Book Nook Recipes

Tickled Pink Lemonade Cookies

I'm writing my Friday post a bit early since I may not have time tomorrow. As I mentioned in my first Book Nook segment, I read a cute book called Red Velvet Cupcake Murder By Joanne Fluke. Yes, I realize I just called a book with the word murder in the title "cute". But it is!

Red Velvet Cupcake Murder!

The story is basically about a baker named Hannah Sweeten who bakes AND solves murders. And the best part is in every chapter Joanne Fluke puts recipes for all the food the character bakes! So, I decided to try one. I made the Tickled Pink Lemonade Cookies. I chose those because I love pink lemonade and it is the most unusual cookie recipe I have ever heard of.

Note: Though I am writing down the recipe, I have no ownership of it. This was Joanne Flukes recipe, I'm just sharing it because it's awesome!

Here's what you need for the cookies:
1/2 cup salted, softened butter.
1/2 cup white (granulated) sugar. 
1/2 teaspoon baking powder.
1/4 teaspoon baking soda.
1 large egg, beaten.
1/3 cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed.
3 drops red food coloring.
1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour.

The cookie dough. It's so pink!

Mix the softened butter with the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Mix in the baking powder and baking soda. Mix until they are well combined.
Mix in the egg and lemonade. Then add the food coloring.
Add the flour. The book says to add it a half-cup at a time, mixing with each addition.
Put on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
I baked mine a couple minutes longer -for like 14 minutes- because they still looked raw. But my stove is really old.

Here's what they look like!

 They kind of look like piles of bubble gum. But they are so good.

Next is the frosting, you will need:
2 tbs salted butter, softened.
2 cups powdered sugar.
2 teaspoons pink lemonade concentrate, thawed.
3 or 4 teaspoons milk. I used 3 teaspoons for mine.
2 drops red food coloring.

The frosting. Yummy.

Mix the butter and powdered sugar together.
mix in the lemonade concentrate.
Mix in the milk a little at a time until the mixture is almost thin enough to spread.
Stir in the food coloring. Then frost the cookies!

Frosted pink lemonade cookies.

Here is my finished product. I was worried that they were going to be just too weird for me, but they were really delicious. The cookies have a strong pink lemonade flavor but the sugar tones it down, so it's not too tart. They also have the consistency of homemade sugar cookies. I would totally recommend them, especially in the summer. I ate mine with a glass of the left over pink lemonade. I may have a pink lemonade addiction now...
The recipe suggests trying regular lemonade also, which I want to try. I figure with the lemonade concentrate and some yellow food coloring the cookies will look really bright yellow and cute.

I wrote down some other recipes from the book I want to try. One is called Coffee and Cream Cookies, and you use real coffee. That should help my caffeine addiction... If it works out I'll post it here.

Thank for reading! If you try this recipe let me know how it went in the comments!

Brittany