JOURNAL

Thea Baumann in the Kitchen

Photographed by Nicki Sebastian

Thea is one of those instantly magnetic people who you just want to be around constantly. She has a deeply calming and peaceful presence even under the most chaotic of circumstances (at the time of this shoot she was balancing construction on her house, building her business, being a doting mama to two year old Frances, and caring for two buns in the oven).

Of her many attributes and abilities, cooking is the one for which she is most known. Thea is absolutely brilliant in the kitchen – a chef through and through. Having previously worked at Goop (she is co-author of the amazing book It's All Easy) with a Diplôme de Cuisine from Le Cordon Bleu Paris, she is fluent in all things delicious and healthy. She now teaches private cooking classes around Los Angeles and is building her business of content creation videos around cooking - Short Stack Media.

After KK spent a weekend with her over the summer (at their mutual dear friend Sam's house) and came back raving about Thea’s food and all around good vibe - we knew we needed to do a journal on her. See below for pictures shot by Nicki Sebastian of beauty Thea with her three babes as well as an amazing cookie recipe she generously shared with (we can’t wait to make these for friends and family over the holidays!)

– pd

GLUTEN-FREE MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIESYIELD: 20 COOKIES

Every year I get so many requests from friends and clients for good gluten-free holiday cookie recipes, so I developed this version of one of my personal all-time favorites. If you have kids, get them to help roll these in powdered sugar—it’s worth the mess!

2/3 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cassava flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350. Place the pecan halves on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until fragrant but not burned, 7-10 minutes. Set aside to cool and turn the oven temperature up to 375. Meanwhile, cream together the unsalted butter and coconut sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine. Finely chop the cooled nuts then add to the butter mixture along with the cassava flour and kosher salt. Stir everything together until it forms a ball (if the mixture feels too crumbly, use your hands to bring it together). Divide the dough into two equal pieces then divide each piece into 10 tablespoon-sized balls. Place the cookies 1-inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet and use your fingers to press each one down slightly. Bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes; the cookies should have little cracks on the top and be golden brown on the bottom. Let cool for 5 minutes. Place the powdered sugar in a shallow bowl, and roll each cookie until well coated. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature before eating.