For 12-year-old cookie champion in Philadelphia, baking offers escape from rare disease
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A new cookie champion was crowned Wednesday in Philadelphia. The first-time winner just turned 12 years old and is fighting a rare disease.
Living with a rare genetic disease hasn't curbed Blakelyn Kelly's appetite for baking.
"I just love to bake, and I like competing and I'm very competitive," Blakelyn said.
When the Make-A-Wish Foundation asked Blakelyn what she wanted, the answer was simple — to compete in a baking competition.
She competed against two others in a cookie-baking competition at Reading Terminal Market.
The young baker said she perfected her recipe for s'mores cookies for the contest.
"I really like camping, and s'mores is what I think of when you think of camping, so I made it into a cookie," she said.
The treat features a graham cracker cookie with chocolate chips, topped with toasted marshmallow.
For Blakelyn, baking is a distraction from having Von Hippel-Lindau disease, which causes noncancerous tumors to grow around her body.
"It's a little hard knowing you might need a surgery every year, and you need to get screenings," she said.
Easing those kinds of hardships is the mission of Make-A-Wish.
"We love to do these creative wishes," the foundation's Jennifer Davis said.
"That's what's so magical about all of our wishes — they're all unique and special to that one child," Davis said.
The s'mores cookies were up against lemon sugar and peanut butter chocolate cookies.
Blakelyn's cookies took home the prize and will be sold by Famous 4th Street Cookie Company, which sponsored the contest, with the proceeds benefiting Make-A-Wish.
Blakelyn's secret ingredient is smoked salt, which gives her cookies a real s'mores taste, she said. She's hoping to enter more baking competitions in the future with different recipes.