Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Lemon Dream Cookies

Prepare to fall in love.

Do you adore lemon deserts as I do? Does that light, zingy taste make you swoon and salivate? Then look no further for that perfect fix, because these cookies are IT. And by IT, I mean that you will think of these every time you are wanting to satisfy your lemon craving. 

To put it simply-- They. Are. Amazing.


I have never before attempted to make a batch of cookies, without at least going off of another recipe. Baking is precise, and fickle. You need to measure everything to an exact amount, and, well it's just complicated. Although I consider myself to be a pretty good cook, my baking is more, er... experimental, than spectacular, if you know what I mean. Well today, when Magoo came home from her very first school field trip (she had a BLAST by the way!!), I knew I wanted to continue with her fun day, and thought we could "wing it" and concoct our own cookie recipe, as I told her. That way, even if the cookies turned out terrible, we at least had a good time making them!

Magoo loves being in the kitchen with me, and I admit, I really enjoyed seeing her creative juices flowing!
Working hard...

  All I can say about this decision, is I am SO glad we did "wing it", because for once, our experiment went well! Really well!! These cookies are fantastic! The dough is the consistency of a very thick frosting, and after baked, they are similar to a light, moist, brownie-like texture! Mmmm...... I think I need to go grab another! 

Anyways, upon throwing this creation together, we came up with a few great additions. In the past I've made several batches of cookies with different flavors of pudding mix in them, and always loved how they turned out. So naturally, after coming across a box of instant lemon pudding in the cupboard, I was inspired. Rummaging around, I discovered a lowly bag of craisins, that so desperately needed to be eaten and enjoyed. These cookies were already sounding delicious in my head, they just needed one more thing. White chocolate. Yes. Now doesn't that sound yummy? I sure thought so! 

Alas! After a quick run to the store for some white chocolate chips (and more milk, of course!), we were ready to start baking! 

Yes, I have resorted to Instagram for photos at the moment, but  you have to admit, it's better than no pictures! 
Once we had stirred and mixed it all together, and gave them a quick taste, Magoo and I both agreed that the lemon flavoring in the pudding simply wasn't enough. Good thing I had some real ones on hand! A couple tablespoons and all the zest from one lemon, and it was perfect! Oh the dough was wonderful..... we could hardly keep our fingers out of it. I'm sure if I had let her, she would have licked the entire bowl clean! I am so happy that I didn't, because even though I didn't think it was possible, these were even BETTER baked!!

Oh I can't wait until you all try them--
Here they are in all of their lemony glory!!


Preheat the oven to 350.

  1. In mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until unified. Add in eggs, each one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl every so often. Pour in pudding mix, and blend for 2 minutes. It will "fluff" up, almost doubling in size. Add in the lemon juice and zest. 
  2. In separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour, baking soda/powder, salt, etc). Slowly add dry mixture into wet mixture, mixing and then scraping down sides until fully incorporated. 
  3. Pour in craisins and white chocolate chips, and mix with a spoon. 
  4. Scoop tablespoons of the dough, 2-3 inches apart onto a baking sheet.
  5. Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on how soft/doughy you like them. (I baked mine for 15, and they were perfectly moist and soft!)
This batch made 48 cookies for me. I used my small ice cream scoop. 

Enjoy!!





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