Joanna Gaines Welcomes Son Drake Home from College with Multiple Trays of Cookies

"When your kid comes home from college... you make all the things," said the 'Fixer Upper' star

Joanna Gaines’ eldest son Drake had the sweetest welcome home from college.

On Monday, the Fixer Upper star, 45, used her Instagram Story to share photos of a variety of cookies that she prepared for her 18-year-old son’s visit.

“When your kid comes home from college…” she captioned a photo of four trays of cookies. “You make all the things," she finished along with another photo of more cookies.

Drake graduated from high school in May. Joanna marked the milestone with an Instagram video showing moments from his childhood captured on camera.

In Aug. 2022, Gaines penned a personal essay for Magnolia Journal opening up about Drake’s imminent departure for college. (Joanna and Chip Gaines are also parents Ella, 16, Duke, 15, Emmie, 13, and Crew, 5.)

"Soon, our oldest son, Drake, will be leaving home for college," Joanna wrote at the time. "In the grand scheme of heartbreaking things, this one comes with a lot of gratitude and excitement."

"But still, my first child is moving away, and our family dynamic will change because of it, and that can feel like a loss of its own," she added.

Now, for his return to their Waco, Texas home, Joanna appeared to make lemon crinkle cookies and her classic chocolate chip cookies.

In her 2018 cookbook Magnolia Table, she shared her chocolate chip cookie recipe, which was also published in Southern Living.

"My dad has an intense sweet tooth, just like me. One afternoon when I was around ten years old, Dad got a hankering and he enlisted me to help him make Toll House chocolate chip cookies. That was the first time he and I had ever baked together. Since then, whenever I make chocolate chip cookies, including the ones from this recipe, I think of him and that special afternoon we spent together in the kitchen," she said of the sweet treat.

Related: Joanna Gaines and Son Crew, 5, Harvest 10 Gallons of Honey from the Bees on Their Waco Property

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She explained in the book that her chocolate chip cookies cut back on the amount of butter used: “I do truly believe that butter makes everything better and no one is more surprised than I am about how amazing these taste even though they're made with less of the good stuff than most traditional chocolate chip cookies.”

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