Strawberry Lemonade Sandwich Cookies

Ok, I am going to just come out and admit it. Half the reason I love these cookies is that they are so darned cute looking. Seriously, pastel shades of yellow and pink scream “spring is here!” to me. Even when the weather is screaming “sorry, spring has been cancelled this year! We’re alternating between winter days and summer days until further notice.”

Oops. This totally wasn’t meant to be a rant about the weather. But once we’re on the topic, how crazy is it that in a span of a couple of days, I went from sweatshirts and shivering to how-high-does-the-AC-in-this-car-go. It’s a pain trying to get dressed for the day when you have to remember that there’s a 25 degree fluctuation possible.

But anyway. Back to cookies. Pretty cookies, to be specific. So as we said, these are pretty colors. Did I mention how sparkly these are? Ok, I am definitely not the sparkly-unicorn-girly type, but sparkly cookies kinda make anyone smile, am I right or am I right? Anyway, once you get past the whole exclaiming over how pretty these cookies are, you bite into them and the soft, cake-y deliciousness will totally amaze you. And you’ll totally reach for another one, but don’t feel bad. Nobody can resist these.

Strawberry Lemonade Sandwich Cookies:

By Miriam Pascal, OvertimeCook.Com

Ingredients:

2 sticks (one cup) butter or margarine

1 1/4 cups sugar

zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1-2 drops of yellow food coloring (optional, but highly recommended)

2 eggs

2 1/3 cups flour

yellow sugar, for rolling*

for the filling

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine

8 ounces cream cheese (tofutti works well)

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 drops red food coloring, option but highly recommended

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter/margarine and sugar until creamy. Add the lemon zest, lemon extract, vanilla extract, baking powder, lemon juice and food coloring. Beat until combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well to combine after each addition. Beat until creamy. Add the flour and beat until just combined.

Place the yellow sugar in a small bowl. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop a ball of dough into the sugar, then roll it between your palms to smooth it out. Place on the prepared tray. Repeat with the remaining dough, leaving plenty of room for spreading.

Bake the cookies at 350 for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely.

To make the filling: beat together the butter/margarine and cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth and creamy. Sandwich the filling between two cooled cookies.

Enjoy!

*Note: if you don’t have yellow sugar, don’t skip it. You need it for the texture of the cookies. You can roll them in plain sugar though – it will only affect the looks (a bit!).

Thanks friends for stopping by! Hope you love these cookies as much as my tasters and I did. -Miriam