Sugar Cookie Sandwiches with Lemon Ice Filling

When I was little my Grandma baked all the time and I loved her sugar cookies.  I've been making them for a few years now, but wanted something more than just plain sugar cookies.  Since I have quite a few of her cookie cutters I thought I would make sandwich cookies and lemon frosting sounded like the perfect filling for them!

Here's the recipe:

Grandma's Sugar Cookies
Makes approx 24 cookies (12 sandwiches)

1 cup (2 sticks of butter)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Mix (I use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer)

3. Form balls and roll in sugar

4. Lightly flatten (I just used my hand) and cut out with a cookie cutter of your choice (I used a metal scallop cutter as shown in picture)

5. Place on a cookie sheet (sprayed with Pam for baking) I sprinkled on a little more sugar on each cookie.  Bake for 9-10 minutes depending on your oven.  I like my cookies really soft and chewy so I check them after 7 1/2 minutes.

6. I let mine cool for 5 minutes and used a small heart fondant cutter to make the cute little heart cutout on half of them (don't do it on all of them otherwise your frosting will come out the bottom!)

7. Once cool, make your frosting (recipe below) and smooth on a thin layer between two cookies.

Lemon Ice Frosting

1 lb box powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (softened)
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp lemon extract
*I added 3 drops of yellow food coloring to make that sweet pale yellow color

Mix (again, I used my stand mixer) for 2 minutes until nice and fluffy and you're done!

Xo,
Melissa

Orange Dream Cupcakes

I'm sure you are all thinking "OMG, does she ever eat anything healthy?"  I promise I do, but I'm definitely not a health nut.  I enjoy junk food a little too much!  Ladies (and any gents that may be reading too!), get out your aprons because you will want to make these now!  Words cannot describe how delicious these cupcakes are.  Usually when I try to come up with something new there is a lot of swearing, slamming of cupboards and sometimes a few tears.  Somehow these dreamy little cakes came out just perfect!  Since I'm pretty terrible at frosting cupcakes I decided that a little mandarin orange wedge on the top would hide any weirdness and now they are perfect for serving!  I hope you enjoy these as much as my family did...we actually had to give some away because we couldn't trust ourselves with them in the house.

Here's the recipe:

Orange Dream Cupcakes with Orange Vanilla Buttercream

Orange Dream Cupcakes
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
7 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups milk
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons orange extract
3 large eggs
1 box (small 4 1/2 servings) vanilla instant pudding mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with liners.

2. Beat all ingredients with an an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.  Then beat on high for 3 minutes scraping bowl occasionally.

3. Pour into cupcake liners (I like to use an ice cream scoop) filling about 3/4 full and bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes.

Orange Vanilla Buttercream
1 lb. box of powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick butter (softened)

1. Beat all ingredients with electric mixer, scraping bowl often.  I added a few drops of red and yellow food coloring to make my dreamy orange color.

Happy Baking!

Xo,
Melissa

Fun Freebie - Printable Popsicles Art Print

Summer is here!  I have such great memories of running around the neighborhood barefoot with a popsicle in hand.  Being the crazy helicopter Mom that I am, my kids won't be let loose in the neighborhood this summer, but we will eat our share of popsicles.

I created this sweet 8x10" print a few years ago and now I'm sharing it with you, in hopes that it will brighten up your playrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens and remind you of summer.

Download The Rainbow Mermaid Popsicle print here

Xo,
Melissa

Grilled Nutella and Banana Sandwiches

I make these grilled Nutella and banana sandwiches for breakfast once in a blue moon and the kids go nuts for them.  They're not exactly healthy but we like to pretend they are.  I mean Nutella is made from hazelnuts and I serve them with berries so they're not all bad.  :)

They take 5 minutes to make and are always a BIG hit!

Here's the recipe:

Adjust ingredients depending on how many sandwiches you want to make

Bread (white bread definitely tastes better than wheat, think Wonder Bread or something similar)
Nutella
Bananas (I used 1 1/2 for 2 sandwiches)
Butter (softened not melted or use butter in a tub)
Powdered sugar

1.  Mash up bananas with a fork

2.  Spread mashed banana on 1 slice of bread and spread Nutella on another.  Put your sandwich together and spread butter on the outsides of both pieces (just like you're making grilled cheese)

3.  Grill in a pan on medium heat until bread is browned on both sides. (don't forget to flip your sandwich!)

4.  Let cool a bit then sprinkle with powdered sugar, cut and serve with fresh berries.

Xo,
Melissa

Mini Rainbow Mermaid Milkshakes

Since we love all things mermaids and unicorns around here, I thought the Rainbow Mermaid milkshake would be the perfect first post! I've been seeing unicorn milkshakes all over social media and I've been dying to try my own mini version.  Since my kids certainly don't need an extra large mason jar shake, I went with the smaller 1/2 pint size, which holds about 8oz.  You can get as creative as you want with these super easy to make shakes.  The kids and I topped ours with whipped cream, pastel colored marshmallows and flamingo pink sanding sugar.  Some other fun toppings include sour belts in bright colors, candy necklaces, gummy fruits, white chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles. These make perfect treats for mermaid or unicorn birthday parties!  

Mini Rainbow Mermaid Milkshakes

(makes approx 3 ~ 8oz milkshakes)

Ingredients:

5 Scoops french vanilla ice cream

3/4-1 cup milk

food coloring 

whipped cream

sweet toppings of your choice

Directions:

1. Scoop 5 scoops of french vanilla ice cream into your blender, Magic Bullet etc.  

2. Add in 3/4 cup milk and 2 drops of food coloring.  

3. Blend, adding more milk as needed.

4. Top with whipped cream and sweet treats.

5. Enjoy every last drop!

Xo,
Melissa