I remember catching the baking bug at the age of 7. I would always sneak into the kitchen so that I could watch my mom making sweet potato pies. On one night, while getting sweets ready for Thanksgiving, she let me mix up some sweet potato pie filling. Best “filling” ever! And there was no looking back from there. She can attest to the many times she came home from work to find her kitchen covered in flour and sugar.

Now, my dad’s side of our family are all pound cake connoisseurs. No matter what the event, there was always that one or two relatives who were required to bring a good old fashioned crusty vanilla pound. Back then, those pound cakes were big enough to feed an entire family; and that was the point! Those are the pound cakes I grew up eating and the flavors I remember so well. Those memories were the basis for creating my own pound cake recipes. From there was where Leap for Cake was born.

Leap’s Gluten Free Life cookie collection grew from requests, as well as challenges, I had from friends to create a great gluten free cookie. I had already created the gluten-based Twisted Sugar Cookie to perfection. So finding the right gluten free flours and combinations of ingredients was a bit intimidating. But I knew I was up for the challenge. Gluten free products can often be gritty, grainy and have an after taste from the starches that are used to create them. When I did find out what works, there was no stopping. From there, I spent years continuing to research and create cookie flavors that would eventually make up the Gluten Free Life cookie collection!