The Great Christmas Cookie Heist
Age: 12
Ah, the holidays—a time for family, joy, and, apparently, competitive baking. My family’s annual cookie exchange was legendary. Each person would bring their “signature cookie,” and a blind taste test would crown the winner. For years, Aunt Kathy reigned supreme with her triple-chocolate peppermint monstrosities. This year, I decided it was time for a changing of the guard.
At 12 years old, I wasn’t exactly a pastry prodigy, but I had determination. My plan? A simple but effective snickerdoodle with a twist—coating the dough in crushed cinnamon candy canes before baking. The cookies were good. Not great, but good. And certainly not Kathy-good.
But I had something Aunt Kathy didn’t: resourcefulness and a mischievous streak. As the cookies cooled, I carefully marked the bottom of mine with a tiny dot of food coloring—barely noticeable to the untrained eye. I then proceeded to “help” set up the taste test, ensuring my cookies ended up in the optimal spot on the tray: right next to Kathy’s, so hers would pale in comparison.
When it came time to vote, my heart pounded with anticipation. One by one, my cousins, uncles, and siblings cast their ballots. Every so often, I’d casually remind someone how much they’d loved the cinnamon aroma wafting from the oven earlier. Subtle, right?
Victory felt inevitable. That was, until Grandma—our taste-testing referee—paused mid-bite, looked me square in the eye, and said, “Josh, these cookies taste like… guilt.”
Busted. She’d spotted the food coloring.
The jig was up, but Grandma didn’t banish me to the land of fruitcake. Instead, she declared my cookies “a valiant effort” and gave me a wink. Aunt Kathy won again, of course, but my antics became the real story of the night.
Consequences: My parents grounded me from “helping” with the cookie exchange for a year, but the tale of the Great Christmas Cookie Heist lived on as family lore.
Lessons Learned:
- Grandma sees everything.
- Cheating doesn’t taste as sweet as you think—unless it involves snickerdoodles.
- Sometimes, the best memories come from the mess-ups, not the masterpieces.
