Heather Cohen never thought that her love of baking with her 6-year-old daughter Alexa would lead to $10,000.
“Baking is a big hobby of mine, and I like to bake a lot with my kids,” said Heather, who has two other young children. “Alexa loves it. She likes cracking the eggs, and measuring the sugar and even doing the mixer.”
Alexa, whose favorite thing to bake in the kitchen is banana creme pie, agrees. “I like to do everything!” she said.
It was that hobby betweenmother and daughter that led Heather to enter the Second Annual AirBake Extreme Cookie Challenge in January. Open to parent/child teams nationwide, entries were judged on taste, originality, ease of preparation and appearance. The grand prize was a $10,000 Savings Bond and bragging rights for life as National Cookie Champions.
Heather and Alexa?s entry recipe, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cones, was inspired by their love of ice cream. The “cone” is made of a light, crispy cookie, baked and shaped into a cone, while the “ice cream” is an egg-free cookie dough filling. The cone is topped with whipped cream and a cherry.
In February came a call Heather was not expecting ? that she and Alexa were one of the top five finalists chosen out of more than 500 entries. “I was screaming on the phone, and we were jumping up and down,” Heather recalled. “We couldn?t believe it.”
The Cohens were flown to New York for the award ceremony, where hundreds of people sampled the one-of-a-kind cookies created by the finalists. The tasters declared Heather and Alexa?s cookie the winner.
“We knew it might be tough to find a cookie as delicious and creative as our last champion, Chips & Dips, where the potato chip and pretzel cookie ruled,” said Oliver Vicente, Senior Product Manager for T-fal/WearEver. “But we were thrilled to announce the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ?Ice Cream Cone? Cookie as the winner.”
Now Heather has a new challenge. “Everyone wants to try the cookies. I?m going to be cooking up a storm after Passover!”
MAKE IT YOURSELF
Heather and Alexa?s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough “Ice Cream Cone” Cookie
Ice Cream Cones
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (preferably toasted; you can substitute pecans or almonds)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
Click here to view a list of the other four finalists? recipes.
