Cherry Limeade Bars

It’s hot lately and if I still drank soda, I’d go get me a Cherry Limeade from Sonic. If you’ve been around these parts before, you may have noticed that I love citrus, much more so than chocolate and cherry-lime is pretty much a win-win all around.  My favorite part of a Cherry Limeade lies at the bottom of the cup, eating the soda soaked lime and cherry, it’s like a reward for drinking all that soda, I like that.

I’ve been thinking of baking up a Cherry Limeade dessert for a few weeks now and a Google search turned up that Cherry Limeade cupcakes have been done and done and done! So I decided on some bars, it actually bakes up like a cake, so you could easily whip up some frosting for it and serve it like that, but I am not real big on baking cakes and such. I prefer portability and I like dessert that I can hold in my hand!

This recipe is reeeealllly simple and fuss-free. The Cherry pie filling is swirled through the lime batter straight outta the can. Some of it sinks to the bottom and leaves a nice, gooey layer of cherry goodness on the bottom of the bars. Yeah, and the contrast is pretty cool too!  Now, these guys are VERY gooey straight out of the oven, so they need a trip to the fridge (or freezer) before you serve them.

Without further ado, let me present to you, my recipe for Cherry Limeade bars…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHERRY LIMEADE BARS

Yield: 2 Dozen bars or 9 x 13 cake

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 oz package lime gelatin

1/2 cup canola oil

2 eggs

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp lime juice

21 oz can cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl.  Slowly add in your canola oil until fully blended then beat in eggs one at a time. Next, add milk, vanilla and lime juice; mix until smooth.  Pour into greased 9 x 13″ pan (I used glass).  Dump cherry pie filling on top in spoonfuls and using the spoon swirl it through the lime batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until done.  Remove to rack to cool and then refrigerate until completely cool and firm enough to cut into bars.

 

You definitely gotta try these if you’re a Cherry Limeade fan, or even if you’re not (you might become one)! Summer isn’t over yet, so bake it up and celebrate!

xox

Britt

 

 

Don’t forget to check out my Crazy, Awesome Giveaway! YOU could be the big winner! Click the photo below to be taken straight to the giveaway or just keep scrolling down and enjoy the scenery on your way there. 🙂

Strawberry Lemonade Sugar Cookies

I am officially on a Lemon-Sugar kick and it all started with this…

A heavenly lemon pound cake smothered under a pound of powdered sugar from my favorite local bakery.   Man, was it delicious, me thinks me like lemon better than chocolate!  And so began my quest…

So, I started thinking about what I could make next for you guys, I have a ton of ideas, but lemon shot to the top of my list.  I saw a pink lemonade cake in one of my vintage cookbooks and thought about bringing that back in cupcake form, but a Google searched turned up a billion people who have already done that. 😦 But don’t be sad for me, I thought of something better!

I started thinking about cookies ( I actually like cookies mores than cupcakes!) and then I decided I should throw Strawberry up in the mix. So, I came up with these Strawberry Lemonade Sugar Cookies, a lemony sugar cookie topped with strawberry icing and yellow sugar crystals.

I chilled the dough for about 30 minutes before baking and the dough was such a pleasure to work with. So many sugar cookie recipes I have tried left me with sticky dough covered hands, even after chill time, I hate that!  After baking, I could not wait to try one, I didn’t know what to expect. They were absolutely delicious, even without the icing and the texture is AMAZING. Success on the first try, I love that! Hooray! 🙂

Nothing screams summer like Lemonade and Strawberries, these are the perfect cookies for summer get-togethers, tea time or just ’cause.  Whip some up today, I know that you are dying to try them, I would be too.  If you don’t feel like making the icing, you could always just dust them with powdered sugar and call it a day. Here is my original recipe for these lemony little yum-yums…

STRAWBERRY LEMONADE SUGAR COOKIES

Yield: 4 dozen 2″ cookies

LEMONADE SUGAR COOKIES

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp lemon zest

2 tsp lemon juice

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tbsp milk

20 – 24 drops of yellow food coloring

Preheat your oven to 350. Cream together your butter and sugar; then add vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Add egg, beat until combined and stir in the milk.  Dump the dry ingredients into the wet a little at a time, combine. Add your food coloring and mix until the color is even throughout. Chill for about 30 minutes. Shape into 1″ balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press them down to flatten them just a little. Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes on the pan, then remove to rack to finish cooling.

STRAWBERRY ICING

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tbsp milk

2 tsp strawberry extract

red food coloring (optional)

Cream together butter and sugar, adding the powdered sugar about 1/2  cup at a time. Add milk and blend until smooth. Add strawberry extract and blend until color is even throughout. If you would like it more pink, add red food coloring a little at a time until desired color is reached. I put the icing in a piping bag and piped a little circle on the top of each cookie, be careful here, it spreads! Don’t put too much or it will run down the sides (unless that’s the look you’re going for).  Finish with yellow sugar crystals

The icing will harden, but not enough to stack them without messin’ them up.

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER MY CRAZY AWESOME GIVEAWAY!!!

Scroll down a couple of posts or click the image below to go directly to my giveaway.

xox

Britt