Oh to be 15 again...

NOT!:) I cannot think of a single thing that would make me want to return to 15 again except to see all of my grandparents once more. But I am enjoying watching my daughters experience their teen years and yesterday Shelby turned the big 1-5. I remember wanting so much to be a teen, wishing it were Christmas already, wondering if 15, 16, 18 would ever arrive and now I want to stop time, slow down the clock and want to remember every second of my children's childhood and secretly...... I don't want them to ever grow up really;)....every mother has those moments, although I truly am excited to see each stage of their lives and watching them grow and develop their own unique personalities is a blessing.

Shelby and Lana opted for a Halloween birthday theme this year so their party at our house won't be until the end of October but they had their annual sleepover at their dad's house Friday night to kick off the birthday weekend. They had a blast, had an "Amazing Race" sorta of scavenger hunt at the mall in Fayetteville then ice cream cake and stayed up all night. Shelby's actual birthday was yesterday and there was alot I had planned.  Her BFF, Maddie, and her sister, McKenzie and their mom, Isabel all came over for a Harry Potter, Chili and cornbread kinda day.  We refreshed our memories on Harry Potter (ok I REFRESHED my memory), ate, did nails and the moms helped get the teen girls primped for their Tango Cotillion dance.  Off they went and we picked them up for a surprise ending of a late movie at the mall to see the final Harry Potter movie.  WAAAAYYYY passed this momma's bedtime but still I made it and we all had fun.  I had asked Shelby what she wanted for her birthday treat: cake, cupcakes, cookies.....she settled on a cookie cake.  You know, the ones they sell at the American Cookie Company store at all the malls.  SO, I decided to knock her socks off with something on a little larger scale:)

Chocolate chip cookie-rice crispy treat cake:

First thing I did was put plastic wrap on a big pizza pan. Instead of using regular rice crispy cereal I used the Envirokids Organic Koala Krisps Chocolate Flavored and made traditional rice crispy treats with 3 TBSP of butter and a 10 pz bag of mini marshmallows. When you turn the treats out of the bowl, spread it out on the plastic wrap and shape it like the circle of the pan, place another layer of plastic wrap on the top and turn the pan over on the counter and set aside to firm up...
Jeannie (The Art of Gluten Free Baking) modified the Barefoot Contessa's chocolate chip cookie recipe to be gfree and oh how I love her for this!!!! I love Barefoot Contessa's chocolate chip cookie recipe1
http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com/2009/05/gluten-free-chocolate-chipchunk-cookies-2-delicious-recipes/
I made the batter for the cookies, sprayed my large pizza pan and spread the batter out like a cookie cake would be and put it in the oven on 350 like she says to with the smaller cookies....timing in this one will fluctuate based on your oven and the fact you are making one big cookie.  So keep a close eye on the cookie cake.  Once it has come to a golden brown, take it out and cool completely. 
By now the rice crispy layer has firmed up and you take about 3 TBSP of plain gluten free icing and spread on top of the cookie then place the rice crispy layer directly on top....decorate as you like from there. 
IT WAS FABULOUS!!!! The cookie was super moist and the crunch from the rice crispy made for one heavenly birthday desert...but I will warn you....this is NOT a fat free desert by any means;)!  Of course, who wants a fat free birthday anyway?  Good thing birthdays are only ONCE a year!