Tickled Pink Lemonade Cookies with Frosting

**Tickled Pink Lemonade Cookies** is the third recipe featured in Red Velvet Cupcake Murder.

## Ingredients

### Cookies

* + 1/2 cup salted, softened butter ***(1 stick, 4 ounces, 1/4 pound) (do not substitute)***
	+ 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 or regular lemonade concentrate, thawed
	+ 3 drops red food coloring ***(I used 1/2 teaspoon of Betty Crocker food color gel)***
	+ 1 3/4 cups flour ***(pack it down in the cup when you measure it)***

### Frosting

* + 2 Tablespoons salted butter, softened
	+ 2 cups powdered sugar ***(no need to sift unless it's got big lumps)***
	+ 2 teaspoons frozen pink or regular lemonade concentrate, thawed
	+ 3 to 4 teaspoons milk ***(water will also work for a less creamy frosting)***
	+ 2 drops red food coloring ***(or enough red food color gel to turn the frosting pink)***

## Directions

### Cookies

* + Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
	+ In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the softened butter with the sugar until the resulting mixture is light and fluffy.
	+ Mix in the baking powder and baking soda. Beat until they're well-combined.
	+ Mix in the beaten egg and the lemonade concentrate.
	+ Add 3 drops of red food coloring ***(or 1/2 teaspoon of the food color gel, if you used that)***.
	+ Add the flour, a half-cup or so at a time, beating after each addition. ***(You don't have to be exact—just don't put in all the flour at once.)***
	+ If the resulting cookie dough is too sticky to work with, refrigerate it for an hour or so. ***(Don't forget to turn off your oven if you do this. You'll have to preheat it again once you're ready to bake.)*** Drop the cookies by teaspoonful, 2 inches apart, on an UNGREASED cookie sheet.
	+ Bake the Tickled Pink Lemonade Cookies at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. ***(Mine took 11 minutes.)***
	+ Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Then use a metal spatula to remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

### Frosting

* + Beat the butter and the powdered sugar together.
	+ Mix in the lemonade concentrate.
	+ Beat in the milk, a bit at a time, until the frosting is at most thin enough to spread, but not quite.
	+ Mix in the 2 drops of red food coloring. Stir until the color is uniform.
	+ If your frosting is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar. If your frosting is too thick, add a bit more milk or water.
	+ Frost the completely cooled cookies. When the frosting has hardened, you can store them in layers with waxed paper between the layers to keep them from sticking together.
* Yield: Approximately 2 and 1/2 to 3 dozen cookies, de-pending on cookie size.

 **To serve, arrange these cookies on a pretty plate.**

## Hannah's Notes

1. This recipe is from Lisa's Aunt Nancy. It's a real favorite down at The Cookie Jar because the cookies are different, delicious, and very pretty.
2. When Mother and Carrie tasted these cookies down at The Cookie Jar, they decided that these cookies are as refreshing as a glass of icy cold lemonade on a hot summer afternoon.
3. I used a sky blue plate when I took these cookies out to Barbara at the hospital. The pink of the cookies and the blue of the plate looked lovely together.

## Aunt Nancy's Note

* I can see these cookies on a plate with snippets of the candied lemon slices we ate as children on top of the frosting.