Elani’s custom cookies are her family’s newest Christmas tradition

St. Jude patient cherishes special moments with family during the holidays.

by Linda A. Moore

November 22, 2024 • 2 min

Elani was treated at St. Jude for sickle cell anemia

There are some Christmas family traditions Darnita doesn’t miss, like her daughter, Elani, waking the entire house long before dawn.

“My mom won’t let me do it anymore,” laughed Elani.

“She’d wake up in the middle of the night, like 3 a.m.,” Darnita said. “And I’m like, ‘No, we can wait a little longer’.’”

Thankfully, Elani hasn’t been denied all her family’s holiday traditions.

They still drive out at night to look at Christmas lights. They still have a big family gathering on Christmas Eve and that night everyone opens just one gift.

“We’re all over the place. But we all come home. And that’s what makes it really special, everybody being together.” — Darnita, mom of St. Jude patient Elani

“It’s just a special moment that we can all share together,” Elani said.

When Elani was born, she was diagnosed with sickle cell disease. In 2016, when she was 10, Elani was accepted as a patient at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.

Now 19, Elani has transitioned out of the care of St. Jude. But because of her care team, she was ready for college and to transition to adult care for her sickle cell disease. She’s at college hundreds of miles away from home, studying food and beverage entrepreneurship with plans to open a bakery.

Elani started baking during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to keep busy.

Now, her skills with sweet treats have inspired a new family tradition — her cookies.

She’s “perfected” her chocolate chip cookie recipe, and each year surprises her family with a new ingredient for them to enjoy.

Last year it was a rich, buttery toffee.

“I did homemade toffee and I folded that into my cookie dough,” Elani said. “So, I had salted toffee chocolate chip cookies.”

But the best family tradition is that they’re always together for Christmas.

Everyone has spread out, Darnita said.

“We’re all over the place,” Darnita said. “But we all come home. And that’s what makes it really special, everybody being together.”

Elani’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

230 grams unsalted butter (1 cup or 2 sticks)
110 grams granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
230 grams packed dark brown sugar (1 cup and 1 tablespoon)
2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
300 grams flour (2 ½ cups)
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
350 grams chocolate chips (2 cups)

Instructions

In a saucepan, brown the butter by heating it on a medium heat setting until it fully melts and the milk solids settle at the bottom and reach a brown color. As it melts, it will begin to foam at the top. Stir every now and then to make sure the solids brown evenly. The butter should release a nutty scent. Set aside to cool.
Add the melted butter to the sugars and stir until combined.
Stir in the eggs and the egg yolk, one at a time. Mix until fully combined. The sugar should be almost completely dissolved and the mixture should be paler in color.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.
Fold in the dry ingredients until combined. Once the dry ingredients are almost fully incorporated, fold in the chocolate chips. Folding the chips in before the dough is fully mixed prevents overmixing.
Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for at least 24 hours, the longer the better!
Divide the cookie dough into 40 grams balls (3 tablespoons). The dough will be quite firm, so I like to take it out 15-20 minutes before I start scaling. Roll and place on baking sheets with parchment paper. Bake in the middle of the oven at 350 f. Every oven is different! You’ll know the cookies are ready when you can see the edges reach a golden brown. For my oven, this takes about 15 minutes.