Strawberry Lemonade Cookies
Are you craving a light and refreshing dessert that is easy to grab and eat? These Strawberry Lemonade Cookies are a delight! The best part? You get to skip all the long and drawn-out steps that typical cookies have and use boxed cake mix as your secret hack!
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If you’re a fan of sweet and tart, these pink lemonade cookies just might be your newest summer craving. Not only are the flavours perfectly balanced, but they’re soft and chewy, too!
You better just go ahead and make a plan to double the batch of these lemon strawberry cookies because they’re going to be gobbled up quickly.
I personally think that these would be excellent for a fun poolside snack or perfect for a summer picnic in the park.
Why use cake mix when baking cookies?
Using a boxed cake mix is a baker’s dream! This is the perfect way to make soft and chewy cookies when you may not have a ton of other ingredients on hand. As long as you have a flavoured box cake mix and a handful of other ingredients, there’s nothing stopping you from making yummy cookies.
Ingredients And Substitutions
Lemon cake mix – Choose your favourite cake brand company and use it.
Strawberry cake mix – The same goes for finding a strawberry cake mix.
Vegetable oil – You can also use coconut oil here or really any mild-tasting oil as well.
Eggs – The eggs are needed as the binding agent for the cake mix and other ingredients.
Lemon zest – This is optional, but it really enhances the flavour of these lemonade cookies!
Powdered sugar – You’ll be mixing this with the lemon juice to create a tangy drizzle for this lemonade cookies recipe.
Lemon juice – Fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice work just fine.
How To Make Strawberry Lemon Cookies
Add the eggs and vegetable oil to a bowl and mix well. Next, add the lemon cake mix and the lemon zest and stir. Repeat the same process in a different bowl, but use the strawberry cake mix for this one. (and omit the lemon zest!)
Cover the two bowls and put them in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Put ½ cup of the powdered sugar into a bowl. Add ½ tablespoon of the lemon-flavoured cookie dough and ½ a tablespoon of the strawberry-flavoured cookie dough and roll the two halves together in your hands to form a ball.
Next, roll the ball in the powdered sugar and place it on your baking sheet. (repeat until the baking sheet is full). About 12 for a standard cookie sheet allowing room for them to spread.
Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10-13 minutes. The cookies will be done when the tops have cracked. They will be soft when you remove them from the oven so let them sit for a good 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack so they maintain their shape.
Let them cool completely.
To make the lemon glaze, add the leftover powdered sugar and lemon juice and stir until there are no lumps.
After the cookies have cooled, drizzle the glaze on top. Be patient for 1 hour to let the glaze harden and enjoy!
Variations
Add sprinkles – You can easily add fun sprinkles or candy bits to these cookies!
Change up the flavour of cake mix – There are SO many options for cake mix flavours that you can mix and match and have a ball!
Add chocolate chips – It’s NEVER a bad idea to add chocolate! White chocolate is perfect!
Change the topping – If a lemon glaze isn’t what you prefer, add what you do like. You can add a little bit of jam, add some frosting, or even just dust the top with powdered sugar.
Baking Tips
- Chill the dough for easier handling
- Roll the dough in icing sugar so that it’s less sticky
- Use a cookie scoop so all the cookies are the same size and will bake uniformly
- Let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes before you move them to a cooling rack so that they hold their shape
- If the cookies do lose their shape, you can reshape them by placing a cup over the top of the warm cookie and swirling it around slowly to put it back into a circle shape
How To Store
To keep the cookies soft, you’re going to want to store them in an airtight container. You have the option to keep them stored at room temperature or in the fridge – totally up to you!
How do I know when the cookies are done baking?
You don’t want to overcook these cookies, so be sure that you keep an eye on them while they’re in the oven. The baking time varies between 10-13 minutes so take a peek at the 10-minute mark and see how they look.
The top of the cookies will crack and this is your indicator that they’re done and ready to be pulled from the oven. You want to take them out of the oven before they start to brown.
They will continue to firm up as they cool down, so give them time to do so. It’s hard to be patient but it’s important for the outcome of the cookie!
Can I make these cookies with other flavours?
Absolutely. You can tone down the lemon flavour by leaving out the extra lemon juice and optional zest, or you can change the flavour of these soft cookies entirely by changing up the flavour of the cake mix that you use.
Chocolate and vanilla or vanilla and spice cake would be good too!
Can I freeze baked cookies?
You can! Since this cookie recipe makes a larger batch, you may find that you have some leftovers. This just means that you’ll get to enjoy that flavour again soon!
Add the cooled leftover cookies to a freezer-safe bag or container. They should be fine to be frozen for 2-3 months.
Just pull out what you plan to share or devour yourself and let them thaw at room temperature for about a half-hour … if you can wait that long!
More Cookie Recipes To Try
- The Very Best Gingersnap Cookies
- Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies
- Classic Shortbread Cookie Recipe
- Marshmallow Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oreo Red Velvet Cookies
- Danish Wedding Cookies
- Triple Chocolate Chickpea Flour Cookies
Strawberry Lemonade Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 eggs; divided
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- 1 box strawberry cake mix
- 1 box lemon cake mix
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 2 cups powdered sugar; divided
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Add two eggs and a 1/3 cup vegetable oil to a bowl and mix. Add in the lemon cake mix and all of the lemon zest and stir to combine. Repeat in a separate bowl with the strawberry cake mix but this time with no lemon zest.
- Cover each bowl and chill for a 1/2 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Add a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar a small bowl. Scoop a 1/2 tbsp of lemon cookie dough and a 1/2 tbsp of strawberry cookie dough and place the two halfs together. Gently roll the two flavours into a ball trying not to blend them too much. Roll the combined cookie ball in powdered sugar and place on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-13 minutes or until the top of the cookie has cracked. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Then transfer them to a cooling rack and let them cool completely.
- In a medium bowl the remaining powdered sugar and lemon juice. Stir until smooth. It should be thin enough to drizzle but not watery. If too thick add a tsp of water or lemon juice at a time to get the desired consistency. To thin, add more icing sugar to thicken.
- Once cookies are completely cooled place the cookies back on a lined sheet. They don't need to be spread out just not stacked. Then use a small spoon to drizzle the lemon sugar icing over top. Let set for one hour and serve.
Nutrition
Notes
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I can’t wait to try these this week 😍 thank you!