Funfetti. I’m at a loss for words.
Are you smiling, like in a kid in a candy store kind of way? I thought so. But who doesn’t crack a smile when they see a baked good loaded with rainbow goodness in every bite and drizzled with citrus glaze? The color, the crunch, the peer excitement of funfetti is about more than I can stand. I’d like to tell you I made these to see the joy on my daughter’s second birthday. But the reality is I wanted funfetti, like needed it in my life and I just used her birthday as an excuse to make them. ->EMBARASSING<-
Not that she didn’t love her funfetti cookies. Trust me there was pure excitement and joy on her face when we stacked them high and put two candles in them for her to blow out. It was the greatest thing ever to a two-year old. I’m not exactly sure if it was the cookies coated in frosting or the fact that the leaning tower of cookies had two flames shooting out the top about to topple over. But in the end it had to be these cookies. There could be a couple of reasons this was so exciting for her. One, she has never had cake in her life. Two, I was actually cooking her a dessert for her birthday. The normal birthday routine in the past has been pancakes stacked high and loaded with candles. Because a pancake is kind of cake-like, right?
This year I took it up a notch, okay like 10 notches with this cookie recipe. But the good news is, they don’t have any more sugar in them than the pancakes. If you could see my heart smiling, know that it would be. You see my little two year old has been through quite a bit in her first few years of life. She is finally in recovery and healing mode but for over a year this little peanut struggled with what seemed like constant vomiting, a failure to thrive, and extreme exhaustion. After months and months of tests, numerous doctors, we finally with the urging of her nagging-demanding a better answer, mother, it was found that she struggles from systemic yeast (a.k.a. candida).
After the diagnosis and developing a treatment plan you can bet there was sheer relief from this momma. The better news is that candida can be greatly helped with diet which is a plus when the momma is a nutritionist and has had previous experiences with candida. In the short, I take this candida diagnosis very seriously and the dying and healing of the yeast. The anti-candida diet is not an easy one. The goal is to limit if not eliminate sugar at all costs (including as many natural sources as possible) as well as common food allergens and sensitivities. I’ve taken the anti-candida diet and made it somewhat kid-friendly for her allowing her a few more fruits/starches than normally seen on an adult-candida diet (because she is still growing) but not enough to feed her yeast. It’s complicated, but it is working!!
Those who know her and traveled through this journey know the roller-coaster of a life she has had. And the better news is we are starting to see her personality emerge from the stone-face that she once was. She smiles, in public (big news)! She said good-bye to a stranger, what?!? And she even played with other kids at a playdate. You guys, this is big stuff! The once too-shy to get off mom’s lap, didn’t feel good, wouldn’t take the pacifier out of her mouth girl is now without her pacifier for most of the day, smiling, laughing, singing, dancing and talking to strangers.
Don’t worry, there is still work to do, but progress is being made and it brings no greater joy to my life to see her thrive! So in honor of how far she has come and the reality that yes she still is a child and deserves a treat on her birthday, I developed these citrus (candida-friendly) funfetti cookies just for her.
To be honest, they are pretty delicious! I’m not sure devouring the entire pan was a part of the plan but it happened and I don’t regret a moment of it. And now I want them everyday. The soft, chewy cookies with the crunch of the funfetti topped in the citrus glaze is about more than I can handle. My love for lemon cookies have been crashed with my love for all things confetti into this masterpiece. ->SQUEAL<-
You must….you have to…I can’t stop. There are no words. Just smiles! Can we talk about this smile for a minute? This smile is one I can’t get enough of. Happy belated birthday to my beautiful, full of life, spunky two-year old. We love you sweet girl!
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup arrowroot flour
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup orange juice (or lemon juice)
- orange zest, from one orange
- 4 Tbsp coconut oil
- ¼ cup coconut butter
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg (or flax or gelatin egg)
- 2 Tbsp confetti sprinkles
- Glaze:
- 1-2 Tbsp freshly squeeze orange juice
- ¼ cup coconut butter
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Prepare a baking pan with parchment paper.
- Mix together dry ingredients, coconut flour, arrowroot flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, cream coconut oil, coconut butter, and honey.
- Add in the vanilla, zest, juice and egg.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.
- Mix in confetti sprinkles.
- Add 1 Tbsp of dough to baking pan and flatten with the bottom of a cup. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with additional sprinkles.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes.
- Cool on cooling rack.
- To make glaze, slowly melt coconut butter and mix in orange juice. Drizzle on the cookies.
