lemonade cookies | EASYBAKED

Sunshine Lemonade Cookies

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Ruthanne

These soft cut-out cookies have lemonade in the mix for a sweet lemon cookie you will love!

If you have been a fan of Easybaked for very long, you know that I love lemon-themed desserts! I’ve used lemonade in cupcakes and cakes– but these cut-out cookies are a new experiment- and I adore them! These cookies just melt in your mouth- and that tart lemon flavor is wonderful.

You can cut these into any shape you want, and decorate at whatever level of creativity and effort you choose. I wanted happy sunshine cookies for a summer party- so I used a Smiley Face Emoji Chocolate Mold and yellow, blue and orange Wilton’s Candy Melts to decorate my cookies. They make me smile!

Here is how I made them: (printable cookie recipe here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 24 cookies)

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
One packet (0.23 oz) of unsweetened lemonade powder (I used Kool Aid brand)
2 bags of Wilton Candy Melts in blue (or in whatever colors you want to decorate in!)
1 bag of Wilton Candy Melts in yellow
1/4 bag of Wilton Candy Melts in orange

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Add eggs, vanilla and lemonade powder and mix well.
Add all dry ingredients and mix until able to knead into a firm ball of dough (add additional flour if necessary).
Roll out on a floured counter with a flour coated rolling pin to desired thickness (I made them about 1/4 inch thick))
Cut into whatever shape you want- I used a 3.5-inch round cookie cutter.
Place on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet.
Bake at 350F degrees for 8-10 minutes and slide off the cookie sheet (leaving on parchment paper) to cool.
Melt 3/4 of yellow candy melts (in microwave, 30-second increments, stirring in between until smooth) and use a small zip-top bag to pipe this into each smiley face mold cavity. Freeze for 4-5 minutes and remove from mold. Set aside.
Melt blue candy melts and pipe around the edges of each circle.
Melt remaining yellow and orange candy melts and place in small zip-top bags to be ready to decorate. Keep them warm in a towel.
Flood cookie to edges with blue candy melts and immediately pipe circles of orange and yellow around the cookie’s center.
Use a toothpick or skewer to pull lines through the melted chocolate and then tap on table to remove lines.
Place a smiley face in the center.

Repeat with remaining cookies, keeping candy melts warm in towels as you go.
Once they are hardened—Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are delicious. Decorating them this way takes a little time, but you could certainly make these cookies and decorate with a buttercream and some sprinkles if you want easy! The cookies are so worth trying- they got rave reviews 🙂 Happy summer to you!!!! ~r

Other lemon treats here on Easybaked (click on a photo to see the recipe):

7 Comments

Lemonade Cookies…with a twist!

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Ruthanne

Chewy lemonade cookies made with bits of strawberry licorice…a fun treat that every kid (or kid at heart) in your life will love!

Months ago I received a baking challenge from an 8 year old boy named Zao. His mom Erika works with me and he asked her, “Do you think Ruthanne could make cookies with red licorice in them?” Well, of course we can!

Now, as a little warning to you: the bits of licorice are yummy, but they are very chewy and you end up eating licorice after the cookie is all gone in your mouth. Remember bubble gum ice cream? It’s a little like that sort of dilemma. The taste combination is wonderful though and if you can get past the consistency you will love these!

For those of you not-so-brave folks out there….the cookies are soooooo yummy without the licorice too! I made two batches– one with and one without the licorice. I loved both varieties (and it gave me an excuse to eat TWO cookies instead of one!)

Here’s how to make them: (printer- friendly recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 packet (0.23oz.) Kool Aid Lemonade
Yellow food coloring gel
2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of chopped Twizzler Strawberry Licorice. (I just chopped them into chocolate chip-size bits using a sharp knife)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.
Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
Add Lemonade powder and coloring gel (if needed) to create a nice yellow color. Mix well.
Blend in the dry ingredients, using clean hands to knead the dough together at the end.
Add chopped strawberry licorice bits at the very end and blend well (this step can be skipped if you aren’t feeling wild and crazy– you’ll just have yummy lemonade cookies!)
Roll rounded tablespoons of dough into balls and place on baking sheets that have been covered in parchment paper.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are set.
Slide parchment paper (with the cookies still on top) onto a cool counter and allow cookies to cool right on paper.

My thoughts: With or without the strawberry bits, these are great cookies. I think they balance perfectly between sweet and tart. I was surprised at how many people loved the idea of putting licorice bits into cookies. I think they would be great with a strawberry or raspberry icing on top. Yum….! Enjoy!