2012

Today I have one of my closest friends in the world presenting one of her AMAZING cookie recipes. I am telling you, I gain weight just listening to her talk about her creations! Take it away Lisa!
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Thank you so much Melissa for having me on your blog today!

So lately, both out of a desire for a sugar fix (who doesn’t love a yummy treat), and a complete lack of time (thanks to two busy toddlers and school), I have been on a mission to find sweet treats that take little time to put together. The end result of this has been a lot of experimenting with store bought cake mixes. I have found if you doctor them up just a little bit, that they can be just as delicious as anything your make completely from scratch, and are done in a fraction of time. A little while back, at the beginning of “Spring,” (we have only had about a week or so of weather over 50 degrees here.) I came across the deliciousness that is Pillsbury Pink Lemonade mixes. I bought what I thought was two boxes of the cake mix, but one of them was this yummy little gem:

So, when I realized I had it, I decided to make lemonade out of lemons. To be exact, Strawberry Lemonade Cookie Sandwiches. All I did was follow the directions on the package, but I added the the zest of half a small-medium lemon as well as the juice of half of that lemon. Bake according to package directions and cool completely. You should end up with some of these pretty little cookies.

While they are cooling, get to work on your strawberry lemonade buttercream frosting.

Strawberry Lemonade Buttercream

Zest of half a lemon

Juice of half a lemon

1 stick butter

8 tablespoons of shortening

3-4 cups sifted powdered sugar

8-10 small-medium strawberries(pureed– I used my microplane (zester) and grated the strawberries, but you can blend them)

1. Cream together butter and shortening.

2. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and strawberries and mix completely.

3. Add sugar 1 cup at a time until desired thickness and sweetness is achieved.(I used 4 cups)

A nice little trick for preparing your strawberries is to use a regular drinking straw to core and remove the leaves from the strawberry.

Works like a dream!

Once your cookies are cooled and your frosting is mixed up, pipe a generous dollop on one cookie, like so

put another cookie on top,

and ENJOY!!

P.S.

I made cupcakes using the same method I did here. The lemon juice and lemon zest in the batter gives it a little more zing, and the frosting is delicious on both!

P.P.S.

Thanks again, Melissa, for having me here. Happy Sw-EAT-ing!
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Sounds like something perfect to make for a Mother’s Day Brunch! And the best part is that everyone in my family can eat these! No chocolate, no peanuts, and no tree nuts! Triple play in this family!