with a big glass of milk.  Amara, on the other hand, took a nap.  She's too little to eat cookies, anyway.